Everybody who has tried to lose weight has struggled with losing weight, whether it’s struggling to lose those last ten or 15 unwanted pounds or struggling to lose just five pounds. But it is true that some people begin a weight loss program and have little difficulty losing weight. Why is that?

A wide variety of medical and psychological reasons could be responsible for not losing weight even after you faithfully adhere to eating healthier foods and exercising every day. Here are eight of the most common reasons why you can’t get rid of stubborn fat through dieting and exercising:

1. Lack of Sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body won’t have enough energy to function properly the next day. This is why after a bad night’s sleep you crave sugary, high-carb foods all day. Sleep is to humans like fuel is to jet planes. No fuel means that the jet isn’t leaving the ground. Likewise, a fatigued brain and body isn’t going to “leave the ground” unless they are constantly jump-started with high-calorie, sugary foods.¹
2. Stress. When you feel anxious, nervous or fearful, your endocrine system releases huge amounts of cortisol to keep you physically and mentally prepared to “fight”. Cortisol reduces metabolism, breaks down muscle mass, increases blood sugar levels and can lead to accumulation of abdominal fat. Also, cortisol stimulates your appetite the same way lack of sleep triggers sugar cravings. Reduce stress by exercising, avoiding caffeine, meditating and simplifying your life.²
3. You’re Going Through Perimenopause or Menopause. When estrogen and progesterone levels begin falling in women over 40, it becomes harder to lose weight. Estrogen and progesterone contribute to regulating metabolism, maintaining muscle mass and distributing fat evenly throughout the body. Restoring estrogen and progesterone levels with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is one of the most popular methods women depend on to help them lose weight and improve their overall health and well-being as they age.³
4. Dehydration. You’ve probably heard this before, but we will tell you again–drinking a glass of water every two hours during the day will flush away the pounds. One study found that men and women who drank 16 ounces of water increased calories burned by 30 percent over a period of one and a half hours. Another three-month weight loss study had subjects drinking 17 ounces of water about 30 minutes before eating a meal. The control group did not drink water before eating a meal. Results of the study found that subjects who drank water lost a whopping 44 percent more weight than the control group.^4,5
5. Underactive Thyroid (Hypothyroidism). Your thyroid depends on hormones to “tell” it to release its own hormones. These special thyroid hormones–T3 and T4–play key roles in regulating metabolism. Many people who struggle to lose weight have undiagnosed mild hypothyroidism that may be reversed with BHRT. Other signs of hyperthyroidism include fatigue, craving junk food, headaches and insomnia.⁶
6. Medications. Your doctor may not have told you this, but some medications you may be taking could inhibit weight loss or cause you to gain weight. These are some of the most common medications that can make you struggle with weight loss: beta blockers, antidepressants, diabetic medications, birth control pills, corticosteroids for asthma or lupus, anti-seizure drugs.⁷
7. You don’t know what you are eating. Food journals are invaluable if you are serious about losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight. It’s easy to forget about what we eat while we go about our work and daily tasks–taking kids to sports activities, shopping for groceries, checking on aging parents. Grabbing a cheeseburger through a fast food drive-thru or snacking on chips in between breakfast, lunch and dinner can add up too many more calories than you think. Food journals can help you understand why you are gaining weight or failing to lose weight by clearly showing how you can trim 500 calories or more from your diet.
8. You may need professional help. Some people may just need extra help. Renew Health and Wellness offers a medically supervised weight loss program that focuses on eliminating the body’s fat deposits. Learn more about how you can stop struggling with weight loss by contacting us today!

References

1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/lack-sleep-make-crave-junk-food/
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-stress-causes-people-to-overeat
3. https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/winning-the-weight-battle-after-menopause
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14671205
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859815/
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911848/
7. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=56&contentid=DM300