You try hard, really hard. But the fat just refuses to leave you. We hear people say, “I’m on a diet all the time but I see no results”. Let’s face it, we’ve all been there. The vast majority of people who try to lose weight either don’t succeed or end up gaining back all that they lose. This is not just because we go back to our previous eating habits, it turns out that our body triggers certain kinds of mechanisms that make it harder to keep the extra pounds off our body. Losing weight is difficult for various physiological and psychological reasons.
Your Body’s Resistance
When you attempt to lose weight, your body tries to fight back. The fats stored in the adipose tissue is a super energy rich substance that your body can use to fuel itself. When you stop or reduce eating for some reason or need some extra energy to grow, your body turns to your fat. Now you might think, this is it. I will eat less and let my body use up the fat stored in my body, reduce weight and then go back to my previous lifestyle. But here’s what you didn’t know. Your body does not want to lose its energy sources. So when you try to cut calories it reacts in a way that makes it difficult to lose weight. And this is why, from the perspective of survival, your body tries to resist that weight loss you’ve been trying to accomplish.
But don’t worry, understanding how your body responds when you try to lose weight will help you establish the right method of not just losing weight but also maintaining it.
Changes to Hormones
Leptin and Ghrelin are the two hunger hormones that can prevent your weight loss. Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by your body’s fat cells. It is the hormone that signals your brain that it is full. The larger the fat cells, the more leptin they produce. Ghrelin is a hormone produced by the stomach. It is the hormone that signals your brain that it is not full. When you try to lose weight, the leptin levels in your body drop, making you feel less full than usual. On the other hand, Ghrelin levels in your body increase making you feel hungrier. This is how your body stimulates food intake and hinders your weight loss journey.
Metabolic Rate
Just like us, our bodies are skeptical about change. When your body gets used to a certain amount of fat in the body, it tries to make alterations to stay the same. So when you start making changes in your food intake and nutrition, metabolic homeostasis or that which regulates the metabolic rate starts to store fat for future energy requirements. This slows down your weight loss goal.
Impact on your organs
Apart from your metabolism and hormones, other organs such as the brain, stomach, start fighting against your weight loss plans.
Brain
Parts of your brain like the hypothalamus interpret the reduction in leptin levels as starvation and begin to signal your body to conserve energy. They start telling your body to eat more to rebuild those leptin levels. In addition to changing how hungry you feel, your brain responds to these hormonal changes by making you more aware of all the food you’ve not been eating, reminding you the pleasure you feel when you eat it.
Stomach & Pancreas
Your stomach tells your brain it’s not getting enough food by increasing ghrelin levels in your body. At the same time your pancreas secretes less insulin which is known to regulate the blood sugar levels in your body. When you eat something that is heavy on sugary carbs, the insulin level goes up. Insulin functions to bring down the sugary fat content that you have consumed. The pancreas also produces less amylin which signals fullness. So when you cut down on your calorie intake, Ghrelin levels increase whereas your insulin and amylin levels decrease. This tells your brain to increase appetite, making you feel famished.
Loss of Lean Muscles
When you go on a quick weight loss diet popularly known as the yo-yo effect, your body loses weight the wrong way. Instead of getting rid of the excess fat stored, the body ends up losing the lean muscle tissue. And when you start gaining some weight, instead of gaining lean muscle tissue you end up gaining more fat in your body. This yo-yo cycle can thus make you fatter than you were before you started the diet. Even if you don’t get fat, your body loses lean muscles which lowers down your metabolism making you more prone to over eating.
Exercise Is Not Everything
Although doing activities plays an important role in burning calories, it is not the only aspect that will make you lose weight. Just because you have been hitting the gym or going for walks every day, it doesn’t mean you will lose weight. While being active, it is extremely important to be aware of what you eat and how much you eat in order to achieve your weight loss and weight management goals.
One Diet Doesn’t Fit All
A diet plan that works for your friend, may not work for you. This is because, not all bodies function in the same way. For example, some have a high metabolic rate and some have low. Similarly factors like age, medical history, genetics, gender your preferences etc. play an important role in determining what works best for you. It is for this reason that it is extremely important you work with certified medical practitioners like us who will curate an excellent weight loss plan that is specifically designed for you. We at DrNewMed not only provide exclusive weight loss programs in Arizona, but also monitor your progress and walk you through your weight loss journey to make sure you don’t just lose weight but also maintain it.
Although certain biological factors contribute in slowing down your weight loss, the biggest reason that you are not losing weight is your mindset. Here are some psychological reasons that are coming in the way of your weight loss.
Food Addictions
We live in an obesogenic environment where the principle ‘everything that is bigger is better’ is promoted. In America, the foods that are served are always in large proportions when compared to other countries around the world. This promotes issues like mindless eating and food addictions which contribute in gaining weight. This automatically reduces access to healthy food choices making it difficult to lose weight.
Fear of Change
Most of us are not open to change. We consider change as a burden. With this type of mindset, it becomes difficult to adjust to new kinds of eating habits which cause you to slip away from your weight loss goals. It is important to remain positive and create a mindset that helps you stay in focus.
Loss of Food
When we put ourselves on a healthy- eating plan, we automatically lose our access to fat greasy foods. When a person is used to eating such foods, he or she may associate the feeling of goodness with such foods and when this food gets restricted, he or she may inculcate feelings of agitation, anger and distress. Thus it becomes important to recognize what activates such feelings in you and remind yourself about the positive effects of achieving your weight loss goals.
Lack of Support
Lack of support or motivation is one of the biggest factors that is obstructing your weight loss. Comments that fuel negativity may pull you down but it is important to motivate yourself and move forward. No doubt a network of support does help you achieve your objectives but that does not mean you can’t do it alone. You should remember that you are losing weight for yourself and not for others. Your weight loss journey should begin from you and not from the pressure of friends or family.
Sleep Pattern and Stress
Not maintaining a regular sleep schedule and chronic stress are high trigger points in weight gain. When you don’t sleep enough, your brain’s activity levels come down thus impacting factors like self-control. Moreover, when you sleep less, you eat more thus gaining unwanted weight. Stress can drastically impact your ability to lose weight. Since sugar supplies your body with instant energy, it usually becomes the first thing one reaches to when stressed. For example, it is not uncommon to eat chocolates when you are feeling low. Emotional eating and skipping meals also contribute to weight gain.
It is imperative that in order to succeed in your weight loss plan, you need to incorporate certain lifestyle changes such as making healthy food decisions and sticking to it.
At DrNewMed, we provided medically supervised exclusive weight loss programs in AZ according to each individual’s requirements. Our programs are specifically designed to not only achieve desired weight loss results but also maintain it. We offer both in-office visits in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as online consultations throughout the state of Arizona. Book your appointment today at DrNewMed.
