Battling to Lose Weight?
The unseen forces keep you from losing weight.
It may seem like an uphill battle to lose weight and keep it off. At healthyendeavors.co, I will show you how to lose it for good.
Like you, I, too, have grappled with my weight. I lost 90 pounds. Just because I have maintained a “normal” BMI since 2007 doesn’t mean I don’t struggle. It is a daily challenge.
I have battled obesity and weight loss.
How have I been able to keep it off for so long?
I used my knowledge as a registered nurse and my experiences with patients at the bedside to become a master at dealing with and avoiding the pitfalls and traps of everyday life. Read more on Why Dieting is So Hard in this article I wrote on Medium.
A significant influence on your ability to gain or lose weight is hormonal.
When you are losing weight, your body makes more ghrelin. The hormone ghrelin is the one that makes you feel hungry.(1) If you make more ghrelin, you will think you are hungry, have cravings, and want to eat.
At the same time, your body starts producing less leptin. Leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full.(1) If you are making less Leptin, your body will not signal you to stop eating when you have had enough. Without this signal, you will overeat.
This natural imbalance continues even after weight loss. It will be challenging to keep the weight off.
Another factor is that your metabolism slows down when you restrict your calories.(2) As you lose weight, your body needs fewer calories to maintain the smaller you. So a metabolic trifecta is trying to keep you at your previous weight and not let you stay at your new lower weight. No wonder it is so hard!
References:
1. Wolf, R. (2019). Wired to eat. Random House US.
2. Cooper CB, Neufeld EV, Dolezal BA, Martin JL. Sleep deprivation and obesity in adults: a brief narrative review. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2018 Oct 4;4(1):e000392. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018–000392. PMID: 30364557; PMCID: PMC6196958.