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. Michael Mosley said:

“Chronic stress disrupts our sleep and our blood sugar levels. This leads to increased hunger and comfort eating.

And that then leads to further disrupted sleep, even higher levels of stress and even more disrupted blood sugars. In time, this can lead not only to unhealthy levels of body fat but also to type-2 diabetes.”

Dr. Giles Yeo, a member of the Trust Me, I’m a Doctor team, joined a study where scientists from Leeds University put him through a particularly stressful day.

Dr. Mosley explained:

“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.

The reason this happens is that when you are stressed, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode. Your body thinks it is under attack and releases glucose into your blood to provide energy for your muscles.

But if you don’t need that energy to run away from danger, then your pancreas will pump out insulin to bring those blood sugar levels back down again.

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.