Are you trying to lose body fat but struggling? Losing 'weight' can be more complex than simply 'calories in verses calories out', and what and how we eat can matter as much as how many calories we take in, compared to how many we expend.
However, hormone and blood sugar regulation play key roles in fat accumulation or metabolism in the body, and there are three things that can impact greatly on these mechanisms. They could well be sabotaging your weight loss plans - even causing unhealthy fat gain.
Many don't realise the extent to which these other factors can play a part in our appetite hormone signalling, our digestion, and our metabolism.
Read on to see if any of these are an issue in your life, and if so, it's time to think about changing them.
😴 SLEEP:
Sleep really is the foundation of good health, in all ways. Poor sleep disrupts not only our hunger and appetite hormone signalling, but also our blood glucose regulation. There is a known association between poor sleep and diabetes type 2, which isn't yet fully understood in relation to whether bad sleep may be causal in the development of diabetes type 2, or whether predisposing factors cause those who develop diabetes to be bad sleepers, but it shows the link between blood sugar regulation and sleep.
Make good sleep your mission in your life, and prioritise getting 7 hours minimum per night. There are many ways
🪷 STRESS:
Stress is especially associated with the most unhealthy of fat - toxic belly fat - which signals fat around the organs. Belly fat has four times more cortisol receptors than other fat, so once there, it helps to make even more belly fat. Stress is not always easy to deal with and there are many stressors which can't be changed - but looking for ways to manage our response to stress is a must for our health. Exercise is one of those key ways, especially short bursts of high intensity exercise.
🍷ALCOHOL:
Alcohol prevents weight loss in many ways, not only by being calorific and inhibiting our body's ability to break down fat, but also by increasing appetite while drinking (chippy on the way home?), and the next day when our blood glucose is crashing (who doesn't crave hangover carbs?). As well, it causes cortisol spikes the next day (contributing to belly fat gain). Alcohol is often the biggest saboteur in people's desire to reduce body fat. Even worse, people will swap nutrition calories for alcohol calories in a bid to lose weight but continue drinking - which has huge implications for health.
SABOTAGED BY ALL THREE?
When people live very stressful lives, alcohol use may be ramped up, and poor sleep is often a result of stress (or a cause of it). Working on one factor in isolation to the rest isn't easy. However, if you have found that losing weight is a losing battle, and any (or all) of the above play a part in your life, then you need to prioritise these for long term goals for a healthy body fat weight. Also, working on all of the above are for better health overall - not just about fat loss. Sometimes, fat loss is just the added bonus after getting everything else into a more manageable state.
Exercise can play a huge role in improving sleep patterns and reducing stress, so it's a first step. But as a former specialist alcohol worker and trained in stress management, my experience can help clients in their overall programmes.
Book a FREE consultation!
Interested in getting a personal training programme where the training is truly personal? You are welcome to book a free consultation with me. You can contact me via WHATSAPP or EMAIL to book a free consultation, or give me a call on 07793537352.
Comments