4 FACTORS TO TROUBLESHOOT WEIGHT LOSS

Along my personal multi-decade long journey where I was always trying to troubleshoot weight loss (and working with many, many clients on the same), I notice there are a few common threads.

I boiled them down to 4 causative factors…I’ll start with the first (and by far the most important one) and move on to more of the physiological considerations.

NOTE: For a LONG time, I only wanted to focus on the physiology – the last 3 factors. I was forever focusing on diet and exercise and seeking what was “wrong with me”, when all-along it was this first piece that was driving my physiological fat storage/weight loss resistance pattern to begin with (the ‘root-root cause’ as I like to call it)….See if you can identify yourself in any of these…

#1 MINDSET

Surprised? Maybe not if you’ve been with me for a while :), but I can’t emphasize enough that what separates permanent weight loss success from repeated yo-yo dieting failure is your thinking:

• Thinking that your weight loss progress is going too slow.
• Thinking that there’s something’s wrong with you.
• Thinking that you’re some special snowflake that can’t lose weight. (You are a special snowflake but you CAN lose weight.)
• Thinking that you or a part of your body is fat, disgusting, undeserving, unworthy or unlovable.
• Thinking that you can’t change.. that this is who you are.
• Thinking that a little bit, bite, sip or another serving won’t matter.
• All or nothing thinking.
• Perfectionist thinking.
• Forceful, hateful, negative thinking.
• Restriction and deprivation thinking.
• Overthinking.
• Thinking that you can follow a restrictive diet, lose the weight and it will stay off forever…(biggest lie ever!)
• NOT thinking – as in auto-bypassing uncomfortable thoughts and feelings by using food, alcohol, other unhealthy distraction/numbing/masking behavior.
• Thinking that someone else is responsible for your success and happiness.
• Thinking that ‘such & such’ life situation or ‘so & so’ person is preventing you from losing weight and being happy.
• Thinking that your weight loss is hopeless. That you messed up your body and metabolism forever.
• Thinking that it’s too awkward and uncomfortable to say ‘no thank you’.
• Thinking that it’s too hard.
• ‘Eff it’ thinking.
• I deserve it thinking.
• YOLO thinking.
• What a hard day/week thinking.
• This isn’t working so why bother thinking.
• I need to try something else thinking.
• I can get away with it thinking.
• Rationalizing the commitments you made to yourself thinking.
• Blaming the life you created thinking.
• No one is watching or cares thinking.
• Blame thinking.
• Chaotic – jumping all over the place – thinking.
• Victim thinking.

Bottom line..it’s all: ‘Stinkin’ thinkin”.

It’s not serving you! in fact, it’s hurting you. It’s holding you back from your own joy, draining your energy, adding more drama to your life (that you don’t need!) and it’s just driving you batty!

Consciously let go of it…Change your thoughts and you’ll change your life. Guaranteed!

Once you start first being aware and then taking ownership of your thoughts and patterns, ONLY THEN is permanent change really possible. Until then….I’m sorry to say, you’re likely going to stay stuck.

You might lose some weight by restrictive eating and exercise, but it won’t last very long if you don’t work on the deeper 💩 (especially if you’re a woman over 40). To borrow from my queen Oprah: This I know for sure.

The deeper work is what keeps you consistent, connected, honest, aligned and rooted to your new behavior and ‘fully woke’ to your subconscious patterns (which are emotionally driven and almost always run the show)…Without this, you’ll revert back to the old, comfy, familiar thinking and patterns that got you to gain weight in the first place. It’s all very human, but you can rise above lower level human-ess to become next level human! Be the rider that steers the elephant!

#2 HORMONES

Women over 40 need to balance cortisol which is impacted – and impacts – so many other things related to fat loss. It’s not ALL about cortisol, but this stress hormone is definitely a major catalyst. Here’s what can happen:

• High cortisol from stress raises blood sugar (as do excessive carbs) which raises insulin which increases fat storage (especially in the belly) and also blocks fat burning.
• Cortisol dysregulation can make you feel tired yet wired – effecting sleep, mood and motivation. This energy is best described as frenzied and frazzled – the extremes may be described as on-edge or disconnected. Many of you are addicted to go-go going and getting everything done – taking everything on – but what you need to do most is allow for more rest and recovery. (This was me too in my corporate days, new mom days and in my business transition days. I put so much pressure on myself…it’s one of my dominant “perfectionist” “control freak” “over-achiever” “first born” – and Capricornian! patterns that I always have to reign in with my mindset work. I’ve been in recovery for some time, but that part of me always wants to creep back in! :)…)
• Cortisol and melatonin are like a see-saw…high cortisol = low melatonin = poor sleep. Poor sleep lowers metabolic rate and glucose (carb) tolerance by up to 30% and increases hunger hormones (ghrelin) while lowering satiety hormones (leptin – which also happens to increase inflammation – GAH!)
• In the menopause transition (including peri & post menopause), as the adrenal glands take over sex hormone production from the ovaries, cortisol will be prioritized over sex hormones (this makes sense ancestrally: survival is more important than fertility. It wouldn’t make sense for you to be dealing with a baby when you’re fighting for your life! Our Creator’s really smart!). This downstream cascade can effect bones, brain function, mood, breast health, digestion, nutrient absorption, inflammatory and immune responses, stress tolerance and so much more.
• Cortisol is a catabolic hormone – it breaks things down. It effects thyroid function (our master metabolic gland) by increasing iodine excretion, raising reverse T3 (which blocks active thyroid from getting into the cells) and inhibiting the crucial T4>T3 conversion which is necessary for cellular uptake as well. This creates Thyroid Resistance at the cellular level. Over time this not only lowers DHEA but paradoxically will eventually lower cortisol causing even more detrimental imbalances and what’s commonly referred to as “adrenal fatigue”.

This was my fateful pattern that I uncovered a few years ago, but it still really boiled down to my mindset and stress patterns!

I could slap bio-identical hormones and adrenal support on top of everything – and I did with my Functional Medicine doctor’s guidance – and those adjuncts may have helped me while I was rebalancing – but moreso this required that I CHANGE MY THINKING AND STRESS PATTERNS (back to #1)!

#3 INFLAMMATION

Your body is so awesome! It’s self healing. Your immune system’s main job is to protect you from invaders. Unfortunately, we are surrounded by, bathed in and consuming threatening invaders all day – e’er day – in this modern world.

From toxins in food, water, medications, supplements, drugs, alcohol, air pollution, mold, household products, plastics, metals, beauty products, electromagnetic frequencies to pathogens – bacteria, virus, yeast, mold, parasites – to the physical (overtraining, skimping on sleep, injuries), emotional and mental stress we place on ourselves – it’s a miracle that we’re even alive!

Many of us – especially women over 40 with the shifting stress response systems, boggy livers and sluggish detoxification pathways – are even more sensitive to the onslaught. What we could handle in our twenties and thirties is ‘no bueno‘ in our 40s and beyond.

I often hear: “But I used to be able to do X diet or Y workout or drink and eat Z and I’d keep the weight off. What’s more can I do?“

And then that leads to the whole over-dieting/exercise cycle – attempting to “force” your body into submission.

For most of you, It just ain’t gonna happen that way anymore because the body is SOOOO done with the abuse. It has more compelling things to deal with now…so when you layer on more nutrient deficiencies, the threat of starvation and the stress of overtraining and poor recovery, you’re just compounding the problem. (This is how I gained weight and got bulky doing too much Crossfit. And how I messed up my metabolism, gut, thyroid and adrenals by eating processed vegan foods and over-dieting.)

Chronic stress exposure is our modern day reality. There’s likely some inflammatory processes running in the background that you’re not even aware of. Sometimes you may be “lucky enough” to catch it on your labs or you may get symptoms: joint pain, headaches, break outs, bloating/digestive upset/constipation, insomnia, aging skin, bags under the eyes, mood imbalances, fatigue…

But for many of you, (myself included) the primary symptom is more insidious, frustrating and confusing because ‘all that happens’ in response to inflammation is: stubborn weight gain.

WHY? When you’re inflamed, the body holds water. It’s protective. It’s also registering the inflammation trigger as a threat – a stress. SO there’s water weight PLUS fat storage signaling.

Think of it from a survival physiology perspective:

Back in the cavewoman days, if you had inflammation it was likely acute and physical in nature – an injury or infection. Your survival physiology would do all it could to heal and protect you so that you could survive – so that you could get back to finding food. Just in case though, your physiology is expertly wired to make sure you don’t starve while you’re recovering, so it signals fat storage temporarily and provides the cells with a protective cushion of water which equals weight gain and weight loss resistance.

This is brilliant and necessary for these short term threats when food is actually scarce, but in today’s world, we are chronically stressed and threatened with all the things – all the time – and food is more than abundant.

#4 NUTRITION

I probably should’ve led with this because it’s so obvious, but in case you didn’t realize: You have to #1 eat real, anti-inflammatory, nutrient dense food #2 in the right caloric amount and #3 in the right macronutrient and micronutrient balance for your body right now. Overeating for YOUR current physiology is the leading cause of weight gain and ‘weight loss resistance’.

Believe it or not, the easiest thing to “control” and pinpoint is your food.

Most of you will dial in the nutrition first – and that’s great! You may try different macros (keto, cycling carbs etc).), maybe taking in slightly fewer calories – or even more calories – especially if you don’t feel good or added higher intensity workouts…It may be that you experiment with different foods, the volume of food, meal timing or different amounts of each food type.

You try something and then you see what happens – trial and error. Just like a detective.

If that doesn’t get you anywhere, that’s where you go back to #1 Mindset – your thinking – those tricky limiting beliefs and patterns that effect your consistency or lack thereof…Also start exploring lifestyle factors (sleep, water, stress) and potential exposures that may be effecting hormones and/or causing hidden inflammation (triggering foods, mold, metals, infection, endocrine disruptors in your home and everyday products).

If you need guidance, support and accountability in your troubleshooting, now’s the time to schedule your appointment and or enroll in my brand spanking new Weight Loss Mastery Program (where we tackle all these factors and you get support from me for 10 whole weeks). This is special Start-Up Member pricing (where you save $300 in exchange for participating and providing feedback after the program). Pricing more than doubles with the full rollout in the fall, so this is the perfect time to work with me virtually at a really low price. Join now. Space is limited!