Have you tried every diet in the book and still are unable to shed off the extra pounds? Maybe a special diet is not the answer. Did you know that food intake is not the only reason why you may not be losing weight?
- Sleep
- A good night’s sleep encourages good eating behavior during the day as you will have more energy to cook a healthy meal. More waking hours means more opportunity for meals and excess snacking. Additionally, lack of sleep produces more ghrelin, which is your hunger hormone.
- Hydration
- Your hydration status is vital to ensuring an optimized metabolism. If inadequately hydrated, your body may respond by making you feel ‘hungry’- which may or may not be the case. Oftentimes, your body’s trigger for thirst is similar to a hunger type feeling and we cannot differentiate the two. When well hydrated, we tend to have more productive workouts.
- Certain health conditions
- Some health conditions, such as PCOS, metabolic syndrome, thyroid disorders, etc. can make it hard to lose weight. By losing weight through weight loss surgery, many people are able to reverse such health conditions or improve symptoms significantly.
- Stress
- Stress plays a huge role in our body. High levels of chronic stress can increase cortisol levels (“stress hormone”). Elevated cortisol can slow down metabolism, alter activity of your hunger/satiety hormones, and increase cravings for unhealthy foods. Most people have some type of stress in their lives, but the key is stress management. Are you addressing your stress appropriately? Try going for a long walk, journaling, reading your favorite book, planning ahead as much as possible, or engaging in other stress-relieving activities of your choice.
- Non-exercise daily activities
- Any energy burned that does not include through scheduled physical activity is considered non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). The more of an active lifestyle that you have, the higher your NEAT will be. NEAT includes housework, going into the office for work, running errands, etc. Non-exercise activities take up the largest portion of your day, more than sleeping or structured exercise.
