If you feel like you’ve done all – dieting, calorie counting, hourly exercise, and meal plans, and you’re still not completely happy with the results, don’t give up yet. Most definitely, something other than your diet and exercise levels is the explanation why you’re still not losing a few extra pounds.
7. Hormonal changes
A woman’s body goes through hormonal shifts in a woman’s life as it prepares itself for puberty, pregnancy, giving birth, and menopause. Both of these mechanisms affect the metabolism and can induce weight gain at times. Although this is completely normal for the female body, it can trigger some inconvenience occasionally.
Step 1: Increase the sum and the duration of your physical activity gradually. For women that are over 40 years old, a few exercises that might be enough for a young woman are not always enough. You should also strive to diversify your workouts as much as possible: swimming, yoga, aerobics, basketball, and whatever activity you love. The general rule is that the more physical activity you need, the older you get.
Stage 2: Find a physician. To make sure you know what to expect during a time of hormonal transition, medical testing and clinical expertise from specialists are absolutely important.
6. Eating too much fruit
The fruit is known to be a snack that is safe. However, it is important to note that there are many calories in certain varieties of fruit and that they contain a lot of sugar, such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose. The explanation of why your extra weight does not vanish might be the intake of too many calories from fruit.
Step 1: With your favorite fruit, replace treats such as cake and chocolate. Not eating too much fruit is the secret.
Step 2: Bear in mind that various fruit forms have different nutritional values. Green apples have the least calories, along with grapefruit, pomegranates, and pineapples.
5. Health issues
Owing to contaminants, constipation, polycystic ovaries that affect the development of male hormones, and thyroid malfunctions that slow down hormone production, weight gain may also be caused by problems with your gastrointestinal tract.
Step 1: Take note during the day of something that causes you physical pain. Examine the body and build a list of things you’re concerned about.
Step 2: As soon as possible, see a physician. A doctor will examine the symptoms, assess the cause, and have a plan for treatment.
4. Taking medication
It also happens that the list of potential side effects of such drugs is so lengthy that it is completely overlooked by many individuals. Other individuals agree that the benefits of treatment are much more significant than the side effects they might have. Examples of drugs that also cause people to gain weight are antidepressants, birth control pills, antihistamines, antipsychotics, hormones, beta-blockers, used to treat some disorders.
Step 1: Before you start taking it, review the list of potential side effects of any drug. After you take the pills, then pay attention to how you feel.
Step 2: Do not hesitate to see the doctor and ask him or her to prescribe something different if you believe that any drug is causing you to gain weight. It can potentially cause you more harm if you decide to avoid taking the pills on your own or end up seeking an alternative.
3. Emotional overeating
It can affect your appearance more than you expect, despite the fact that stress is most likely psychological. In very different ways, emotional dependence on food can occur:
With food, rewarding hard work. Food is a way to meet the desires that the food itself has nothing to do with. For instance, “A great aphrodisiac is chocolate.” Food as an antidepressant: tasty food gives us good feelings
Step 1: Try to say the difference between the kinds of hunger you feel: does your stomach need the food or does your head need it? Most of the time, if you really want something, and you want a lot of it that means it’s certainly not your stomach that’s starving.
Stage 2: Find a nutritional substitute. A simple “no” is not enough, so you will be unable to resist sooner or later. It’s important to understand that being in a good mood is what you really need! Walk around, take a hot bath, sketch, watch a movie, etc. If you’re stressed every time you want to eat, do something fun instead.
2. Stress
Many people believe that feeling depressed will cause a decreased appetite and lead to weight loss. The opposite is also possible in fact. It begins releasing more cortisol, the hormone that raises your appetite when your body is under stress. This is because, in order to defend ourselves, our body senses that we are tired and might be in danger and thinks we need to conserve our resources. Nowadays, we feel almost as worried about our appearance and our weight as we might have felt about the imminent danger thousands of years ago. But because there is no way to explain this to the defense mechanisms of your body, it’s likely that stress really triggers your weight gain.
Step 1: Learn a method of relaxation and let yourself rest each day. Do something that consistently makes you feel relaxed.
Step 2: Consult a therapist. It is likely that the underlying causes of your stress are not obvious and you can be supported by a trained psychologist.
1. Lack of sleep
Several studies suggest that there is a correlation between gaining weight and lack of sleep. Thus, according to studies by the American company Mayo Clinic, individuals who sleep no more than 6 hours a day receive 11 pounds more each year than those who sleep at least 7 hours a day. A one-hour distinction can have a great effect!
Step 1: Change your expectations. We are pretty confident that if you spend less time online, sitting on the sofa, or watching TV, you can find an extra hour of sleep.
Step 2: Stick to a timetable. The later you go to bed, the less productive your sleep is going to be.
Do you know of any other reasons why it can be so difficult to lose the last few pounds? In the comment section below, share them with us.
Preview photo credit shutterstock Illustrated by Alena Tsarkova for Bright Side
