Four reasons why you are not losing weight.

Original content by Amber Liu-

Why am I not losing weight? Do you always have this concern?

You go to the gym for workouts five or more times a week, have a healthy diet, always be in a good mood, follow the right guide of losing weight, but no mater how hard you try, what you do, you still cannot change your weight? Fat loss is still a complicated subject to study, many possible limiting factors could affect people’s ability to loss fat such as exercise factor, diet factor, physiologic factor and social factor.

Well, we might be curious why is still not working? Why am I not losing weight?

We need to go deeper physiological level to figure out what might happen in our body system. Therefore, there are main four factors may contribute to your goal of losing weight. There are:

1.  oxygen delivery system.
2.  blood sugar management system.
3. adrenal system.
4. digestive system.

According a research, it indicated that maintaining body weight could be regulated by a combination of homoeostatic, environmental and behavioral factors (F.L.Greenway. 2015). In other words, even if you have a healthy diet and exercise hard, your body is not working properly and your body system is not on the right cycle, you cannot lose weight either.

So let us to dig into the scientific side of human body deeper and figure out what main 4 physiological factors are going to be the obstacles in the way of losing fat.

 

First fat loss barrier: the oxygen delivery system.

The hundreds of trillions of cells in your body are primarily relying on two things to live: oxygen and glucose.  Without one of them, your body cannot work properly to provide normal life and it may bring body with some illness. There is a basic energy source called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), in the human body, it provides the energy for body to use in a rapid time or a long term of period. The body stores a few ATP for temporary usage and body will make ATP for energy source in the mitochondria of most cells.

However, people need many different nutrients to meet the requirements for growth and maintaining the healthy body. The body cannot work rightly without the sufficient nutrients and oxygen be transported into the cells.  Therefore, a condition called anemia which is when you do not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body’s tissues. Anemia always makes you feel tired and weak. The symptoms of it may include fatigue, skin pallor, shortness of breath, light=headedness, dizziness or a fast heartbeat. The treatment depends on the doctors’ diagnosis. Iron, vitamin D supplements could help with iron deficiency and low vitamin levels.

Second loss barrier: the blood sugar management system.

Maintaining normal blood sugar levels is a very impart thing to do, especially when you want to avoid some long-term health issues. And it always plays a positive role in managing your weight and just staying healthy. There are two possibilities of irregular blood sugar level. They could contribute the insulin resistance and hypoglycemia which bring the negative impacts with some chronic disease into the body.

On the one hand, the imbalances result in insulin resistance. And when somebody is having insulin resistance, their body cells fail to respond to the normal actions of the hormone insulin. And the glucose the people have in the food cannot be transported into the cells effectively. The body produces insulin, but the cells in the body become resistant to insulin and are unable to use it as effectively, leading to hyperglycemia.

And on the other hand, the imbalance could cause the hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition caused by a very low level of blood sugar(glucose), your body’s main energy source. Hypoglycemia is often related to the treatment of diabetes. However, consuming high-sugar foods or drinks, such as orange juice or regular dizzy drinks, can treat this condition. Alternatively, medication can be used to raise blood sugar levels.

Third fat loss barrier: the adrenal system.

The adrenal glands provide the body’s primary mechanism to regulate stress.  The adrenal glands are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, help reduce inflammation, and assist with memory formulation. It has a controlling effect on salt and water balance and helps control blood pressure. And the most effective way to test gland function is the adrenal salivary test. It is a simple and non-invasive test, and patients can collect these samples multiple times per day. It’s easy to assess DHEA in these samples too.

 

Forth fat loss barrier: the gastrointestinal system.

The digestive system is made up of the gastrointestinal tract—also called the GI tract or digestive tract—and the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder. Digestion is important because your body needs nutrients from food and drink to work properly and stay healthy. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water are nutrients. Your digestive system breaks nutrients into parts small enough for your body to absorb and use for energy, growth, and cell repair. Also, gas, bloating, burping after meals, inadequate digestion, undigested food in your stools, foul smelling stools, burning in the stomach, diarrhea and nausea could be regarded as some symptoms that indicated your gastrointestinal issues. Common digestive problems include heartburn/GERD, IBD, and IBS. Symptoms may include bloating, diarrhea, gas, stomach pain, and stomach cramps. Treatment includes a combination of medication and lifestyle changes.

Summary:

Losing weight is not always easy and numerous factors can bring it to a standstill. Physiology plays a very important role. The physiological factors play the important role in it. Try strategies ranging from mindful eating to keeping a food diary, from eating more protein to doing strength exercises. In the end, changing your weight and your lifestyle require dedication, self-discipline, perseverance and resilience.

Reference:

F.L.Greenway.(2015). Physiological adaptations to weight loss and factors favouring weight regain. US National Library of Medicine.

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