Maintaining weight gets harder as we get older. But why is that? With so many people having gained weight during Covid, which they are now finding it really difficult to shift, I thought I’d share my 5 top reasons why the body holds on to excess weight.

1. Stress, anxiety and hormones

When you are stressed, your body produces more of the hormone cortisol. This increases your appetite, causes fat to be stored around the waist and increases insulin resistance, making weight hard to shift.

Similar changes occur during menopause. Once the ovaries cease their production of oestrogen, fat stores become the next main source of oestrogen production. Therefore fat stores increase during menopause.

2. Poor energy and not sleeping

Sleep is one aspect that can impact your weight that not many people are aware of. When you are sleep deprived, the body will increase hunger and appetite in a bid to obtain more energy from another source.

3. Microbiome

The types of bacteria in your gut can influence blood sugar control, hunger hormones and energy storage. Studies have found differences between the microbiomes of lean versus obese people. Consuming the right foods and probiotics can impact your microbiome and therefore affect your ability to lose weight.

4. Toxicity

We are exposed to so many more toxins today that ever before. If the body can’t deal with and remove the toxins, it will store they safely away in our fat cells where they can’t cause harm.

5. Set point

The brain has a set point for your weight which is the weight it wants to defend and try to keep you at. It is a type of homeostatic mechanism, just like maintaining a regular body temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar level etc. When we overeat or are inactive for a period of time, it can push this set point up. This then becomes our new weight that they body will aim to maintain. Similarly, when we make significant changes to our diet and lifestyle and force the body below the weight it wants to maintain, the set point can be recalibrated down.

You may be saying, “that’s all very well and good and I’d love to address a number of those things, but how, where do I start and what is going to be most effective for me”. Well, here is some advice to help.

1. Diet is more impactful than exercise

Know that addressing your food will have a bigger impact than exercise. The old rule that diet is 80% and activity 20% still holds true.

2.  One thing at a time

To avoid overwhelm, just change one thing at a time. For example, cut or swap high calorie treats for healthier options, reduce your portion sizes, increase your number of alcohol free days per week or reduce or eliminate toxic, processed and packaged foods.

3.  Set yourself achievable goals

If you are 95kg and would really like to lose 25kg, don’t make your initial goal 70kg. That will seem far too overwhelming, and you’ll give up in no time. Start with a goal of 90kg. It’s much easier to achieve and when you do, you can congratulate yourself and set your next achievable goal.

4. Shake things up

The body gets used to a certain habit of diet and activity and learns to maintain weight despite it. Shake things up by changing what and when you eat or exercise. This can trick the body into dropping weight before it learns to adapt to the changes and the old weight homeostasis kicks in.

5. Consider doing a detox

Assisting the body to release toxins will help reduce inflammation and free the body to release fat stores rather than needing fat to store the toxins.

6. See a naturopath

Come and see me for a naturopathic consultation where we can address the reasons why your body may be resisting weight loss and tailor a plan to specifically work for you. I base my weight loss programs on the Metagenics Shake-It program and adjust where necessary to suit your needs and lifestyle.

To make a booking to see me in my clinic, please click here.