Weight loss can be challenging…even under the best of circumstances. You think you’re doing everything right, but still progress can be elusive.
Keep reading to learn about some of the factors that could be sabotaging your efforts:
1. Dehydration
Staying hydrated is important when trying to lose weight loss.
When dehydrated, your body often mistakes thirst for hunger. The result can be overeating.
Proper hydration is also supportive of a healthy metabolism and helps the body to burn more calories.
2. Liquid Calories
You’d be surprised how many calories can sneak into your daily total in liquid form. Juice, soda, smoothies, sweetened coffee drinks, and alcoholic beverages are common culprits.
And these calories add up quickly. Because they don’t make you feel full, you may be drinking more calories in liquid form than you realize.
3. Diet Soda
Diet sodas may seem like a good choice because…well…they don’t have any calories.
While diet sodas may be calorie-free, they can still interfere with your weight loss goals.
This is because the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas can stimulate cravings for sugary foods. Studies suggest that artificial sweeteners also confuse your body’s ability to regulate calorie intake and blood sugar
4. A Sluggish Metabolism
Some people have a sluggish metabolism due to genetics or inactivity.
Others will develop a slower metabolism as a consequence of the aging process. Specific age-related causes for a lower metabolism include:
- A loss of muscle mass due to low testosterone
- Imbalances in other hormones like thyroid and estrogen
- Insulin resistance
5. Inactivity
The calories burned during exercise create a calorie deficit that can help with weight loss.
Cardiovascular exercise (especially high intensity interval training) keeps your metabolism revved up for hours after the actual exercise is complete.
Strength training is important because muscle burns more calories than fat (even when you’re sleeping).
Overall, the greater the calorie deficit you create via exercise, the easier weight loss will be.
This means building enough cardiovascular exercise and strength training into your week. It also means being less sedentary overall. Get up from your desk multiple times throughout the day to stretch and move around. Park your car far away from the entrance to the grocery store. Take the stairs. Go for a walk after dinner.
A little creativity can dramatically increase your daily activity level.
6. Stress
Stress impacts metabolism in a few ways.
When under stress, your body releases cortisol. This hormone stimulates your appetite and spikes your blood sugar. Both can contribute to weight gain.
Stress also makes it harder to stick to healthy habits like exercise and a healthy diet.
And stress can compromise sleep. Keep reading for more on that…
7. Sleep
Getting enough sleep is an often-overlooked part of long-term weight loss.
Sleep deprivation dysregulates hormones associated with satiety and hunger. Specifically, your body produces more of the hunger hormone ghrelin and less of the fullness hormone leptin when you don’t get enough sleep. The result is an increase in appetite and a delay in feeling full. Both lead to overeating.
Your Weight Loss Action Plan
How can you overcome these weight-loss roadblocks? Here are some suggestions:
- Stay hydrated. Aim to drink 6-8 eight-ounce glasses of water each day.
- Avoid calorie-dense drinks and beverages containing artificial sweeteners
- Stay active.
- Manage stress with activities like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.
- Make sure you get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Get your hormone levels checked. Age-related hormone decline can be addressed via properly supervised hormone replacement therapy.
And don’t be discouraged. Some people will continue to struggle with weight loss even when they’re attending to all of the above.
But fear not. Today we have more tools at our disposal relative to weight loss than ever (particularly GLP-1 analogues like semaglutide and tirzepatide).
Renew Youth is here to support you on your weight loss journey. We have been providing doctor-supervised hormone therapy and weight loss for more than 25 years. Ready to get started? Call us at 800-859-7511 or use our easy contact form to schedule your complimentary 30-minute consultation.