Troubleshooting Weight Loss
Have you been trying to lose weight for what seems like years, but haven’t seen a budge on the scale?
Do you feel like you’ve done everything “right” in terms of what the experts claim fosters healthy and sustainable weight loss, but have yet to experience it?
Maybe you eat ancestrally and have done a lot of homework in cleaning up your diet and lifestyle, but still can’t get to a healthier body weight. What gives?
Frankly, proper weight loss is more than just food, and it’s definitely way more than government guidelines.
Y’all know me by now. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but we have to look at other components of our lives if we intend to be fully healthy, inside and out. Not sure where to start? Read this previous post about identifying the components of healthy weight loss, and this post for how to navigate less inflammatory food guidelines.
Reminder: when we refer to weight loss, we really mean body fat loss. Your weight loss should not be coming from the breakdown of muscle or bone.
But let’s say you’ve been there, done all that, and still haven’t seen success. Some of the things on that first post might not be working properly for your body right now. Take a look at this list and evaluate your relationship with each item.
Intermittent fasting issues
Intermittent fasting (IF) can be a great adjunct facet of your overall-health-and-wellness toolkit.
IF is time-restricted eating and fasting — one popular example being: have breakfast at 8 AM and finish eating for the day by 4 PM, giving you eight hours of feeding and 16 hours of fasting.
IF troubleshooting can be looked at in one of two ways.
1) IF’ing too hard.
Do you force yourself into specific eating and fasting windows, simply because that’s what you read to be effective? Do you suffer through negative symptoms even though your body is signaling to you that it’s time to eat? If you think you might be IF’ing too hard, you could end up with one or more potential problems:
— Undereating, especially if your “eating window” is too short — many people have trouble getting in all the calories they need every day in such a short amount of time
— Binge-eating due to over-restriction and potential cravings — if you haven’t gotten your sugar demon under control, or you restrict specific macronutrients for whatever reason, cravings may result and sometimes can lead to some disordered eating tendencies
— Insomnia or other sleep difficulties
— Disrupted metabolism and reduced metabolic rate
— Depletion of electrolytes, if not replacing enough
— Dehydration, if not replacing enough
— Hypoglycemia/blood sugar dysregulation and the associated symptoms such as light-headedness, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and/or brain fog
— Not allowing your body the proper time to get fat-adapted, if you’re pairing this with ketogenic eating
— Fasting as an added bodily stressor that increases your overall allostatic load, making it difficult to manage stress in general
Fasting may not be for you right now, and that’s okay — or maybe you need to tone it down a little. Experiment and give yourself some grace.
Maybe fasting too hard isn’t your issue at all. You may not be someone who’s ever even tried it. If that’s the case, you could potentially have the opposite problem, which takes us to the second way to troubleshoot IF:
2) Eating way too often and not fasting enough.
Wait, is fasting a requirement for weight loss?
No.
BUT! Allowing your body periods of zero caloric intake helps something called autophagy, where your cells and tissues do some spring-cleaning and recycle or remove cellular waste products to help you function more efficiently.
Without the constant demand of breaking down and absorbing food, your digestive tract has the energy and opportunity to do this. I talk about this in my previous post as well.
Some sort of autophagy is critical for optimal health and disease prevention. As little as 12 hours of fasting can get you closer to this result. This may sound like a lot of hours… but imagine finishing your evening Netflix snack at 8 PM, going to bed two to three hours later, and not having breakfast until 8 AM (which is a typical breakfast time and should be manageable). Your 12 hours just flew by and you were asleep for most of it.
For my clients and myself, I typically recommend aiming for 12 hours fasting as a normal, regular practice to provide the gastrointestinal tract some time to clean house and take a break, as mentioned above. Every person will be individual though, and sometimes you may need to start with just 8-10 hours first. And that’s okay. Don’t let anyone tell you what’s right for you — only you can determine this.
Extending beyond a baseline of 12 hours of fasting is best when done occasionally — like a few times per week (hence the intermittent part), once you’ve managed to work up to it. This is best done under the oversight of a healthcare practitioner, and nutritional therapy is a great place to start.
Undereating
This can occur whether you fast or not.
We all know the timeless adages “eat less, move more” and “calories in vs. calories out.” I’m here to tell you there’s some flawed premises here — they’re not 100% false, but they’re too simple to reflect the true nature of human metabolism.
On paper, yes, our total energy intake should not be more than we expend in a day in order to lose weight. But what does that include, exactly?
Energy expenditure, of course, refers to things like intentional workouts and movement, but also includes:
— Our non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) (the calories burned doing random movements and microworkouts all day long)
— The thermic effect of food (the calories burned in breaking down, absorbing, and assimilating macronutrients from your meals)
— Resting metabolic rate (AKA, the calorie burn it takes to simply keep your organs functioning and body alive).
It’s impossible, really, to accurately nail down these different sources of calorie burn in real time, because you and I could each perform the same movement and eat the same foods but be burning calories internally at completely different rates. These things depend on a lot of factors, such as insulin sensitivity, the constituents of your meals, your age/sex/hormone levels, sleep quality, regular movement patterns, muscle mass, and the health of your GI tract (to name a few!).
As I described in my previous post, undereating prompts your body to lower the rate at which it burns calories to save you from starvation. This will just keep the weight loss plateaus steady (if your body indeed has weight to lose). Your body needs ample nourishment to feel safe letting go of excess body fat (I know, go figure), especially if you’re active. Nutrient replenishment and recovery through healthy levels of food intake (and the right foods, of course) are necessary to burn fat for fuel efficiently.
Disrupted sleep quantity and/or quality
We modern-day humans really underestimate the power of good sleep.
Research has shown that even one night of disrupted sleep can alter your insulin sensitivity — meaning a night of crappy or shortened sleep can make you lean more toward blood sugar issues and decreased cell responsiveness to insulin. This kind of pattern can really halt or challenge your weight loss journey.
There’s no sexy way to combat this — you literally just have to be prioritizing sleep and the associated sleep hygiene practices, if you aren’t already doing so. (I talk about ways to handle this in more detail in my previous post about healthy weight loss.)
Bonus tip — magnesium is a natural relaxing supplement that most Americans are deficient in. Taking 200-400mg a couple hours before bedtime can really help improve your sleep. Make sure you buy from a trusted brand or source, to ensure you’re purchasing the correct form — there are many different forms of magnesium, and you’ll want to avoid ones that have been known to cause digestive upset. Got questions on this? Send them to me or comment below! And, as always, run these things past your primary care provider too.
Mental health challenges and the mismanagement of stress
This can take a lot of different forms:
— Forcing yourself into disordered eating patterns or undereating because of “diet mentality”
— Doing whatever it takes to be smaller, due to “diet culture” always promoting small as healthy and desirable
— Being too hard on yourself for “off-plan” foods
— Exercising too much or too hard to make up for foods you’ve eaten
— Avoiding social situations and connections where unhealthier foods and drinks might be found, just so you’re not tempted to consume them
— Setting unrealistic weight loss goals without properly addressing your entire lifestyle (this will set you up for failure! Contact me for some FNTP guidance on how to set achievable goals)
— Disengaging in hobbies you love and not finding outlets for stress and creativity unrelated to diet or exercise
— Job/employment challenges
— Exposure to toxins, such as cosmetics, cleaning products, pesticides, etc.
— Falling into a rut and being afraid to try new foods or movement patterns for fear of gaining weight
— Again, forcing IF regimens that add to your stress load and strain your happiness and willpower instead of following your hunger signals
— Handling stress with excessive exercise or comfort foods
— Lack of time spent in nature
— Binge-watching TV instead of finding a productive, healthy way to wind down
— Spending too much time sitting
— Burning the candle at both ends (this tends to happen for busy parents, whether they work outside the home or not)
Do any of these things sound like you? It might be time to re-evaluate your stress management techniques, because believe it or not, stress is one of the key players in overall health and, therefore, weight management. Your body is always listening and will hold onto fat for dear life to keep you safe from those horrible stressors out there. If you want to burn this fat, you have to convince your body that you’re safe. The only way to do that is manage that stress, head-on. I discuss healthy ways to do so in my previous post about weight loss.
Incorrect macronutrient ratios
Refresher: macronutrients are the main components of our foods, broken down into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Read more here.
Low-fat diets dominated the 1960s and beyond, until we realized that fat is pertinent to whole-body health.
You may have heard of the keto diet — this is the opposite of that guidance, where the majority of daily calories come from fat, and you eat as little carbohydrates as possible. Protein falls somewhere in-between.
Body builders typically focus on protein first, and worry about the rest afterward.
There are vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, ancestral/Paleo folks, IIFYMs, ketotarians, ketogenics, carnivores… no wonder there’s so much confusion.
Who’s right? The answer is everybody… depending on your unique, bio-individual makeup.
Right now, if you’re having trouble losing weight (and, again, actually have weight to lose), switching up your big-picture eating plan is a great way to kickstart your metabolism and shake things up a bit.
Never tried low-carb or keto? Start lowering your carb intake and see what happens.
Possibly not getting enough protein, especially for your activity levels? Add some additional quality meat, dairy (if tolerated), or eggs to your every day.
Feeling sluggish and want a reset? Try a vegan or carnivore approach (without relying on junk foods in either camp). Disclaimer: This will depend on your personal fiber tolerance and what foods make you feel what sensations. It’s best to work with someone who has experience in this arena, and I can definitely be that person for you!
Keeping your body guessing by switching up your inputs every once in a while can really support a weight loss journey.
Extreme, crash, and/or fad dieting
Let me clarify each of these terms, from my own point of view, and why they could be sabotaging your efforts.
Extreme dieting = severe caloric restriction or macronutrient manipulation, often causing more harm than good
Refer to undereating above, and if this is applicable to you, ask yourself why you have adopted these behaviors. What resource pointed you in this direction? Are you open to re-evaluating this and eating to fuel instead of eating to get by? Let’s have a discovery call and see if I can help you with this transition.
Crash dieting = using some sort of soupy, foul-tasting “detox” drink or protocol to shed weight quickly or severe short-term fasting (like wanting-to-be-thin-by-Friday kind of thing — more like starvation than fasting)
It can be tempting to give-in to these gimmicky, minimal effort, timely weight loss attempts, but this can really disrupt your electrolyte balance (inside and outside of your cells), your microbiome (the good gut bugs), and put a lot of strain on your elimination methods (think large intestine, kidneys, etc.). The likelihood of gaining back whatever you may happen to lose during this process is high, which also strains your body. The best bet for weight loss is steady, consistent efforts over time.
Fad dieting = trying the latest food and diet trend with no intention of addressing lifestyle to support these goals long-term
Some folks claim that trying to go vegan or Paleo or keto is being on the “fad diet train.” It’s not entirely wrong, but it’s missing an important caveat. If you approach a new way of eating as a lifestyle modification and look forward to adjusting and making it a longer-term, sustainable way of life (and not just “diet”), this isn’t a bandwagon jump. Committing to serious diet overhaul and improving your health is awesome and encouraged, and you never know how good you can feel until you do. Fringe dieting can help with that.
As usual, I’m going to throw in there that you should seek the help of the appropriate practitioner to help safely and sustainably guide you through things like this. You know how to reach me, if you want my take!
Co-occurring conditions like HPA axis dysfunction
The HPA axis is the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hormone cascade system that controls essentially everything in your body. It’s also tightly linked with the thyroid and sex organs. This signaling axis gets thrown out of whack with stress, poor sleep, food sensitivities, etc.
Other conditions affect weight loss, too, such as diabetes, autoimmunity, thyroid disorders, anxiety/depression, etc.
It’s not as though you can up and rid yourself of these issues, but I add it here to remind you that everything is interconnected and working with your healthcare team is the best way to mitigate it. Additionally, you wouldn’t want to engage in any extreme forms of dieting to try and push yourself past a weight loss plateau if you have a history of chronic conditions. Realistically, extreme dieting should never occur regardless, but it’s especially important if you are managing one or more chronic conditions and/or are on medications. Discuss these things with your prescribing physician.
And just keep in mind that you may have more trouble simply because your body has a lot more stressors going on while suffering from other ailments. Be patient with yourself.
Too many “snacky” foods and snacking in general
Even if you’re someone who considers him- or herself a healthy eater, there’s junk food for everyone out there.
Hell, I have sensitivities to gluten, dairy, corn, legumes, and rancid oils and there’s STILL snacky foods out there that get me every time.
Truth: there’s nothing inherently wrong with these things. I eat different kinds of jerky. I like clean-ingredient protein bars and powders. I love dark chocolate. I’m a big sucker for cassava chips and crackers. And that’s fine, given that it’s not a daily occurrence (except for the chocolate… #notsorry).
The problem is, a lot of the time, snacking is just mindless eating and we’re not even really enjoying it. Mindful eating is so powerful when it comes to weight loss, stress reduction, proper digestion… everything.
If your daily eating habits include multiple snacks in between meals, and especially if those snacks could fall in a junk-food category… these habits are probably playing a role in keeping your health and fat loss stagnant. I hate to be the one to say it, because these foods can certainly still have a place in your world, but it might be worth cutting down on the snacks and seeing what happens.
Bonus, this keeps your blood sugar levels and insulin response more steady instead of constantly barraging them with food all day long.
Moving too much or too little
Too much exercise adds to that allostatic load we talked about earlier — constantly keeping your body in fight or flight mode, throwing off that HPA axis, disrupting your sleep, inhibiting your recovery, and putting you at risk for injury.
Too little movement and you’re at risk for other things like insulin resistance, anxiety/depression, and obesity.
How to strike the perfect balance? Get a little more in tune with your body’s signals. There’s a difference between feeling too lazy to get off the couch and truly dreading the day’s workout. If you need more recovery time, just go for a walk or do some stretching and mobility work. If you’re just lacking motivation, drink some water with sea salt, take some deep belly breaths, and try to invigorate those muscles for a great workout. Inspiration doesn’t just magically appear — you need to cultivate it and listen to yourself.
If you’re someone who knows you need to either simmer down the intensity or get your butt up and moving, try doing so and see how your body responds. It needs to be challenged, but also needs periods of safety, in order to give up some of that stored body fat.
Well, that’s all for today folks. Engage with me! Was anything in this post new information to you? Was there something here you’ve already tried and didn’t see results with? Do you have additional ideas and want to be featured in this or a future post? Comment, email me, reach out. I love hearing from all of you!
Stay well.