You might have been struggling for many years, following various diets, counting the calories without any results. Occasionally you thought you succeeded but eventually weight loss turned out to be only temporary. All those kilos you lost two months earlier came back the next and you had to start all over again. What is the reason for this struggle and what could be the solution for permanent weight loss?
It is a common misinformation that we can only get rid of excess weight by reducing our daily calorie intake. Sounds logical but unfortunately the story is not that simple. The female body is way more complicated than that and there are many reasons why you might feel that your body abandoned you and simply doesn’t do what it’s told.
What is the problem with counting calories?
The old school model of counting calories provides us with huge tables of lists of foods, daily meal plans and strict limitations. The recommendation for women in order to lose weight is 1200-1500 kcal/day. However this guideline doesn’t take into consideration physical activity, age and other personal characteristics and environmental factors. It’s just a number on a paper that immediately gets stuck in our head as a limitation and limitations always come with stress. You start counting calories at every single meal, every day, it basically becomes the focus of your life. Not to mention that there is a huge difference between the quality of calories that you take from a burger, a chocolate cake or a tuna salad.
What happens to your body when you are on a diet?
When on a diet you reduce your food intake and the calories. You tend to skip meals, eat only an apple for breakfast and tend to substitute your meals with different kind of powders and shakes. But what is the real message that you are sending to your body when you are doing all these? It’s basically a warning. Your body understands the danger of not having enough food available so it has to be careful with using its resources. You put your system under stress. So what happens next? It switches to „survival mode”. It slows down metabolism and concentrates all the resources to necessary functions only. This is why you feel down, a lack of energy, your brain is foggy, you lose concentration and you feel irritated. In these cases reproductive functions can also shut down so infertility issues and menstrual problems might start occurring.
Your body doesn’t get the fuel that it needs for proper functioning and it will start using resources that are on hand. Do you think it’s fat? No at all. To get the necessary energy your body will first use the glycogen that is stored in the liver and the muscles. Next it will use protein in the muscles as a source of energy. So the first kilos you start losing don’t contain any fat whatsoever. But even if you go through this first stage and you believe you are doing everything right the scale just won’t budge anymore. You get frustrated, eventually might even give up and the kilos you thought you lost are there once again.
7 common reasons why you are not losing weight
In women a common cause of excess weight in the first place is hormonal imbalance. If you manage to restore the balance you are on a good path. However don't forget to give yourself some time for recovery and adaptation so be patient with yourself.
Let’s see the reasons that can make it difficult for you to lose weight:
1. You have been on diet for a long time and your body is starving. It’s constantly under stress (and on survival mode), it doesn’t trust you giving it enough nutrients and consequently it holds back all source of energy that has on store including fat.
2. You have been experiencing stress for a long time (because of the diet, demanding physical activity or emotional factors) and your adrenals produce way too much cortisol which leads to excess weight.
3. Toxins have accumulated in your liver and these toxins are now stored in the form of fat which your body won’t get rid of so as to protect you.
4. You have been taking medication that disturb your hormone balance (contraception pills included).
5. Your thyroid doesn’t function well and slowed down metabolism.
6, There is a problem with your gut health and bad bacteria overwhelmed good bacteria.
7. Metabolism slows down naturally with age which makes it more difficult to get rid of excess weight.
When the endocrine system functions properly we have a normal appetite, metabolism, energy levels, we sleep well and feel good with ourselves. If you are looking for a natural solution for permanent weight loss and want to understand the root causes of hormonal problems, feel free to contact me at info@avivamethodgreece.com.
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