Why is it so hard to lose weight?

Getting older isn’t all bad, in fact there are so many good things about increasing age. But weight gain, increased belly fat and stubborn weight are not a “good” part of getting older. Let’s discover the reasons behind the extra weight and why it can be so hard to lose.

It’s all about hormones. As women, we have been gifted with a plethora of amazing hormones, moving into the menopause season of life causes those hormones to start shifting to new levels. This shift is usually at the root of most of your frustration with weight loss.

While there are a ton of changes you can make on a daily basis to your diet and lifestyle I would highly recommend that you find a Functional medicine doctor to work with you so you can know the hard data behind your symptoms.

Here are some of the key areas to investigate for optimal fat loss:

• Declining Estrogen levels - can cause your cortisol & androgen levels to increase. While hormonal balance isn’t possible, you can support your body and hormones during this season of change.
• Thyroid not Optimized - you may discover that your thyroid isn’t the problem but with age the thyroid slows down and will cause your metabolism to slow down as well.
• Inflammation - When inflammation pathways are turned on due to food sensitivities, chronic inflammation, and life stressors your body will not be able to release fat.
• Gut Dysfunction - this can be an unbalanced microbiome, too much bad bacteria, not digesting food well, not assimilating nutrients which make it very difficult to lose weight.
• Serious Life stressors - your body tells the tale of your life. Stress causes your adrenal glands to push more cortisol. These cortisol spikes can wear your adrenals down creating a whole new array of symptoms.
• PCOS, High Blood Sugar or Insulin Resistance cause an increase in belly fat or slow down weight loss. Blood sugar levels are harder to maintain as we age but eating every 3-4 hours and anchoring every meal with protein can help your body towards better balance. 
• Rising Uric Acid levels - you may not be aware of your uric acid levels but a rise in these levels tells your body to store fat and messes up your metabolism.

So, what now? What can you do to impact your health today?

• Eat enough protein - choose a variety of protein and be sure to include more fish and more plant protiens.
• Eat plant heavy - make ½ or more of your plate full of veggies.
• Walk - help your body move out excess hormones and open up your cells to release fat.

Coach Kris is an official THM Affiliate and may earn a percentage off of links used in the content that may link directly to the THM online store.

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 Coach Kris is an official THM Affiliate and may earn a percentage off of links used in the content that may link directly to the THM online store.