How to Manage Your Weight During A Stressful Job Hunt

Aside from this, having chronically elevated stress levels can influence how hormones responsible for weight management work with the body. When stressed, the body releases inflammatory cytokines that are part of your immune system’s defensive response. Unfortunately, when released too often, these can deregulate the body’s equilibrium in critical systems, such as the metabolism, energy output, and sleep cycle. As it happens, all of these play a factor in weight management. This is why numerous research studies believe that stress, weight gain, and eventual obesity are all linked.

Managing your weight

Many factors influence weight, including sex, age, lifestyle, and even medical history. Because of this, you want to find an approach that works for you and your needs. Firstly, find a way to stay active. Depending on your circumstances, this can be something like going to a fitness class thrice a week between job searching or simply opting to travel on foot for your daily errands, like for scheduled interviews. According to the CDC, so long as you get about 175 minutes of moderate exercise a week, that should help maintain your weight. Next, try to have “healthy” snacks on hand. Although it’s important not to label food as good or bad, less processed foods will keep you satiated for longer and leave less of an impact on your overall weight.

Alternatively, if you’ve already gained weight due to the anxiety of job hunting, you might ask, “how long does it take to lose weight?” The answer here is different for everyone. In the first few weeks of managing weight, you might find it faster to shed excess pounds. Later, you might hit a plateau where the scale doesn’t move. Don’t let this discourage you, though. It’s normal for weight loss to fluctuate, as some people have more water weight to lose or may have a disposition to gain or lose weight faster. Instead, adopt a wellness plan focusing on long-term healthy habits, like eating smaller but frequent meals with whole foods. Remember that weight loss and management are about consistency over intensity, much like job hunting. If you keep at it, you will reach your goal without compromising or feeling too burnt out.

Managing your stress

Of course, you need to manage your stress, too. As mentioned above, weight and stress are linked, so it’s important to tackle both for the best results. One way to do this in the job-hunting arena is by asking for help. This doesn’t mean you’re asking for a handout, but rather, you’re just optimizing your support system. One great way to do this is by networking, which is like the backdoor of job hunting. Join online forums and seek like-minded peers to exchange ideas and experiences. This enriching endeavor will make you friends and help open up opportunities you might’ve otherwise never known about. Your new connections might even be able to give you a crucial referral that can make all the difference.

Along the same lines, learn to share your concerns with trusted loved ones. Venting your frustrations and concerns will lessen the chances of them eating up on you and forcing you to use the self-sabotaging soothing methods discussed above. It may even help you think more clearly to approach your job hunt with a more positive mindset.