If you think your biggest problem losing weight is all about your will power, you might be right. However, I find that there’s a lot more valid reasons than that. Sometimes, it’s lack of knowledge and knowing how to eat healthy. Other times, a thwarted effort to lose weight occurs because of a metabolic problem or a precursor, such as being insulin resistant, leaving you hungry and tired all the time.
Insulin resistance causes people to struggle with weight loss.
Insulin helps control blood sugar levels and provides energy to cells. It also helps control fat storage. If you have higher levels of sugar in your blood, the body sends more insulin to deal with it. When your body is working right, it sends that energy into the cells, where it’s used as fuel. If it’s not working properly, that sugar never enters the cells and instead, it’s stored into fat cells. Your body still needs fuel, but there’s none there, no matter how much you eat, so you continue to eat and your body continues to store those calories as fat.
Eat healthy.
Besides eating tons of vegetables, particularly dark green leafy ones, add some fruit to the mix. The fiber in both and all the nutrients will help you take a step in a healthier direction. Skip starchy vegetables like peas, potatoes and corn. Also skip canned fruit packed in sugar. Go for more fiber in your diet, so almonds, black beans and oatmeal should be on your menu. Also choose a diet with more lean protein like chicken, fish and nut butter. You might not think that you’ll lose weight if you eat fat, but that’s not true when it’s healthy fat in moderate portions, such as butter from grass fed cows.
Avoid trans fats and simple carbs like the plague.
What are simple carbs? Those are ones that are easy to digest, such as sugar, Let’s not forget sugary drinks, while we’re at it. People often forget to count what they drink and continue with a sugary cola or two a day, when switching it out for water could help them shed pounds far faster. Don’t even consider diet drinks. Recent studies show they actually put weight on around your middle with visceral fat and exacerbate metabolic problems. Healthy fats should be part of your diet, but never trans fats, even if you’re not overweight or insulin resistant.
- If you’re overweight, but not suffering serious health problems, it may be because you have a high personal fat threshold—the amount of fat you can have before health problems, such as hypertension or inflammatory diseases occur.
- Studies show that a program of regular exercise can also help eliminate insulin resistance. Exercise helps move sugar into the muscles while boosting insulin sensitivity.
- Adding spices to your cooking, like fenugreek seeds, turmeric, ginger and garlic to the diet helps. Including cinnamon in your daily diet also helps. It’s known to reduce blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity.
- Get more sleep and reduce the amount of stress in your life also helps. Consider taking meditation classes or working out at the gym. The first helps reduce stress and exercise burns off the hormones created by stress, while also promoting sleep.