Why You Can't Lose Weight

Can your diet actually be hurting your gut and causing weight gain? If you have a long-standing weight problem, you’ve almost certainly experienced this: The more you diet, the harder it is to lose weight. Weight gain is one of the most common concerns my clients come to me with. Let's talk about why you can't lose the weight.

First. Your metabolism.

I don't typically recommend calorie restriction as a way to lose weight, and it's because when you restrict calories, you "reset" your internal metabolism to get used to the new intake. So, when you first start this new "diet," you'll lose weight, but then after some period of time, the weight loss will stop. This is because your body has become "used to" the new caloric intake level and adjusted accordingly. Basically, its not a long term, solution and can do more harm than good.

Second. Stress.

This is huge. I don't care how many hours you spend on the treadmill, if you're stressed, then it will be hard to lose weight. The problem is, our bodies are designed to handle short term stress. They were never meant to be chronic or long-lasting, and when the stressors become chronic, this insulin resistance leads to deposition of fat in our abdomen. This is called "angry fat" because it's more inflammatory and irritates the rest of your system. It's also harder to lose than other weight because your body is on high alert from being stressed, therefore, you hold on to every calorie.

Here's what you can do.

You can first evaluate your diet. Are you craving sugar and carbs all the time? That needs to stop. Also, make sleep a priority, 8 to 9 hours of high quality sleep is extremely important.

Another great things to start doing is meditating. You don't have to be an expert or turn into a hippie (although I'm sure they are stress free), you just have to unplug starting at 5 minutes a day. Focus on just your breathing. Turn on some calming music. And relax.

My last tip.

Get on a probiotic. A good one. Healing your gut will aid in stress relief and boosting your metabolism.

This all will take time and patience. But it's completely possible to heal your body and lose the weight.

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