Weight Loss Challenges and Hormones: The Hidden Connection

One of the most frustrating things you can probably experience is doing your best to lose weight, and not seeing the results that you want to see. This is not uncommon and a lot of people go through this infuriating episode in their lives on a regular basis. Why is it more difficult for some people to shed the pounds while others are just burning these off with the same amount of effort? Is something stopping you from succeeding in your goal to lose weight?

You might not be aware of this, but your weight loss efforts may be ineffective due to your hormones. Yes, an increase or decrease in the levels of certain hormones can hinder attempts to lose weight, and in order for you to succeed in attaining your fitness goals, you need to address these imbalances first. What hormonal imbalances may be reducing your weight loss chances? Here are some of them:

Hormones For Weight Loss

Leptin – this is a hormone that is released by body fat, and this tells your brain that you need to burn more calories and to eat less. There are times however when your body has too much fat that leptin is produced too much, which then results in what is called leptin resistance. This is when your brain becomes somewhat immune to the signals that come from such a hormone. You will need to remove the leptin resistance from your system before weight loss efforts can show any substantial results.

Cortisol – when you are stressed, cortisol is the hormone that is produced. This is what prepares you to either fight or flee. While this is all right in small doses, with how lives are being lived these days, people are constantly under a lot of stress, which means a body is bombarded by too much cortisol. This is not good. Too much of this hormone in your system makes you crave high-carb and high-sugar foods, which in turn results in a feeling of constant hunger, which then results in overeating. This also triggers the body to store more fat in your abdominal area, and this abdominal fat actually makes your body produce more cortisol when under stress.

Ghrelin – this is a hormone that tells your brain when you are hungry. When you try to reduce your caloric intake, there is an increase in this hormone and your body will feel that it is always hungry. It has been seen that even after you have returned to eating normally, your body will still feel hunger pangs from an elevated ghrelin level. The good news is you can counteract this increase in ghrelin with intense exercise. This is why dieting alone is not a good idea.

Adiponectin – this is a hormone that aids your body in losing more fat, and is produced by lean muscle. When you have very little lean muscle to begin with, and a lot of body fat, your body does not produce enough adiponectin. This is where problems may arise and why people lose hope when it comes to losing those love-handles. In order to make your weight loss efforts more effective, you need to create lean muscle and lose fat to increase your adiponectin levels, but since the lower levels of this hormone makes it difficult to do this, it feels like an impossible task.

In order for you to find out which hormones are wreaking havoc on your weight loss efforts, you need to visit your doctor. Tests can be done to find out what hormones are imbalanced, and what treatments need to be given to help you with these. Once you have your hormones on even keel, losing that excess weight won’t be the frustrating endeavor it used to be.

Sources:

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/tips-plans/8-essential-fat-loss-hormones

http://www.saragottfriedmd.com/are-these-four-hormones-blocking-your-weight-loss-efforts/

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/hormone-diet

http://www.chatelaine.com/health/wellness/imbalances-halting-your-weight-loss/

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