10 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight & What You Can Do
Eat real food – Organic vegetables, organic fruit, wild caught fish, sprouted nuts and seeds, non-gluten grains, eggs, and raw pastured raised dairy products; avoid all pre-packaged foods
Eat food your body likes not necessarily what you like – you may be eating healthy foods like eggs yet every time you eat eggs you experience bloating, skin rash, headache or joint pain; this would be an indication not to eat this food; other healthy foods may include avocado, coconut, and dairy products
Eat enough food – most people are undernourished because they are consuming very few calories; a loose guideline can be desired weight X 0.6= Protein grams; protein grams X 1.2= Fat grams; carbohydrates 50-90 grams; use a tracker for a few weeks to calculate your macro and micronutrients
Balance hormones – Get your hormones tested preferably via urine or salivary since hormones are the language of communication and if hormones are out balance fat loss and emotional stability will be almost impossible; hormones dictate how much fat you will lose or hold on to; eating real food, sleep, stress management will help will with hormone balance
Monitor exogenous hormones – Most birth control will cause weight gain, your partner my use condoms, paraguard is another option, use a tracker like flo to check your ovulation days or a fertility monitor; HRT and pellets may contribute to weight gain and if administered should be closely monitored as some women find it difficult to lose weight
Love on your liver – fat burning hormones are metabolized through the liver, a congested liver with slow down the process, so love on your liver with bitter foods (dandelion greens, arugula, kale) and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, rutabaga, turnips), liver loving herbs like milk thistle, artichoke leaf and dandelion root are also helpful to optimize liver function for fat loss and hormone balance
Clear out gut infections – they are a stressor to the body and create an inflammatory response; foods for healing the gut aloe vera, bone broth, fermented foods, and ginger; helpful herbs: wormwood, allicidin, berberine, black walnut, oregano oil; glutamine, probiotics and digestive enzymes can be helpful; it’s always best to get the proper gut testing by a qualified practitioner that can customize a protocol for you
Maximize your sleep – anti-aging, healing and fat burning occur during sleep so optimize sleep is vital to any health regiment; pitch black room, no electronic 60 minutes before bedtime, no food 2 hours prior to bedtime; minimize fluids at least 2 hours before bed; keep temperature cool between 60-67 degrees, diffuse lavender oil, hot or cold shower before bed
Heavy metal detox – since heavy metals can impair your thyroid (AKA the fat burning gland) it makes since to release the burden; hair analysis is one of the methods to test for heavy metals and blood testing; diet, sauna and chelating agents are great for heavy metal detox; Dr. Mark Hyman has a great article on this
Be mindful and manage stress – stress reduction strategies include, meditation, prayer, mindfulness, spending time outdoors and with people you love
If you are not releasing the weight and have tried ALL the strategies, perhaps working one on one with a functional medicine practitioner to find the root cause of weight loss resistance. We can help.