Why You Can’t Achieve Lasting Weight Loss: 3 Tips to Get Ahead of 95% of Women in 2024.

If you’re tired of the never-ending battle with weight and fed up with restricting yourself from the food you enjoy, read this. On a physiological level weight gain is caused by metabolic imbalances and hormones (broadly speaking). The number one killer of hormonal harmony is…cortisol — the stress hormone

Cortisol:

• steals progesterone leading to oestrogen dominance = weight gain
• leads to insulin resistance = weight gain
• lowers your thyroid T3 hormones = weight gain
• causes inflammation = weight gain
• damages your gut microbiome and leads to leaky gut = weight gain
• makes you crave sugar = weight gain

How stress is the main trouble maker?

Stress is part of our life but the problem starts when we don’t know how to cope with it anymore. We are all humans and we have our own limits of how much we take take. When stress becomes chronic it negatively affects the whole body. What happens often, we just can’t switch off, get a good night sleep or even worse…we start craving all the bad foods. Usually sugary snacks, pizza, crisps or other high carb & fat meals. Those foods bring relief and calm our nervous system down but only for a short period of time. Long term they worsen our health and make weight loss harder.

Signs you are may be constantly stressed (without even knowing it):

• Cold hands & feet
• IBS and digestive problems when eating healthy
• Feeling anxious and worrying about small things
• Busyness, urgency and feeling intense emotional reactions to a small events and situations
• Strong need to control everything
• Procrastination
• Getting overwhelmed easily with small things
• Sensitivity to noise
• Interrupted sleep patterns
• Craving sugar
• Not feeling hungry in the morning
• Relying too much on coffee to keep you going or alcohol to relax

What is the most common mistake a lot of women make when trying to lose weight?

Going low carb, following keto diet or eating too little for a prolonged period of time. While it can work for some, it can also have the opposite effect. It can increase stress levels, especially if you’re juggling a demanding career or family life. As a result you may lose a bit of weight at the beginning but shortly after you regain it again…

So here are 3 non-nutrition tips that can help you with weight loss in 2024

1. Ditch the strict diets. Start with your emotional wellbeing. Focus on what makes you feel calm and joyful. Prioritise how you feel. When we feel good, our hormones return to balance, our bodies start burning fat, we crave less of the wrong foods, and we don’t feel the need for that cupcake to ‘feel better’. If you feel good you are able to do more of things that can help you with your weight loss or any other goal
2. Work on understanding your triggers to lower cortisol. Think about situations that make you feel upset, stressed, frustrated or when the negative self talk takes over (yes it pumps cortisol to your system too). What is it about in particular that makes you feel that way. How you can change it or how you can be more compassionate and kind with yourself?
3. Schedule 1 hour a day just for yourself. Whether it’s preparing a healthy snack for the next day at work, reading a book before bed to unwind, taking a bath or going for a long walk.

We can have the perfect meal plan or amazing workout plan but if we struggle to follow it consistently the weight loss will feel like a never ending battle. Lasting weight loss is not only about diet and exercise, it’s also about how we feel. When we feel mentally well, everything else will follow