Working out, eating right and still not losing weight? What gives?

So you're spending time at the gym every week and you're eating a high-quality, gluten-free diet but you're still not losing weight. What gives? You know your diet is healthy and you feel the effects of your workout...so what's the issue?

The most commonly overlooked and most effective tool for losing weight and looking younger is pretty simple: stress management and sleep. I put stress management and sleep together because most people who aren't managing their stress also aren't getting enough sleep.

Let's take a minute to talk about what exactly I mean by enough sleep. When we were cavemen, we fell asleep soon after the sun went down and we woke up when the sun came up in the morning. Now, with easy access to work email, television and other sources of nonstop information, we are going against what our biology craves (i.e rest and repair) and moving more towards a state of degradation and disease.

According to health and weight loss expert Robb Wolf, just one night of sleep deprivation makes you as insulin resistant as a type 2 diabetic. For those of you who might now know, insulin resistance causes increased insulin and glucose in the blood, which leads to relatively rapid weight gain. So can you imagine what getting inadequate sleep night after night does to your belly? And if the idea of belly fat isn't enough to get you to tuck in earlier at night, how about this: The Centers for Disease Control recently qualified shift work (aka disrupted sleep patterns and inadequate sleep) as carcinogenic. That means lack of sleep, over time, leads to cancer.

In addition to making you gain weight and potentially put you on a path to disease, lack of sleep also causes wrinkles. It doesn't matter how many creams you put on your face, you aren't going to look youthful if you don't get enough rest. Because lack of sleep shoots up the levels of insulin and glucose in your blood, not getting enough sleep is pretty similar to eating a diet that's loaded with carbs (aka sugar). These high levels of insulin and glucose have the effect of aging your skin by degrading collagen, the protein responsible for giving your skin strength, flexibility and resilience. So now after no sleep you're not only fatter, but you look and feel older. Gross.

"Okay, okay, so I need to sleep. Let me have a few glasses of wine to unwind." Think again. Wine is like a sugar bomb to your system. Even though you might feel relaxed after drinking it, it's actually causing quite a bit of stress inside of your body. In addition, drinking wine before bed leads to disrupted sleep patterns. Even if you think you "passed out" after a few glasses, wine actually blocks the release of human growth hormone during early sleep. As you all probably know, growth hormone output is responsible for everything from developing muscle to stimulating the immune system. And for those of you who prefer a little sleeping pill to a glass of wine, you should know that drugs such as Ambien also interfere with the body's ability to generate growth hormone during sleep. Instead of relying on alcohol or drugs, the best way to fall asleep naturally is to dim the lights after 8pm, avoid the computer and TV, take a relaxing bath, have a cup of chamomile tea and/or read a book.

So now that you're going to start managing your sleep, you also need to start managing your stress. Why? Well, increased cortisol (the hormone your body sends out in a stressful situation) over time leads to decreased memory, a decreased sex drive, tons of belly fat and unfortunately, an EZ Pass to aging. Why? Well think of a zebra being chased by a lion. The only thing that zebra can think about is survival. Sex, procreation, weight loss and memory all go out the window. The zebra's only job is to get as far away from the lion as possible. When you live in a state of chronic stress (from bad food, bad relationships, unhealthy work/life balance, etc) you are that zebra, running as fast as possible from these common stress lions 24 hours a day. While we need stress hormones to live (that burst of energy that gets us away from the lion does come in handy) if you're stressed for too long without adequate rest and repair, your liver releases sugar and fat, leading to an unhealthy mind and body and tighter pants.

What You Can Do To Manage Stress Today:

1. Sleep in a cave. Okay, maybe not a cave but make your room as much of a cave as possible. Even a small amount of light on your skin impairs your body's ability to generate melatonin, the antioxidant responsible for putting you to sleep.

2. Get 8-9 hours of sleep a night and no, you aren't "fine" on 6 or 7. You might be able to survive on 6 or 7 hours of sleep, but you need at least 8-9.

3. Try working in instead of working out: You're sick, you're tired, and you're killing yourself with 2 hour workouts. You might as well have a slice of cake instead of going to the gym because that long workout is not helping you lose weight - it's just creating stress (and increased fat storage) in your body. Train smarter, not harder: stick to bursts of strength training and ditch the endurance stuff (I'm talking to you, 5 mile run - or anything with loads and loads of reps for that matter).

4. Cut back on the bevvies: Seriously. If you have to drink, drink earlier in the evening. Drinking before bedtime impairs your body's production of growth hormone. Another drinking tip: keep the alcohol clear. Beer is loaded with gluten and wine is loaded with sugar. Try Robb Wolf's famous recipe: lime, soda water and tequila (or other clear alcohols) as a lower-sugar beverage. Also have a snack with protein and/or fat (such as sliced organic meat) before bedtime to help your body metabolize the alcohol.

5. Prioritize your life. This one is usually the trickiest for people...but that fancy car or expensive vacation really isn't all that fun when you're too sick and tired to enjoy it. Instead of letting stress (and car payments) control your life, make excellent health and vitality your priority. It makes everything else a lot more fun.

If you missed it this past month, click the link below to see Holistic Fitness on CBS5:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/11/12/consumerwatch-high-tech-tool-can-help-visualize-weight-loss-goals/