Since starting your current job, have your pants gotten tighter? You’re not alone. The only thing you really want to see growing are your career opportunities and paychecks, but instead you’re feeling sluggish and no longer fit into any of your clothing.

So why is this happening? Doctors reveal that the cause for weight gain could very well be due to you taking your work too seriously.

The most obvious cause of work-related weight gain is the lack of physical activity, especially for employees working from 9 to 5. Also, the sedentary and stressful lifestyle that comes with longer workdays and non-stop connectivity is making workers fat.

Exhaustion is a big factor for weight gain. Many workers who take their jobs too seriously say that they are too tired after work to exercise. They put so much pressure on themselves that they feel that there weren’t enough hours in the day to exercise before or after work.

Dr. Giles Yeo, a member of the Trust Me, I’m a Doctor team, joined the study being conducted by scientists from Leeds University. They then put him through a stressful day to test the research.

Dr. Michael Mosley said:

“What the Leeds team found was that on the day when Giles was being deliberately stressed, his blood sugar levels took three hours to return to normal – some six times longer than on a previous, stress-free day.”

He said that when a person is stressed out, the body will automatically go into “fight or flight mode.”

He continued:

“These rising levels of insulin and falling blood sugars will make you hungry – which is why you crave sugary carbs when you are stressed.”

It is worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with being a hard worker. However, we don’t have to let our health suffer for our profession.

If things get a little too stressful, rest, relax, take a breather. A stress-free lifestyle and getting the sleep you need will only serve to make you sharper at work, so it’s a win-win situation.