Continued from PART 1

5.  The wrong type or amount of food

• First of all, I want to make it clear that restricting calories to a minimal amount (this will vary depending on the person and activity) is not usually a good idea for long term weight loss. It may produce short term results, but studies prove that 80% of those that lose weight by calorie restriction only, gain the weight back with interest.
• Focusing on minimally and unprocessed foods is the best rule of thumb, because it’s much harder to overeat broccoli, steak and sweet potatoes, than a bag of chips. Real unprocessed food will satisfy you and leave your body feeling nourished and sustained.
• You may have a food sensitivity that is causing you to have chronic stress, which elevates cortisol and makes you retain water. Symptoms of food sensitivities may not even be gastrointestinal related (headaches, brain fog, skin issues, irritability and moodiness, fatigue, trouble sleeping, etc).
  • For more on food sensitivities, check out THIS article
• You may need to adjust your macronutrient intakes (fat, protein and carbohydrate) depending on your activity level, lifestyle, and what works best for your body. We all should work to find what works best for OUR bodies, not someone else’s!

6.  Inflammation

• This process is part of your bodies natural defense mechanism and is needed to heal and repair and damage that may occur. It only becomes a problem when your body is chronically inflamed due to one or many factors. Chronic inflammation contributes to most diseases, weight gain, and fatigue.
  • Chronic inflammation can throw off your hunger mechanism and metabolism regulating hormones, spur insulin resistance, and even cause water weight retention.
  • Some major contributors to chronic inflammation are sugar, certain vegetable oils (corn, soy, cottonseed, canola, safflower), pathogens like candida, H. Pylori, SIBO, etc, over exercising, and food sensitivities or allergies

7.  Stress

• This is not just referring to a specific stressful event, but rather chronic stress which over time, impact your adrenal glands. Your adrenals are responsible for stress hormone production like cortisol. When cortisol becomes out of balance due to chronic stress (this could be and probably is, due to many compounding factors) it causes our bodies to break down muscle mass for fuel, and increase blood sugar. These are just two of the contributing factors to weight gain and weight loss resistance.
• Check out the diagram below, for common stressors

Here are some practical tips you can use to help mitigate the harmful effects of chronic stressDon’t over commit yourself

• Keep a gratitude journal
• Minimize or avoid contact with people that cause drama and emotional stress
• Plan accordingly and realistically. For example, if you find you are always rushing to work in the morning and worried you won’t be there in time, wake up earlier!
• Eat an anti-inflammatory diet and avoid food and environmental toxins like chemicals and pesticides
• Get enough sleep
• Exercise enough, but not too much
• Schedule to do things that make you happy. Example- reading a book, seeing friends, talking with friends or family on the phone, walking outside, etc.
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol                                      
• Find ways to “deal” with stress better on a daily basis, by practicing yoga or some form of deep breathing or meditation
• For more on this topic check out THIS article

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