In a woman’s life, there are many milestones. With those milestones come some unexpected side effects, and unfortunately, that sometimes includes weight gain.
1. When you hit puberty
The drawn out process of puberty is complete hormonal warfare – you’re hungry all the time, and experience lots of physical and emotional ups and downs. Unavoidably, fat cells increase in size and quantity, and social media doesn’t help at this point.
2. Going to college or university
Ah, the first true days of independence… and the freshman fifteen. Being away from home and having more of a passion for social life than a balanced diet leads to some love handles, inevitably. This leads students to eat junk food and snacks instead.
3. Relationship or marriage weight
Getting comfortable in relationship means that you stop trying to impress your partner – you love each other for the inside as much as the outside, at this point. This especially goes for marriage, when you’re locking down a partner for life.
4. On the other side, going through a breakup
There’s not much that a girl knows how to do better than eating her feelings. You thought you were with forever bae, but now you have to start from scratch and face the loneliness. Through three sleeves of Oreos and an entire bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos.
5. Getting pregnant
We’re not just talking about a cute little baby bump. Pregnancy makes puberty look like a breeze as hormones cycle through you, creating bizarrely nauseating cravings and the desire to not to move at all.
6. Having an office job
Working remote encourages an active and flexible work lifestyle, but sitting an office, especially one that you drive to, increases chances that you’ll put on weight. Cycling to the office or opting for a standing/treadmill desk are ways to solve this.
7. If you quit smoking
Ah, the terrible irony. You’re willing to give up smoking – a brave and healthful journey. However, this means that the extra food cravings the nicotine suppressed will come back stronger than ever, with a vengeance. Hello, French fries.
8. Stress
Cortisol makes body fat increase drastically, so if you give in to stress, eating unhealthy comfort foods initially triggers those pleasure zones in your mind. However, it only eases the pain for a little. Instead, try a daily workout or foods that naturally release endorphins.
9. Aging
Us ladies have a tendency to panic when we think too hard about aging and getting over – many claim that they’re 39 for the next real chapter of their life, feeling anxiety instead of pride and wisdom. The solution? Comfort eating, of course.
10. Menopause
You’d think that all the hormonal drama would be over by this point in life, but it’s full of even more frustrating emotional, hot flash moments due to a drop in estrogen. We’ve seen our mothers cope with this stage via being holed up in their room with ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream.
