Top Ten Reasons Why Women Cannot Lose
Weight
Weight gain is just so exasperating, especially for women
who seemingly do everything right with diet and exercise and yet suffer from that
irritating midriff bulge. However,
understanding and being aware of a few contributing habits can make a big
difference on your waistline. Let’s
consider these ten leading culprits of weight gain in women:
1.
Eating too much at one meal: Large meals increase insulin levels, a real
Jekyll and Hyde hormone. Insulin is
helpful in that it lowers your blood sugar but is harmful in that it inhibits
fat burning and encourages fat storage.
2.
Eating too fast at meals: Eating too fast, whether it’s a healthy food
or not, will spike your insulin levels and stimulate fat storage in the same
way as eating too much at one meal.
3.
Insulin Resistance: In this age of food
abundance we have the liberty to snack as often as we like. No matter what those snacks consist of
(although most of the time it is a nutrient depleted processed food) your blood
sugar will rise followed by an increase in insulin. After a few decades of this bad habit, the
insulin will stop working to lower the blood sugar and will just make you store
fat. This is what is called insulin resistance. Learning how to properly eat a low glycemic
index diet can easily correct this problem.
4.
Eating too late: Eating dinner after 6:00 pm is never a good idea
as the body does not have enough time to metabolize all those macronutrients. Those late-night calories just get stored as
fat instead of being burned by say, an after-dinner walk.
5.
Not eating enough throughout the day: So
many women complain of hardly eating anything at all but gaining so much
weight. This is because you are not
eating enough food to support your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the
number of calories you need to stay alive. Basically you are starving yourself to death
so the body responds by storing every last calorie. Eating stimulates calorie burning, referred
to as the thermic
effect of food. When you skip meals or eat like a mouse you do not benefit
from this process.
6.
Estrogen is too high or too low: Women will gain weight when their estrogen
levels are too high, such as during puberty to support fertility, and when
their levels are too low, such as during peri-menopause and menopause. The best
way to regulate estrogen levels is through exercise, ideally the kind that
makes you sweat and increases your heart rate.
A brisk walk outside can do wonders for your hormones. Dietarily, if estrogen levels are low then you
should eat foods that are high in phytoestrogens such as tofu and flax seeds.
7.
Overproduction of the hunger hormone ghrelin: Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates your
appetite when the stomach is empty.
Constantly eating large meals (even if it’s just one meal per day) will
stretch out your stomach so that you will feel like you are starving as soon as
your stomach empties. This is one reason why it is better to eat four to six
small meals per day instead of three large meals. Also, it takes about an hour for ghrelin
levels to decline once you start eating so just eat half your meal and then
wait about an hour. If you’re still
hungry then finish your plate (just be truly mindful about how you feel).
8.
Leptin resistance: Leptin is a hormone that reducs your appetite
and promotes satiety. However, if you are insulin resistent then you may also
be leptin resistent-You produce leptin but it does not work to reduce your
appetite. Following a low glycemic
index diet to reverse insulin resistance will restore leptin to its full
functionality.
9.
Over production of the stress hormone,
cortisol: Cortisol is a
stress hormone made by the adrenal glands.
A little bit of this hormone is a good thing. It gets us going in the morning, but chronic
production leads us to eat “comfort foods”.
Comforts foods such as macaroni and cheese and pizza are not necessarily
called comforts foods because they taste good but because they literally lower
cortisol levels and make us relax. Aside
from the day-to-day minutia of life two bad habits that increase cortisol
levels unnecessarily are over-exercising and undereating. The take-home message
here is that running marathons and living off of protein bars may not get you
to your weight goal.
10.
Underactive thyroid: The thyroid gland is responsible for the
production of thyroid hormones that regulate your ability to metabolize food. When they are not doing their job the first
thing you will notice is weight gain, along with chronic fatigue, sensitivity
to cold, and hair loss. Be sure to see
your endocrinologist if you suspect a thyroid problem or listen to this Eat Right with Laura podcast to learn more about thyroid
health.
Being made aware of these ten
contributing factors of weight gain may inspire you to change your behavior. Be sure to include nutrients in your diet that
boost your metabolism such as protein-rich foods including meat, fish, eggs,
dairy, legumes, nuts and seeds. Proteins
are a complex macronutrient that take more energy to digest than fats and
carbohydrates. Make sure you get enough
sleep but not too much. If you are truly
struggling with your weight then avoid alcohol of any kind. Alcohol is not recognized by your body as a
nutrient and ultimately is converted to fat. Finally, consider working with a
dietician, nutritionist or health coach to get you on track and to keep you
accountable to your weight loss goals.
