Calorie deficit is the key to unlock weight loss; however, for some people, losing weight can be a bit more complicated than maintaining a deficit and burning calories through exercise. When the stubborn fat layers do not melt off from the belly and thighs, and the weighing scale does not budge, even with strict dieting and intensive workout, it’s most likely weight loss resistance in play which causes the body to cling on to the extra pounds, and fight all such efforts made in that direction. Various systemic imbalances including hormonal changes and nutritional deficiencies can prevent weight loss from happening. Needless to say, the inability to lose weight despite following all golden rules can be quite frustrating. In this post, we list down factors that cause weight loss resistance and ways to deal with them.
What is Weight Loss Resistance?
Weight loss resistance happens when someone has metabolic imbalances which makes losing weight an uphill task, even with healthy eating and physical activity. Unless these metabolic and physiological imbalances are addressed, no amount of HIIT and crash dieting would melt away extra fat.
What Causes Weight Loss Resistance and Ways to Deal with Them:
1. Chronic Inflammation: If you have been counting calories, exercising for hours together, and still not shedding any significant weight, it’s most probably inflammation that is stalling weight loss from happening. When one puts on weight, leads an extremely stressful life, eats processed food, sleeps only for a short period of time, a protein called as C-reactive protein, which is considered to be an inflammatory marker present in the blood also rises up, making the body more and more acidic. Metabolic changes and hormonal factors raise CRP levels and push the body into inflammation status. Inflammation makes the body insulin resistant, and as a result, pancreas continuously pumps up insulin to lower blood sugar levels. Now, we all know that insulin is also a fat-storage hormone which triggers the creation of new fat cells. So, inflammation triggers insulin resistance, which in turn leads to more insulin production, and larger creation of fat cells which converts all extra calories into fat, and stores it particularly around the belly area. Here’s how you can Reduce Inflammation in the Body.
2. Nutritional Deficiencies: For the body and important hormones to function properly, you need to nourish it adequately. Counting calories would totally be ineffective if you are not nourishing the body with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients through the diet. Lack of vitamins, vitamin D3, magnesium, calcium, iron, chromium, coenzyme Q10 can absolutely stall the fat-burning process. It’s important to follow healthy diets, such that as on Rati Beauty app, to lose oodles of weight . Download the Rati Beauty app for more details.
3. Insulin Resistance: Insulin resistance is a condition where pancreas produces insulin but the cells stop responding to the efforts of this hormone by not allowing glucose to enter from the bloodstream. As a result, there’s an excess of glucose always circulation in the blood, and to get excess blood sugar out of the way, pancreas continue to secrete more insulin, making it a vicious cycle. As we have mentioned earlier, insulin triggers fat storage in the body. This important hormone, which also regulates blood sugar levels and helps to absorb glucose, also controls the fat building process. Insulin stimulates the conversion of fatty acids into fat molecules which get stored as fat droplets in the body. When you tend to eat a large amount of carbohydrates, especially refined flour (maida, pastas/cookies etc.) or sugary substances (pastries/cakes/cold drinks), it triggers release of insulin from the pancreas. If you have insulin resistance, check these amazing ways to fight insulin resistance to lose weight in this post.
4. Overload on the Liver to Detoxify Toxins: The cosmetics we use, the pesticides that make their way through the food chain onto our plates, consumption of processed food, air pollution, water contamination can all flush the body with loads of toxins, and the liver, which does most of the detoxification for us, finds it extremely difficult to process and eliminate toxins out of the system. If the body has trouble clearing out toxins, the subsequent buildup, will create major health issues. The most common outcome of toxin overload is weight gain and the inability to lose weight because excessive toxins throw fat-burning enzymes and hormones out of whack and raise inflammation levels in the body. To lower the toxic load, use organic and unprocessed food, drink loads of water, reduce the use of chemical-laden skincare and makeup products, practice yoga, and get out and fresh air and sunlight.
5. Unhealthy Gut: Here’s an interesting fact about our body that you might have never heard from anyone before – our gut is called as the “second brain” of the body because there are 100 million neurons in our gut and they are linked directly to the brain. Therefore, maintaining a healthy gut is of supreme importance because an unhealthy gut can lower immunity, increase weight, cause hormonal imbalances, affect mental health, cause endocrine and metabolic disorders. Read about 15 Ways to Improve Gut Health in this post.
6. High Stress: When you cannot keep a tab over stress, it can cause a lot of damage to the body. Increased stress levels also increase the production of hunger hormone “ghrelin” since it acts to lower stress and that explains why most people tend to overeat when they are stressed out or even just anxious. Stress has also been linked to increase weight gain. Burn the stress off by working out, listening to music, yoga, pursuing new hobbies, or just taking a stroll with your pet. Here are 10 Tips to Lower Stress in order to Lose Weight.
7. Thyroid Problems: Hypothyroidism results from an underactive thyroid gland and appropriate treatment from a doctor becomes absolutely necessary to treat the symptoms. An underactive thyroid fails to produce enough T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine) hormones, and these hormones are needed to regulate metabolism, and in such a situation, weight loss becomes a lot difficult. Here’s how you can Lose Weight with Hypothyroidism.
8. Iron-Deficiency Anemia: Anemia is a condition when there are not enough red blood cells in the body and the level of hemoglobin is low. Particularly, those people who suffer from iron-deficiency anemia experience low energy levels and weight gain. In this post, we have listed out Home remedies to Treat Anemia.
9. Neurotransmitter Imbalance: Lack of sleep, increased stress, poor diet, inflammation all can cause imbalance in serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine levels which are neurotransmitters closely linked with weight gain/weight loss. A healthy diet, regular exercise, yoga, simple activities like playing with your pet can increase the level of these neurotransmitters, boosting weight loss efforts.
If you too are struggling with weight loss, do try to figure out if these points are causing weight loss resistance and deal with them righ tnow.
How Insulin Makes you Fat and Prevents Weight Loss
Home Remedies To Treat Anemia
