Here Are Some Reasons Why You Are Finding it Difficult to Lose Weight

By on 05 January 2024

Here Are Some Reasons Why You Are Finding it Difficult to Lose Weight

Seeing the same number on the scale after consistent efforts can be frustrating in a weight loss journey. The lifestyle modifications that worked like magic in shedding those initial pounds, don't help anymore. Wondering how to lose weight fast? Instead of relying on dubious tablets or quick fixes for your weight loss, get into the root cause and apply a holistic approach for better and more sustainable results. You may have hit a plateau or there could be some hormonal disturbances within. You’ve probably even started to look up articles on “how to lose weight fast” or “how to burn belly fat"." Through our article today, we explore certain crucial factors that may be the answer to your question, "How to Lose Weight Fast, Naturally, and Permanently."

1. Hitting a Plateau

Everyone experiences a plateau stage at some point in their journey of weight loss. Hitting the plateau stage in weight loss is your body’s way of protecting you as it starts believing that you are entering a starvation stage. So your body now starts producing more hunger hormones and fewer satiety hormones, so that you may eat more.

Another mechanism for maintaining weight during the plateau stage is resistance. Your body now becomes immune or adapts to the calorie deficit or the calories you've been burning out initially to lose weight. So now the same regimen of low-cal eating, or exercise routine doesn't make you lose fat further. There is no fixed time or duration when the plateau in weight loss hits it is individualized. Along with dietary changes, exercising a little harder than your usual routine may help break weight-loss plateaus.

2. Stress

If you are following a healthy diet and exercise regime but are constantly stressed about how to lose weight, you may find it more difficult to lose those extra pounds. Under stress, our body is designed to produce a hormone named cortisol as part of a defense mechanism. Stress sends out a signal in the human body system that the body needs to protect (fight or escape) the situation. In this bargain, the body tries to store more fat than burn, which can contribute to your weight gain.

3. Hormonal Imbalance

Hormones play an essential role in regulating your appetite. For instance, grehlin is a hunger hormone, while leptin is a hormone that indicates satiety. An imbalance in these hormones can lead to overeating and food cravings. Thus, people with hormonal imbalances or with medical conditions due to hormonal imbalances such as hypothyroidism, PCOD, and diabetes find it difficult to lose weight.

Menopause:
In menopausal women, a reduction in the production of the estradiol hormone can contribute to weight gain

Diabetes and PCOS:
People with diabetes on insulin treatment may experience weight gain as a side effect, as insulin helps the body cells take up excess glucose from the bloodstream, and this excess glucose is then converted into fat. Similarly, people with excess weight (fat cells) tend to develop insulin resistance, and as a result, their bodies produce more insulin. Excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) leads to excess production of the male hormone androgen (hyperandrogenism) which further promotes weight gain.

PCOS:
Weight gain in PCOS is primarily due to insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism.

Hypothyroid:
Our thyroid gland is responsible for maintaining our body weight, by regulating our body’s metabolism. With an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), the metabolism is also slowed down, leading to weight gain.

Obesity:
Obese people have more fat cells and tend to have higher leptin (satiety hormone) levels, so technically, it should help them feel fuller soon and prevent binge eating. However, such people tend to lose sensitivity to the leptin hormone, which creates the opposite effect, causing weight gain.

Note: Certain unhealthy lifestyle habits can also lead to weight gain, such as alcohol consumption and poor sleeping habits.

Poor sleeping habits:
Poor sleep quality or quantity tends to alter appetite-regulating hormones, thereby causing weight gain.

4. Inconsistency

Following a strict diet for 6 days at a stretch but binge eating on the 7th day can make you gain fat. Similarly, trying to stick to a healthy regimen but exercising for days and skipping the next three days or indulging in small amounts of fries some day and dessert the other day can also lead to weight gain. Keep it realistic and easy to stick to, and most importantly, stay consistent for the best results.

5. Mindful indulgences

The amount of calories in a particular food doesn't depend on its size. So 2 small Oreo biscuits have around 105 calories, whereas 16 medium-sized strawberries will give you around 96 calories. Such foods are called calorie-dense foods; they appear to be small in size but are loaded with calories. So frequent indulgences such as one bite of that muffin some day or just two small cookies the other day can add up to your excess calories and cause weight gain.

Surprisingly, certain gut microbes can be blamed for your weight gain. Studies claim that certain bad gut bacteria initiate sugar and junk food cravings as these foods feed them and help them proliferate. Hence, at times, simple changes in your habits, like including probiotics along with prebiotics, can help you reduce your cravings. These probiotics may also help you regularize your bowel movement and prevent constipation, which manifests as bloating or adding weight to the scale.

6. Extreme Diets & Protein Deficiency

Extreme diets may help give you instant results, but they are short-lived. Your weight might just bounce back the moment to get back to your routine eating pattern. This can lead to disappointments, and the vicious cycle (YO-YO effect) of extreme dieting, losing weight, binge eating due to cravings, and gaining weight back begins. Moreover, following extreme diets can land you at risk for developing multiple nutritional deficiencies or even make you have extreme cravings, which are then followed by binge eating. Such eating practices hurt your overall health.
You may also be gaining weight due to a lack of sufficient protein in your diet. Protein metabolism utilizes a good amount of energy(calorie burning). It also has a high satiety value i.e. it keeps you fuller for longer and prevents you from overeating. If your diet lacks proteins due to veganism or gastric disturbances, you may think of adding a plant-based protein powder to give your metabolism a boost.

Conclusion

That number just doesnt seems to move whether on the weighing scale or from your mind? If your weight is stuck and you are thinking about how to lose weight fast, identifying the underlying causes of the stuck weight and finding a way to overcome them will help you reach your intended outcome. Remain focused, and never give up. You may also take advantage of certain fat burners, probiotics, or prebiotic supplements to help you with the same.

References

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Afaaf Shaikh

A holistic nutritionist with 5 years+ experience in Clinical, Bariatric, Nutrition and Lifestyle management and an expert on Gut Health and Child Nutrition.
Read all blogs by Afaaf