How Happiness Affects Weight Loss - Bikini Body Diet - Weight Loss Tips for Women - Shape Magazine

How Happiness Affects Weight Loss - Bikini Body Diet - Weight Loss Tips for Women - Shape Magazine: Any form of depression, no matter how mild, affects neurotransmitters that control mood, thinking, appetite, and behavior, making you more likely to eat poorly, skip exercise, and gain weight. [Tweet this fact!] Similarly, high stress levels cause your body to release the hormone cortisol, which makes us crave energy and comfort (often in the form of pizza and cupcakes). This leads to a sugar-induced dopamine high, then the inevitable crash that causes you to seek even more dopamine, and so on. All those extra empty calories are then stored in your body, most commonly in the form of—you guessed it—belly fat.