Despite what most people believe, fat loss is not as simple as calories in/calories out. Because the human body is a system of systems, it stands to reason that weight loss relies on the ability of each of these systems to function optimally and in harmony with one another. Unfortunately many people think of weight loss linearly, wrongly believing that their bodies are like bank accounts wherein a three mile jog affords them one bowl of ice cream. The diet industry only perpetuates this myth with its system of points and balances, its bags of 100-calorie junk food snack packs and constant obsession with the number on the scale. If this way of thinking about fat loss works, why are we getting sicker and fatter each year? In starting to take care of all of the systems in your body, you’ll see how easy it is to lose weight and keep it off for good. So here you go, the top four reasons you’re not losing weight. Not Getting To Bed On Time: If you don’t sleep, you won’t lose weight (and as recent studies show, you might even gain weight). Lack of sleep not only causes a huge spike in the stress hormone cortisol (which leads to weight gain) but also diminishes the hormone that tells you when to stop eating (leptin) and increases the hormone that makes you think you’re hungry (ghrelin). Put these three hormonal interferences together and after a night of insufficient sleep you’ll overeat (and eat too often) and your stressed body will store most of what you eat as fat.
Living in a World of Gut Dysfunction: You are what you eat. In eating the Standard American Diet (often referred to as the SAD diet) you overload your system with foods that cost you more energy to break down and digest than they yield. In addition, in eating overly processed foods such as gluten and most dairy products, you inadvertently increase your body’s stress hormones, which leads to weight gain and a host of other issues such as leaky gut syndrome, a weakened immune system, decreased digestive enzymes, nutrient mal-absorption, abdominal inflammation and even depression (as 98% of seratonin is created in the gut). Forget about counting calories. In order to lose weight, you have to cut out processed foods and switch to an organic, whole food diet. And remember: not all calories are created equal. Yes, that grass-fed steak has more calories than the Atkins meal replacement bar but where the steak is bio-available and gives you energy, the Atkins bar is as unrecognizable to your digestive system as plastic.
Riding the Non Stop Stress Express: So you’re not sleeping, you’re eating processed foods and then you think you can go to the gym and beat yourself up on a treadmill or in the squat rack and all will be right in the world? Think again. Exercise is a form of stress and needs to be modified according to your overall stress levels in order for it to be a successful weight loss tool. In our highly stressed world, traditional cardio and other forms of “training hard” serve only to exacerbate stress levels and increase body fat. Instead, take time to “work in” in periods of high stress and hire a professional to prescribe a workout plan that takes your various stress levels into account.
Too Much Mental Aerobics: Weight gain and/or the inability to lose weight can be psychosomatic. Stress doesn’t just stem from a long day at the office or from sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Your own thoughts can create a hugely stressful reality for your body. If you constantly think that you can’t lose weight, you inadvertently create stress for your body, which will lead to weight gain. The more you tell yourself that you can’t lose weight, the more your body will listen. The more you beat yourself up with the number on the scale, the more your body will hold on to the pounds. Practice letting go of the negative tapes that are on repeat in your mind and instead embrace weight loss as a long-term health plan. Being overly critical and hard on yourself will only lead you to frustration…and tighter pants.
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