Scale Won’t Budge? Deeper Root Causes of Uncontrolled Weight Gain & Weight Loss Resistance

Much of the time, we can reach a healthy weight by eating well, reducing inflammatory foods and incorporating regular exercise. There is a large portion of the population however, who experience uncontrolled weight gain and despite exercising, eating healthy and cutting calories, they still can’t lose weight. This is known as weight loss resistance.

What's Weight Loss Resistance?

First, weight loss is far more than body transformation; it's about health, vitality and longevity. The goal is to get healthier, not just lose weight. Most men women over age 35 who struggle relentlessly with their weight are dealing with a systemic body imbalance that is blocking weight loss. This is known as weight loss resistance, which urges your body to hang on to extra weight. In essence your body is doing this to protect you and it's not screwing up, but it's responding to a deeper imbalance in your body.

Often those who experience weight loss resistance will restrict their calorie intake even more in order to lose weight which only exasperates the problem and continues to notify your body that you are in a state of fight or flight. This slows your metabolism in the long run as your body continues to store fat to "save you" resulting in more weight gain, despite less calories.

Many of us are told it's only "calories in, versus calories out" that matters in weight loss. This could not be further from the truth.

Underlining Root Causes To Uncontrolled Weight Gain & Weight Loss Resistance

GUT DYSBIOSIS/IMBALANCES
Your gut bugs can help regulate metabolism, nutrient absorption, and weight management. However, if your intestinal environment is imbalanced, it can cause what is known as dysbiosis, and that’s not good for anyone. It can mean that you have lower levels of beneficial bacteria, more opportunistic pathogens, or reduced diversity — all of which can have an impact on your body, your health and your weight.

YEAST OVERGROWTH OR BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH
Do you find yourself struggling with a strong, sometimes uncontrollable, sweet tooth? Do you get bloated or feel swollen after eating sugar or carbohydrates? Is your clothing size going up each season? If you answered yes to any of these questions then there’s a chance Candida overgrowth may be causing your symptoms. Candida overgrowth can not only make you gain weight, but also make it near impossible to shed those extra pounds.

PARASITES
When we have any of the GI infections listed above (parasite, bacteria, yeast, fungal, mold), damage has been done to our gut lining. This means that we aren’t able to digest and absorb the nutrients from our food, and this negatively affects our tissues and organs leading to other body symptom imbalances like hormonal imbalances. When we have a chronic GI infection, this triggers inflammation and therefore sends the message to our body that we need more cortisol, a primary anti-inflammatory hormone. Cortisol is also a sort of fat storage hormone, so when we are over-producing it, our body holds onto weight (particularly around the mid section).

HORMONAL LINKS TO WEIGHT GAIN

METABOLIC SYNDROME:
Metabolic syndrome is typically categorized by anyone who experiences elevated blood pressure over 120/80, elevated cholesterol over 200 and triglycerides over 75, and elevated fasting blood sugar over 100. Not every person who has gained weight and can't keep it off is suffering from metabolic syndrome, but almost everyone suffering from metabolic syndrome typically can't take the weight off or keep to off.

What Can I Do??

If you are experiencing weight loss resistance and suspect you may have one of these underlining root causes, the best approach is to work with a Integrative Health Practitioner. A IHP can run functional medicine labs to test for these deeper imbalances and then properly address them using an Integrative approach in order to rebalance your body, lower inflammation and lose the weight. After seeing whats really going on in your body through your labs, there are effective herbal and supplemental protocols to address the problem, alongside (ALWAYS first and foremost) nutrition and lifestyle changes as necessary.

If you are interested in running a Functional Medicine Lab to get to the root cause of your symptoms or imbalances, please schedule an Integrative Health Assessment with Laura Pounds, IHP.