Have you ever struggled to lose weight? Have you ever had unstoppable cravings that plagued you and tarnished your ability to get to your ideal weight?
As a clinician who specializes in helping people lose weight I have seen so many individuals who have struggled with yo-yo dieting and stress induced weight gain. For many, they are able to lose weight easily when they are younger but by the time they hit 40, the extra weight becomes stubborn and resistant. This is a condition called “Weight Loss Resistance” and it has to do with chronic inflammation and impaired hormone function.
Where Did We Go Wrong?
We used to think that weight loss was as simple as Calories in vs Calories out
The less calories you take in and the more calories you burn the more weight you lose. This is now considered an archaic model of metabolism. Now we understand that weight loss comes down to hormone function and immune system coordination. A lifestyle that restricts calories may not allow us to lose the kind of weight we want and it certainly will not necessarily make us healthier.
A lifestyle that enhances our hormone function and immune coordination will improve our overall health and help us shed the unwanted weight. Here are the three biggest mistakes that many make when trying to lose weight.
1 – Eating Low-Fat and Low-Calorie Foods:
These foods are typically made up of low-nutrient processed carbohydrates. All natural foods that have carbohydrates also contain fibers, anti-oxidants, enzymes and trace minerals like chromium to help with blood sugar signaling processes. Processed carbohydrates drive up the blood sugar and cause inflammatory processes in the body.
Inflammation damages the cell membranes and alters hormonal communication processes. When hormone function is impaired it leads to more inflammation and for genetically susceptible individuals it will cause weight loss resistance.
You don’t need to lower fat, in fact, you want to increase your intake of fat substantially. Essential fats are used to make hormones and improve the cell membrane for healthy hormone function in the body.
* Low Fat = Poor Hormone Function = Inflammation = Weight Loss Resistance
* High Carb = Poor Blood Sugar Signaling = Inflammation = Weight Loss Resistance
* Low Carb = Healthy Blood Sugar Signaling = Anti-Inflammatory = Weight Loss
* High Fat = Good Hormone Function = Anti-Inflammatory = Weight Loss
Good fats such as coconut products, avocados, extra-virgin olive oil and grass-fed butter should be staples in the diet. People with the healthiest hormones eat the most fat and the lowest amount of starchy carbohydrates.
2 – Eating Chemicals Rather than Nutrients:
These foods are often loaded with fake fats and artificial flavorings and preservatives. They also contain genetically modified ingredients that are full of toxic pesticides and herbicides. Often times these foods are supplemented with synthetic vitamins and minerals. These are unnatural nutrients that act more like inflammatory chemicals that true living nutrients. This cocktail of chemicals impairs our immune system and causes chronic inflammation in the body.
Inflammation damages the cell membranes and alters hormonal communication processes. When hormone function is impaired it leads to more inflammation and for genetically susceptible individuals it will cause weight loss resistance.
3 – Doing the Wrong Type of Exercise:
Most people assume that if you want to lose weight you have to do a lot of cardiovascular exercise. This is untrue. Low intensity, long-duration exercise such as spending 45 minutes on an elliptical machine may help you burn calories but it does nothing to stimulate fat-burning hormones. In fact, it actually causes more stress on the body and negates your body from stimulating these fat-burning hormones.
When you do high-intensity, short duration exercise such as burst training you stimulate fat-burning hormones like human growth hormone (HGH). The more HGH your body produces the more amplified the fat burning effect will be throughout the day.
High intensity strength training where you do large muscle group exercises such as squats, deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, bench press, overhead press, etc. gives the greatest muscle toning & fat burning effects. The more muscle fibers you fatigue (through large muscle group exercises with challenging sets) during the training the more HGH you will secrete.
Keep these workouts short – between 5 to 30 minutes max for the greatest metabolic effect. When your training session goes beyond 30 minutes your body will begin secreting stress hormones which will negate the HGH release.
Helpful information:
Tackling oestrogen dominance is often a first step to losing weight, particularly around the middle, and choosing a healthy diet such as the Dash or Low Gi diets will also help.
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/06/06/what-signs-of-oestrogen-dominance-do-you-have/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/01/13/how-to-stop-that-bloated-feeling-naturally/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/01/27/the-dash-diet-is-no-1-for-weight-loss/
https://www.bio-hormone-health.com/2014/12/30/more-energy-and-less-weight-on-a-g-i-diet/