Top Ten Reasons Why Women Cannot Lose Weight

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.