If you're going to exercise (or even if you aren't), you have to eat. But what will you choose to eat? Americans are notorious for making less than ideal dietary choices, and statistics reveal that over half the population is overweight. But whether or not you are cursed with a sweet tooth or a penchant for pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, stress can make you less likely to keep compulsive eating under control.

What's worse, stress-related eating may be particularly dangerous to your health. In a recent ABC news special on stress, one segment was devoted to recent research that reveals the difference between “regular fat” and “stress fat.” Stress fat, the segment explained, is not the lumpy, bumpy stuff you can see jiggling on your thighs and upper arms. Stress fat is the fat that accumulates deep inside the body, specifically around the internal organs of your torso.

This “stress fat” is the only fat that is known to contribute to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. The only kind! And you can't even see it. This dangerous fat may be directly related to stress (among other things, including estrogen levels). Research shows that compulsive eating related to stress is more likely to result in fat accumulation around the internal organs.

Other studies suggest that while cortisol is a powerful appetite stimulant and can trigger excessive eating in the stressed-out among us, cortisol may actually encourage the body to accumulate fat in the abdominal region, especially in “apple-shaped” women — women who tend to gain weight around the middle rather than in the buttocks and legs (the so-called pear shape).

Stress-related eating is the beginning of a vicious circle. You feel stressed, so you eat foods that are likely to increase your susceptibility to stress. Consequently, you feel more stressed and eat more of those same stress-promoting foods. How do you stop the madness?

Knowledge is power, and although knowledge may not equal willpower, it is the first step. Certain foods are known to have a disruptive effect on the body's equilibrium, while other foods are known to have a more balancing effect. Many cultures have discovered this food/body connection. Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of health maintenance and improvement still popular today, focuses on balancing the body through food as well as other practices. (I'll tell you more about ayurveda in Chapter 9.) Many contemporary researchers and health promoters also emphasize the link between good health, balance, energy, and the food we eat.