You’re not alone.
Find it hard to shift that extra weight? ⚖️ That’s because it is hard!
Especially when you haven’t gotten to the cause of why the weight stayed on – and while there are many reasons we put on weight, we believe there are five main causes behind not being able to take it off again.
By getting to the root cause in your body, we can help you to take take off those extra kilos and get back to feeling great ✨
There are a number of reasons why your body might not lose weight as it once did.
By finding out what imbalance you have in your body that caused that weight gain, you will be able to successfully lose it again.
Already know the cause of your weight gain? Jump ahead at any time:
Not sure? Simply read on!
If you’re someone that has been in a high stress state for a long period of time, your whole body metabolism can shift.
You end up with elevated levels of cortisol, and that promotes fat gain, particularly if you feel like you’re carrying weight around your tummy.
So if you’re a person that does run with high cortisol due to high levels of stress, then definitely that could be a reason why you’re carrying that spare tire around your middle.
Watch below as Peter explains how you can help your body to recover & start reducing weight caused by cortisol levels.
When you get toward perimenopause & before you become fully menopausal, there’s a change in hormones that leads to a change in metabolism.
A lot of patients say that they’re eating the same thing for years, exercising, doing everything the same… In their minds, nothing changed, but now they’re starting to put weight on no matter what they seem to be doing.
With the changes in hormones, you’re losing some muscle mass, and your metabolism is slowing down.
Often there are long periods of stress and cortisol, maybe some insulin resistance. So it all comes together as what we see as a perfect storm – why the weight is just not shifting.
When you eat carbs or sugar or carbs that turn into sugar and glucose your blood sugar levels rise pancreas produces insulin. Insulin takes the glucose to your muscle cells where you burn that sugar for fuel.
For a lot of people (sometimes due to eating too many carbs), the insulin works less effectively and all of a sudden it’s taking more and more insulin to get your blood sugar levels in the same range – eventually, that system starts to fail. This is Insulin Resistance, and this is when we start to see elevated sugar and pre-diabetes.
The problem with insulin resistance is that any glucose that you don’t burn for fuel gets pushed into fat, so then we start to see a fatty liver and it can make it difficult to get into fat burning if you’re also suffering from insulin resistance.
The early signs that you could have insulin resistance are things like blood sugar fluctuations. For example – you have a sugary breakfast cereal, your blood sugar levels shoot up at mid-morning, you’re starving, hungry or starting to get a bit hangry – that could be an early sign of insulin problems.
Some other things to look for is if you’re gaining weight and you can’t work out why, if you’re getting started and get like a lot of skin tags on your skin, or if you’re starting to have irregular menstrual cycle.
If you suffer from PCOS, (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which is becoming more and more common, it is also often associated with insulin resistance.
Fluctuating weight is also associated with the thyroid function starting to slip.
With the subclinical low thyroid, your pathology can still look normal to the GP because they use such wide ranges, but a lot of women we see start to get into this subclinical low thyroid function and it can significantly result in a lower or slower metabolism.
We will often see the cholesterol start to go up, even a fatty liver develop. Which are signs that someone’s going from a normal thyroid function into that subclinical low thyroid function, even if the GP blood tests look okay.
Signs that you could have an underactive thyroid can be things like gaining weight, no matter what you’re trying to do. If you’re feeling the cold more now than what you used to, if you’re seeing things like your cholesterol start to creep up, or you’re getting tired or flat spots in the afternoon.
If your skin is starting to get dry or you’re starting to lose hair on the outer part of your eyebrow – these can also be signs that you could be starting to suffer from an underactive thyroid.
The way we go about supporting someone that’s got a subclinical low thyroid picture is generally we find that it’s not just the thyroid. T thyroid is starting to drop, it is starting to change, but we also have to look at the levels of stress and cortisol. We have to look at how well that person’s sleeping, and their gut health.
As with most health care or all health conditions, us naturopaths take that holistic view rather than just zero in on the one thing, because often, it is a combination.
When we sleep our mind and body have a reduced capacity to react to external stimuli, we effectively switch off to everything around us.
However, whilst our body and mind may appear to be passively resting, internally almost every tissue, cell and system is busily working away repairing, restoring and cleaning out information and toxins.
In our brain, sleep allows for important housekeeping to take place; removing toxins that have built up throughout the day, processing emotions and information, storing memories and creating new neural pathways.
Our body relies on our internal clocks, our circadian rhythm, to induce sleep and the best way to improve the reliability of these clocks is routine. Going to bed and waking at the same time every day (even on weekends) is imperative to long term quality sleep that improves overall wellbeing and health. Note: we do not have a sleep bank, if we miss sleep during the week we can’t then catch up on the weekend, once sleep is missed it is gone.
Make your bedroom a tranquil environment, leave your phone and devices in another room, ensure your room is nice and dark and cool. Our body temperature drops significantly right before we drift off to sleep so ideally you want your room no warmer than 18 degrees. It sounds silly, but to help you can take a hot bath or shower right before bed, this will draw the core heat out to your extremities making it easier to drift off to sleep.
Avoid having a big heavy meal right before bed. Aim to have your biggest meal of the day at lunch, and opt for a lighter meal at dinner, at least two hours before bed. Ensure your daily food intake includes lots of nutrient dense natural wholefoods including enough protein and healthy fats, both of which are integral to healthy brain chemistry that support our circadian rhythms.
Minimise the amount of caffeine you have each day. If you drink coffee or caffeinated tea, aim to have the last one by midday. Swap your afternoon hot beverage for herbal tea or matcha. Note: matcha and green tea both contain caffeine, but they also contain the amino acid L-theanine. L-theanine promotes relaxation and alpha-brain waves (calming meditative state) and also works synergistically to lessen the excitatory effects of caffeine. So if you’re after a hot beverage that will improve your concentration and focus without the coffee jitters, look no further than matcha or green tea!
Natural sunlight exposure is key to improving our circadian rhythm, our internal body clocks. Head outside, ideally in the morning, for at least 30 minutes every day. Light waves enter our eyes sending signals to our pineal gland which then signals to the body to produce hormones and chemicals. One of which is serotonin, our happy awake hormone. Serotonin is also required for the production of melatonin, our sleeping hormone.
And avoid screens – fluorescent office lights, smart phones, computers all emit light, but unlike sunlight, this type of light can be disruptive to our circadian rhythms. Artificial light doesn’t produce feel good hormones like natural sunlight does, instead it confuses our internal clocks into thinking it’s midday rather than 7pm. Aim to stop using screens at least one hour before bed and as soon as the sun goes down swap the ceiling lights for lamps for soft lighting that will mimic the sun setting.
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With all different articles based around an enormous range of subjects, you’re sure to find the answers you’re looking for!
A collection of our favourite recipes. Tried and tested by the team at Mullen Natural Health Centre. We know you are going to love these just as much as we do. With a focus on natural, wholefood ingredients these recipes are nourishing and delicious and can be adapted and modified to suit your dietary choices and preferences!
Our naturopaths are only a phone call away – focused on being a quick, first-point of call treatment option, the Herb Bar is ideal for those who want a taste of how Naturopathy can help them or are after fast, experienced natural healthcare.
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