Why do Startup Founders gain weight easily?
And What You Can Do to Mitigate it
The answer is simple — Stress.
If you haven’t heard about it, Stress is a condition of the mind and body when a person feels threatened, unsafe or inappropriately pressured. It can be caused by many factors such as physical stress (e.g., being hungry), mental stress, sexual stress or emotional stress.
The most common signs of being stressed are stomach pains, weight gain, and mood swings due to negative emotions such as frustration and anger. This happens because your body goes into survival mode when it perceives danger.
The sympathetic nervous system gets activated which increases blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate while deactivating digestion in order to prepare the body for fight or flight.
As a response to this increase in stress hormone release, the body produces more cortisol which increases appetite and reduces metabolic rate by slowing down the function of internal organs including your digestive system so that they do not require energy from external sources (food).
Basically, your body wants to store enough energy so that you can survive for longer time periods so that you can fight or run away from stressful situations effectively. As a result of this increased appetite and reduced metabolism, most stressed individuals gain weight easily even though they may have done all the right things to lose weight before such as dieting and exercising regularly!
The reason why entrepreneurs gain weight easily is because they are constantly exposed to high levels of mental stress due to their startup activities which put them into survival mode more often than not during their daily lives!
Most people who start up do so because they have always wanted to create something different in the world based on their own values and beliefs which can only be achieved through continuous learning and self-improvement activities such as studying business books or learning new skills like software programming through online courses.
In addition, many startups require entrepreneurs to work long hours (sometimes until midnight) with little time for relaxation due to lack of funding.
Being faced with constant high levels of mental stress over an extended period will definitely lead you into survival mode more often than not.
It’s no wonder that Startup Founders are gaining weight more easily compared to non-startup founders who don’t have much work pressure on them during their daily lives!
Now that we know why Startup Founders gain weight easier than other entrepreneurs out there who do not face constant high levels of mental stress during their daily lives, what should we do about it?
My suggestion is — Stop stressing yourself out unnecessarily! Relax at least once a day!
Do something to reduce your stress levels in order to ensure that you do not put yourself into survival mode unnecessarily which will cause your body to store more energy during the times when you do require energy.
If relaxation methods such as yoga or meditation are not effective for you, try doing something that is fun and entertaining such as a new hobby or even watching your favourite sitcom while eating your favourite snack (I personally like having Spicy cup noodles while watching TV series on Netflix at home!).
Besides helping you reduce stress levels, these activities will also help you reduce unnecessary weight gain. After all, who doesn’t love indulging in their favourite activities?
So if you are an entrepreneur who is gaining weight easily due to high levels of mental stress, remember to take time out of your hectic schedule for relaxation frequently so that you can avoid unnecessary weight gain during the times when you require more energy for work!
Find time for the Gym if you can’t find enough time for relaxation
If you are still finding it hard to relax despite trying various relaxation methods, I suggest finding time for the gym.
Two years in founding Cudy Technologies (then just Cudy) and faced extreme work pressure, I gained more weight than usual.
As an entrepreneur who wants to keep fit despite being involved in stressful startup activities, try going for activities that do not require much mental effort such as going for walks or jogging around your neighborhood.
If you do not have enough time for the gym during your busy schedule (or if you are lazy like me), try joining fitness classes such as yoga or dance classes at your neighborhood gym or studio instead of having an intense workout session at home because they require less mental effort than going for an intense workout session at home on your own.
Alternatively, go for easy workouts such as walking or jogging during weekends when you have more free time available instead of spending more time indulging yourself with unhealthy junk food when you are feeling stressed out during your weekly working hours.
These easy exercises will ensure that you do not gain weight easily due to lack of sufficient energy due to high levels of mental stress over an extended period.
Remember — Weight gain does not happen overnight so if you feel that all your efforts in trying various exercises are not effective in reducing weight gain due to high levels of mental stress over a prolonged period, don’t give up just yet.
Try different types of exercises until you find something that works effectively for YOU as every individual is different from another person and one type of exercise will definitely work better for another individual who is facing similar problems with stress levels.
In summary, Startup founders who are constantly stressed out during their daily lives will definitely gain weight easier than other entrepreneurs due to high levels of mental stress.
Therefore, it is important for you to take some time out of your hectic schedule for relaxation frequently so that you can avoid unnecessary weight gain during the times when you require more energy for work.
If you are finding it hard to relax despite trying various relaxation methods, I suggest finding time for the gym because going for activities that do not require much mental effort such as going for walks or jogging around your neighborhood will definitely help you relax and reduce unnecessary weight gain due to high levels of mental stress over an extended period.
In addition, if you find that all your efforts in trying various exercises are not effective in reducing weight gain due to high levels of mental stress over a prolonged period, don’t give up just yet!
Try different types of exercises until you find something that works effectively for YOU as every individual is different from another person and one type of exercise will definitely work better for another individual who is facing similar problems with stress levels.
I hope this article has been useful to Startup Founders who have been gaining weight easily in recent times due to high levels of mental stress during their daily lives. Do share your experiences with me if this article has helped you in any way.
About the Author
I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students teach and learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.
You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.
