If your practitioner tells you weight loss is solely about “calories in versus calories out”, RUN don’t walk and find another practitioner.
Calories in versus calories out is an outdated perspective on weight loss. Weight loss has so many variables and factors. And let’s take the narrative of “it’s my age” that’s making it harder for me to lose weight. It’s not your age, it’s your hormones (like DHEA!) , gut microbiome, toxic load, quality of sleep and a plethora of other reasons!
We all have seen and heard about the individual who was “in the best shape of their life at the age of 55”. YOU got this! Stop self sabotaging.
We as humans are experts at rationalizing to fit our story. Get that resistance out of your conversation with yourself and let’s take a look at a few factors. Keep in mind this is a topic I could talk about FOR HOURS, so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
- Calories: When you chronically restrict calories, your body goes “oh sh*t, I’m not getting enough calories to sustain myself, I am going to hold on to the calories that I am consuming”. Chronically under eating calories actually puts more stress on the body –also known as cortisol. This puts your body in the “flight or fight” mode, rather than the “rest and digest mode” so working towards your weight loss goal becomes harder not smarter. Restricting calories long term also isn’t sustainable… or fun! Diet’s do work but lifestyle habits do. The goal is to understand your specific sweet spot of calories so that your body is functionally like a well oiled machine.
- Hormones: There are a variety of hormones that impact your weight. Hormones including your estrogen, leptin, thyroid, progesterone, cortisol and DHEA are just a few varsity players in your weight loss journey. If your hormones are out of balance, ANYTHING YOU DO is going to be going against the grain. If your hormones are even slightly off balance, every system in your body is not going to be able to operate appropriately and the cascade of this, effects every single cell in your body.
- Gut Microbiome: I’m sure you’ve heard your gut being called “your second brain”. Your metabolism, cravings and how well you absorb and digest your foods is dictated by the health and integrity of your gut. If you have an overgrowth of bad bacteria, research indicates that the inflammation within your gut makes it 89% more difficult to shed the pounds. HOLY COW RIGHT?!
- Sleep: Sleep deprivation makes you “metabolically groggy”. Within just 4 days of insufficient ZZZs, your body’s ability to process insulin-a hormone needed to change sugar, starches, and other food into energy — goes awry. Insulin resistance increased 36% if the individual received less than 7 hours of sleep. When your body doesn’t respond properly to insulin, your body has trouble processing fats from your bloodstream, so it ends up storing them as fat – specifically around your midsection. Other factors include your stress levels (both emotional and physical!), type of exercise and frequency, mediations, toxic load of the body, dietary and lifestyle habits.
STOP looking for quite fixes and do yourself a massive favor and get to the root cause of your health concerns to make long lasting change.
Educate yourself, not deprive yourself.
Love, Coach Havilande – MNT