This photo from Lesley Voth’s website grabbed my attention. Her Love & Fear post is a compelling explanation about the damage prolonged stress can have on our bodies. She explains why people who are stressed out and profoundly unhappy tend to pack on the pounds:
Long-term stress or fear produces Cortisol. Cortisol has a different effect on the body than adrenaline. Cortisol is more detrimental to the body. Cortisol begins to break down non-essential organs and tissues to keep blood sugars available to feed vital organs. Chronic production of Cortisol at high levels (long periods of stress) begins to digest bones, muscles and joints to get these essential nutrients.
What happens in this case is blood fats and sugar become elevated. This is a cause of many disorders; one of them is reaching for high-calorie foods.
If you want to read the rest of this post, click here.
Ms. Voth has also written an intriguing book: Simply Fantastic: Living Better on Less. She claims to have 518 tips for slashing living expenses.
Anne Caroline Drake 
Oh, is this why I’ve packed on 60 pounds in the past two years? LOL, I was trying to tell my doctor it is hard to go exercise when you are living in your vehicle in a Wal-mart parking lot, and lose weight living off of cheap $1 McDoubles at McDonalds. I’ve been in a room over the winter and thought I might have been doing better, but just got back test results from blood work, and I’ve got a disaster going on in my body (and didn’t lose any weight to boot anyway either). I’ve been researching the blood chemistry levels that were flagged, and stress is noted as a cause (along with scary things like cancer, etc…ugggh). That’s what I get for researching stuff….more stress….LOL.
Nancy
BTW gotta get that book on living on less, thanks for mentioning it.
Are you ready to start a revolution, Nancy? I am.
If I get creamed one more time by some non-profit that doesn’t do shit but gather enough information from us to get their grant money before delivering any actual assistance, I swear I’m going to go out of my mind. LOL ~ some people would probably say I’m already there.
I hear you. When I read that post, my eyes about bugged out. It made so much sense to me. I’ve got a disaster going on inside my body too.
Sending hugs,
Caroline
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