Weight loss
5 Reasons Why Women Struggle to Lose Weight
Many women believe the only way diets work is to reduce the number of calories eaten and increase the amount of energy burned. While this is the basic theory behind weight loss, research has shown other reasons that can make it difficult for women to burn fat and build lean muscle. The National Institutes of Health cites many factors that can affect your weight and lead to obesity while also making it difficult to lose weight.
If you struggle to lose weight after reducing your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity, learn how to overcome other reasons why women struggle to lose weight and keep it off.
Overcoming Weight Loss Struggles
1. Hormone imbalance
A hormone imbalance can have a significant impact on metabolism and lead to considerable weight gain. A woman’s hormone levels will fluctuate during different phases of her life, including puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. Hormones regulate many bodily processes, acting as chemical messengers within your bloodstream to trigger certain bodily functions such as reproduction, hot flashes, and metabolism.
If you have too little or too much of a specific hormone, it can change the way your body burns energy and lead to weight gain. A hormonal imbalance can also cause the body to produce more energy and heat. This is why many women going through menopause will suffer from night sweats and hot flashes.
Consider Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy for Women or BHRT to reduce the symptoms of hormone deficiency. Women have over 100 different hormones that regulate sleep, body temperature (hot flashes relief), mood swings, and sex drive. BHRT replaces low hormone levels to regulate aging and restore a better quality of life for women.
2. Thyroid problems
According to WebMD, in women experiencing fatigue, hair loss, brain fog, or weight gain, it could be your thyroid gland to blame. Like your hormones, the thyroid is tasked with regulating many body and mind functions, including how the body uses energy.
Thyroid disorders can slow down or rev up metabolism by disrupting the production of thyroid hormones. When hormone levels drop too low, you may experience a wide range of symptoms, including weight gain, changes in mood, hair loss, and hot flashes.
Speak with a hormone therapy provider to discover how Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT can stimulate both your brain and immune system for clear thinking and improved vitality. The proper hormone levels can help the thyroid gland regulate how your body burns fat, leading to better and longer-lasting weight loss results.
3. Lack of quality sleep
During your weight loss campaign, it is crucial to get enough sleep and achieve quality sleep. According to SleepFoundation.org, “getting adequate, quality sleep is an important part of a healthy weight loss plan. Most importantly, research has shown that losing sleep while dieting can reduce the amount of weight loss and encourage overeating.”
Quality sleep is defined as:
- falling asleep within 30 minutes after getting into bed
- sleeping the recommended amount of hours for your age group
- going back to sleep within 20 minutes when you do wake up
- feeling rested, restored, and energized upon waking up in the morning
For many women that consistently sleep less than 6 hours per day, there is a direct connection between wakefulness, menopause, and hot flashes relief. Night sweats and body overheating can cause women to toss and turn, which causes disruptions in sleep patterns. Speak with a medical professional to see if your poor sleep quality is causing irregular hormone levels or if fluctuating hormones are a symptom of your sleep difficulties.
4. Eating the wrong foods
Weight-loss struggles may not be caused by overeating food but by eating the wrong foods. Never skip meals or eliminate entire food groups like carbs or proteins. Doing this will only cause you to crave unhealthy foods that can send your metabolism out of whack. Some foods are easy to distinguish as bad for weight loss. These include french fries, fatty cuts of meat, processed meats, diet soda, and sugary cereals.
Also, when eating to lose weight, some people choose add-ons that are full of hidden calories. While grilled chicken and salads are excellent weight loss foods, the salt, fat, and calorie levels can skyrocket when you add fatty dressings or condiments. Weight loss-friendly foods include:
- Leafy greens and cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
- Whole eggs, lean beef, tuna, and chicken breast
- Boiled potatoes, beans, and legumes
- Avocados, nuts, and whole grains
Top these foods with healthy seasonings that reduce fat and burn calories such as chili peppers, chia seeds, coconut oil, yogurt, and fruit.
5. Emotional eating
Emotional eating is when people crave food when they’re experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, or other emotional issues. This type of stress reaction typically causes us to reach for fatty foods, sweets, or junk food. But, downing a pint of ice cream or a fully-loaded pizza is the worst thing to do when you’re feeling emotional or stressed after a day at work. Hormones in women like estrogen play a significant role in regulating mood. Varying levels can modify the “feel-good” chemicals (endorphins).
Women can increase their serotonin levels to reduce emotional eating, which can ruin a weight-loss program. Consider the Renew Me Today clean start weight loss program that is medically designed to stop the craving for unhealthy foods. This comprehensive weight loss program combines healthy eating and fat-burning therapies that result in faster weight loss and reduces yoyo dieting results.
Sources:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight-obesity/factors-affecting-weight-health
https://www.medicinenet.com/can_hormonal_imbalance_cause_weight_gain/article.htm
https://www.webmd.com/women/ss/slideshow-thyroid-symptoms-and-solutions
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/how-to-determine-poor-quality-sleep
https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/estrogen-and-womens-emotions
Medically Monitored Weight Loss
Many women believe the only way diets work is to reduce the number of calories eaten and increase the amount of energy burned. While this is the basic theory behind weight loss, research has shown other reasons that can make it difficult for women to burn fat and build lean muscle. The National Institutes of Health cites many factors that can affect your weight and lead to obesity while also making it difficult to lose weight.
If you struggle to lose weight after reducing your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity, learn how to overcome other reasons why women struggle to lose weight and keep it off.
Overcoming Weight Loss Struggles
1. Hormone imbalance
A hormone imbalance can have a significant impact on metabolism and lead to considerable weight gain. A woman’s hormone levels will fluctuate during different phases of her life, including puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. Hormones regulate many bodily processes, acting as chemical messengers within your bloodstream to trigger certain bodily functions such as reproduction, hot flashes, and metabolism.
If you have too little or too much of a specific hormone, it can change the way your body burns energy and lead to weight gain. A hormonal imbalance can also cause the body to produce more energy and heat. This is why many women going through menopause will suffer from night sweats and hot flashes.
Consider Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy for Women or BHRT to reduce the symptoms of hormone deficiency. Women have over 100 different hormones that regulate sleep, body temperature (hot flashes relief), mood swings, and sex drive. BHRT replaces low hormone levels to regulate aging and restore a better quality of life for women.
2. Thyroid problems
According to WebMD, in women experiencing fatigue, hair loss, brain fog, or weight gain, it could be your thyroid gland to blame. Like your hormones, the thyroid is tasked with regulating many body and mind functions, including how the body uses energy.
Thyroid disorders can slow down or rev up metabolism by disrupting the production of thyroid hormones. When hormone levels drop too low, you may experience a wide range of symptoms, including weight gain, changes in mood, hair loss, and hot flashes.
Speak with a hormone therapy provider to discover how Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT can stimulate both your brain and immune system for clear thinking and improved vitality. The proper hormone levels can help the thyroid gland regulate how your body burns fat, leading to better and longer-lasting weight loss results.
3. Lack of quality sleep
During your weight loss campaign, it is crucial to get enough sleep and achieve quality sleep. According to SleepFoundation.org, “getting adequate, quality sleep is an important part of a healthy weight loss plan. Most importantly, research has shown that losing sleep while dieting can reduce the amount of weight loss and encourage overeating.”
Quality sleep is defined as:
- falling asleep within 30 minutes after getting into bed
- sleeping the recommended amount of hours for your age group
- going back to sleep within 20 minutes when you do wake up
- feeling rested, restored, and energized upon waking up in the morning
For many women that consistently sleep less than 6 hours per day, there is a direct connection between wakefulness, menopause, and hot flashes relief. Night sweats and body overheating can cause women to toss and turn, which causes disruptions in sleep patterns. Speak with a medical professional to see if your poor sleep quality is causing irregular hormone levels or if fluctuating hormones are a symptom of your sleep difficulties.
4. Eating the wrong foods
Weight-loss struggles may not be caused by overeating food but by eating the wrong foods. Never skip meals or eliminate entire food groups like carbs or proteins. Doing this will only cause you to crave unhealthy foods that can send your metabolism out of whack. Some foods are easy to distinguish as bad for weight loss. These include french fries, fatty cuts of meat, processed meats, diet soda, and sugary cereals.
Also, when eating to lose weight, some people choose add-ons that are full of hidden calories. While grilled chicken and salads are excellent weight loss foods, the salt, fat, and calorie levels can skyrocket when you add fatty dressings or condiments. Weight loss-friendly foods include:
- Leafy greens and cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
- Whole eggs, lean beef, tuna, and chicken breast
- Boiled potatoes, beans, and legumes
- Avocados, nuts, and whole grains
Top these foods with healthy seasonings that reduce fat and burn calories such as chili peppers, chia seeds, coconut oil, yogurt, and fruit.
5. Emotional eating
Emotional eating is when people crave food when they’re experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, or other emotional issues. This type of stress reaction typically causes us to reach for fatty foods, sweets, or junk food. But, downing a pint of ice cream or a fully-loaded pizza is the worst thing to do when you’re feeling emotional or stressed after a day at work. Hormones in women like estrogen play a significant role in regulating mood. Varying levels can modify the “feel-good” chemicals (endorphins).
Women can increase their serotonin levels to reduce emotional eating, which can ruin a weight-loss program. Consider the Renew Me Today clean start weight loss program that is medically designed to stop the craving for unhealthy foods. This comprehensive weight loss program combines healthy eating and fat-burning therapies that result in faster weight loss and reduces yoyo dieting results.
Sources:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight-obesity/factors-affecting-weight-health
https://www.medicinenet.com/can_hormonal_imbalance_cause_weight_gain/article.htm
https://www.webmd.com/women/ss/slideshow-thyroid-symptoms-and-solutions
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/how-to-determine-poor-quality-sleep
https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/estrogen-and-womens-emotions
Medically Monitored Weight Loss
