This is the problem, not your body.

A The One Thing You Must Do First (If You Want Real, Lasting Health)

Earlier this week, I shared a post on Instagram about the one thing you must address if you want to lose weight or build health on a firm foundation.

Without this one thing in place, you might make progress for a season—but it can all get wiped out in a moment. You end up back at square one, swimming in shame, the heavy chains of hopelessness tightening around your neck.

Take a quick watch

So what is it?

Stress.
It’s stress that keeps us stuck, holding us back from the whole-body vision God has for us.

We try programs. We do the diets. We see the specialists. We aren’t lazy or uncommitted—we’re searching for help. Deep down, we want to feel less alone and more at peace in our bodies. We want to reclaim a sense of control over our minds and emotions. But the missing link? Often, it's unaddressed stress.

Let’s get practical. Here are five research-backed ways stress is sabotaging your health efforts:

1. Belly Fat
A 2015 study in Obesity found that women with higher cortisol reactivity (aka, those more stressed) had significantly more abdominal fat.

👉 Takeaway: Your belly has more cortisol receptors than almost anywhere else. When your body gets the message “we’re not safe,” it stores fat to protect you. The more stressed you are about your health, the more your body may resist the change you desire.

2. Dieting + No Progress
In a 2015 Ohio State study, stressed women burned 104 fewer calories after a high-fat meal—enough to add 11 extra pounds a year.

👉 Takeaway: Eating while stressed (or stressing over food itself—"Am I doing this right? Is it even working?") blunts your metabolism. Your body becomes less efficient at using the food you eat.

3. Stress Skews Your Food Choices
About 40% of people report eating more when stressed—usually reaching for high-fat, high-sugar comfort foods. This cycle drives insulin resistance and weight gain.

👉 Takeaway: Stress turns down your thinking brain and turns up your emotional brain. So you eat to cope, then feel regret and shame—creating more stress. It’s a dysregulating nervous system stress loop you are stuck in, not a lack of willpower.

4. Poor Sleep = Hormonal Chaos
Stress leads to poor sleep, which disrupts hormones like leptin (tells you you’re full) and ghrelin (tells you you’re hungry). Poor sleep increases ghrelin and suppresses leptin—leaving you constantly hungry and never satisfied.

👉 Takeaway: If you’re tired due to stress, you can’t fully trust your hunger cues. Your body is simply dysregulated. Sleep is a reset your hormones are begging for.

5. No Motivation to Move
Stressed people are 32% less likely to engage in regular physical activity. But movement is essential for fat loss, muscle preservation, and a healthy metabolism—at every age.

👉 Takeaway: If stress is zapping your desire to exercise, it’s not just a motivation issue—it’s a nervous system issue. But even gentle movement can be the bridge back to health.

Friend, if your body has never felt like a safe place to be, and you’ve spent your whole life “working” on your body to get it to “fit in”…girl (or boy)..you tired! You’re stressed. Your body needs a real rest.

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9

I went on a quick after-breakfast walk to record this for you. Press play. Join me on a quick walk and let my heart grab your heart by the ventricles (gently, of course) and say what it needs to say.

Looking for a REAL Place to Rest?

If you’re looking for real rest—like, rest for your actual body and not just another good idea about rest—I’ve got two places where you can come experience it with me:

🗓️ Health Summit — Denver, CO | June 5–6
This is a two-day, in-person workshop where we’ll tend to your body, mind, and spirit. You’ll learn how to love God, love your body, and truly transform your health—not from hustle, but from a place of deep grace.

💥 Stick around for Rev on the Road on Saturday, June 7—a four-hour, whole-body worship experience open to everyone. It’s just $20 and it's a party for your nervous system.

🎟️ Grab your Health Summit ticket here , or your ROTR ticket here

🗓️ Instructor Retreat — Williams, AZ | October 26–30
If you’re already a Revelation Wellness Instructor (or you’re planning to become one in Fall 2025), I hope to see you at our Rev Instructor Retreat. These gatherings are what heaven-on-earth feels like. Truly—nobody leaves the same.

→ If you're an instructor, log into your portal to sign up for your Revive retreat.
→ If you're ready to become a certified health or fitness coach, here’s where you start: Join the next Instructor Training

👇 Now let’s talk about stress.
What’s God putting His finger on for you right now?

Reply in the comments—I’d love to hear.

His love,

Alisa