Losing weight can be a struggle, especially as you age. Despite your efforts to diet and exercise, your body might not respond to the typical weight loss methods of reducing calories or hitting the gym.
Your struggle can lead to frustration and even feelings of depression. You may feel like giving in to cravings, skipping workouts, or abandoning your weight loss journey altogether.
If it feels like you’re going in circles and not seeing any results, don’t give up. There might be a surprising reason your weight loss efforts are not paying off.
Lack of quality sleep
Did you know that lack of quality sleep can actually lead to weight gain? When you’re sleep-deprived, specific areas of your brain responsible for determining hunger become more active when exposed to food stimuli.
Understanding this link between sleep and eating behavior can provide practical insights for managing nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Try to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. Create a sleep-friendly environment by keeping your room dark, cool, and quiet. There are also many apps available that can help you track and improve your sleep patterns.
Stress
Stress is a natural response hardwired into the human brain since the dawn of time. It’s what helped your ancestors respond to life-threatening situations.
But in today’s world, where stressors are more likely to be emotional than physical, this fight-or-flight response can lead to problems, especially when it comes to your waistline.
When stressed, your body goes into survival mode and releases a hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is not inherently bad. It’s essential for many bodily functions, like regulating blood sugar levels and reducing inflammation.
The problem arises when your body is constantly stressed, leading to an overproduction of cortisol.
High cortisol levels affect your appetite by stimulating fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating a surge of energy. This then stimulates insulin release and an increase in appetite. Cortisol also promotes fat storage, especially in the stomach area.
Incorporate stress-reducing activities into your daily routine. These might include yoga, meditation, reading, or even taking a walk outside. Find what works best for you and make it a regular part of your day.
Not eating enough protein
One reason you might struggle to lose weight could be a lack of protein in your diet. Protein can make you feel fuller for longer, reduce hunger, and help you eat fewer calories.
Protein increases the feeling of fullness because of appetite-regulating hormones in the gut. When you eat protein, your body produces more of the hormone that reduces hunger and makes you feel full.
Protein has a high thermic effect. The thermic effect of food (TEF) is the energy your body needs to digest, absorb, and process nutrients. Protein has a higher TEF than fats and carbohydrates, so your body burns more calories to process protein.
Protein can also help prevent muscle loss during weight loss. Eating enough protein while dieting helps preserve lean mass, which helps maintain your metabolic rate and prevents a metabolic slowdown, a common side effect of losing weight.
Add more protein into your diet through lean meats, dairy products, eggs, or plant-based sources like beans and lentils.
Losing weight is about more than just cutting calories and hitting the gym. It’s a complex process that involves many factors like sleep, stress, and diet.
