Grief and Weight Loss: Is it Normal?
When experiencing loss, it's common to experience other physical symptoms due to grief, such as weight loss and weight gain, both of which are common when you experience something traumatic and are coping with loss. At what point should you be concerned, and is it no longer considered a normal occurrence?
Understanding the Link Between Grief and Weight Loss
When you experience loss, it can significantly raise your stress, which can affect your regular eating habits and make food seem unappealing or like a chore. Alternatively, it can also lead to the opposite effect, where you start to overeat and overindulge in unhealthy food items. Both sides of this spectrum, while normal, can take a turn for the worse and become serious issues if taken too far. Weight loss and weight gain are common after experiencing grief and hardship. The most important thing is to ensure that you’re getting the necessary nutrients and staying moderately active and healthy.
When Weight Loss Becomes a Concern
Weight loss isn’t something that typically raises alarm bells in your head; however, when weight loss truly becomes a concern, it is when it starts to affect your health and continues for a prolonged period. The scary thing about grief and weight loss is that if it’s not monitored, it can develop into an eating disorder that can severely affect your mental and physical health. Checking in with your doctor during grief can help you gauge your health accurately.
Why Weight Loss Happens During Grief
While weight loss is normal when experiencing grief, it typically stems from other feelings that are caused by grief and outside circumstances that can result in weight loss.
Loss of Appetite
A major cause for someone to experience weight loss when grieving is loss of appetite, which is where food just doesn’t seem appetizing, or the thought of eating can even make you feel nauseous and cause anxiety. Experiencing a loss of appetite due to grief is difficult, as you oftentimes have to force yourself to eat to get the necessary nutrition that you need to survive and function. Alternatively, loss of appetite can mean forgetting about food and simply forgetting to eat, as your brain and stomach may not be signaling hunger, so it's easy to simply forget to eat all day.
Anxiety
Anxiety affecting the digestive tract is normal, if annoying. When you’re experiencing anxiety and discomfort, it can feel overwhelming to eat something. Even if you are hungry and know you should eat something, the anxiety in your stomach can make eating feel like a chore and a burden. With anxiety and weight loss, it can be a slippery slope from fine to not fine, and can health issues due to a lack of nutrition.
Healthy Ways to Manage Nutrition While Grieving
When you're struggling to eat healthfully due to grief, finding a clear-cut solution can seem daunting and difficult. But realistically, the solution can be simply carrying snacks with you, and it doesn't have to be a magic cure-all.
Protein Shakes
For some people, when eating starts to feel overwhelming, it can be helpful to begin making and relying on protein shakes to ensure that you get the necessary nutrients to stay healthy. Drinking a protein shake as you go about your day can be a good way to make sure that you’re getting enough protein and carbs to sustain you.
Meal Prep
Meal prepping can be a great way to ensure consistent eating if you’re someone who does well with pre-planned and structured meals. It can also help alleviate some of the stress associated with cooking and deciding what to eat daily. If people have been offering help, this is also a great area to take them up on their support.
Easy Make Meals
When you’re struggling to remember to eat every day, it can be helpful to buy easy-to-make or ready-made meals from the store. Even if the meal isn’t as healthy as a homemade one, eating anything is better than nothing. In fact, now is not the time to start a serious diet or have big nutrition goals beyond obtaining enough calories.
Supplements
Vitamin supplements in the form of vitamin pills, gummies, powder, etc. It can be a great way to ensure you get enough vitamins and minerals daily. However, most supplements shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach, so it's recommended to use them in conjunction with small snacks or after meals.
Small Snacks
When you’re struggling with eating, it can be helpful to keep small snacks on hand, such as granola bars, small oranges, fruit snacks, nonperishables, and other snacks, so that when you feel hungry, you can eat without the stress of having to make a complete meal.
Listening to Your Body in Times of Grief
When you’re experiencing grief, your body can start to give conflicting signals as a result of the stress and duress you may be experiencing. So while you should listen to your body, you should listen with a grain of salt. For example, if you feel nauseous at the thought of eating but haven't eaten all day, then maybe try something lightweight like toast or a small snack such as a granola bar. When you're grieving, it's perfectly normal to lose weight, and as long as you make sure you're getting the necessary nutrients, there's no further need for concern. Your appetite will bounce back over time and as you heal.
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