Diet & Exercise But Still Can’t Lose Weight?

This is the battle cry for far too many people.

 As we approach the end of our Holiday Challenge, I wanted to address anyone out there who has played by the rules yet failed to reap the fruits of their exertions.


There are five major events that can derail any attempt to lose weight: 1. Insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. Adrenal stress, 3. Thyroid abnormalities, 4. Hormone imbalance, 5. Sleep.

Yes there are many other elements that can affect weight loss but these are the major categories. Check your status in each of these areas and you will nurture your health while slimming down your pant size. Great, then let's get started.

1.      Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome:

If your fasting blood sugar is above 84 then you are trending into the waters of insulin resistance and eventually toward full-blown diabetes.

 For every point above 84 on your fasting glucose test, you are 6% more likely to become diabetic.

 If your fasting glucose is 92 then (do the math) you are 48% more likely to become diabetic and your vessels are already incurring destruction by plaque formation. 

Insulin resistance is a pre-diabetic state that means your body’s ability to remove sugar from the blood and place it in the cells is compromised, resulting in a higher insulin level.
  Insulin transports the signal to all cells to STORE FAT.

Lack of exercise, eating high glycemic foods like sugar, rice, potato, pasta will drive glucose up rapidly and with it goes insulin.
Many of us are in this category yet may be painfully unaware.

The good news is that this is a reversible state and can be remedied by lifestyle and diet changes, along with a few simple nutritional adjuncts like magnesium and a mineral called chromium.
Making your insulin receptors more responsive will reverse this trend and aid your attempts to lose weight.

2. Adrenal stress profile:

Now this is a behemoth of a topic and too large for this article but stress is a killer in many ways.
 Mental, emotional, physical, environmental, toxins, dietary, and other kinds of stress are all important and will converge to place demands on our body as a system.

 If gone unchecked, this tension will contribute to thyroid dysfunction, high blood pressure, diabetes, cognitive decline, immune decline, and yes weight gain.

If you are unsure if you have adrenal stress then allow me to recommend a classic book “Adrenal Fatigue” by Dr. James L. Wilson.
This book is easily available at most libraries or book stores. This is one of the most frequent issues that I see causing disease in my patients. It causes more heart attacks than cholesterol.

3. Thyroid abnormalities:

Low thyroid function is a very common disorder that often goes undiagnosed.
 Many general practitioners will check a patients TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and tell them their thyroid is normal, leaving patients to wonder why they feel so bad, lethargic and gaining weight. Looking at TSH or even total T4 is not adequate for thyroid evaluation.

Anyone with chronic stress, chronic disease, illness, aging, or inflammation (have I left anyone out) will not have a normal TSH response and require a more thorough evaluation which would include a freeT4 and a freeT3 as well as a check for antibodies against the thyroid.

 If you experience symptoms of low thyroid such as cold hands and feet, weight gain, sluggish brain, feeling “run-down,” sore muscles, dry skin and hair, depression, headaches, then you need a complete thyroid lab evaluation, not a scant screening.

People with low functioning thyroid that goes undetected have more than a 2 fold increased risk for heart disease. Mild thyroid dysfunction is a contributing factor in 60% of all heart attacks.
A low functioning thyroid makes it nearly impossible to lose weight.

4. Hormone imbalance:

Approximately 50% of all women over the age of 35 have estrogen dominance. That means your progesterone is declining faster than your estrogen.
Estrogen, when not balanced with the appropriate amount of progesterone leads to weight gain.

 Need proof? Ask many women what happened to their weight when they started on birth control pills (they block progesterone production) and they will differentiate you  . . . All together now  . . . I've gained weight.
Progesterone drops very sharply after the age of 40. Ask any women when they noticed a change in their weight gain and a large percentage will tell you . . . In my 40’s.  Yet many physicians still do not measure their patient’s hormone levels.

It’s an easy and simple blood test, then ask your physician for assistance here and if indicated, start some progesterone (NOT PROGESTIN).

 You do not want a synthetic drug replica of progesterone. You want bio-identical PROGESTERONE (note the exact spelling).
In every study ever done on the planet earth, progesterone has been shown to reduce breast cancer risk. Progesterone has never been proven to cause cancer. If you are being told otherwise then simply ask to see ONE study showing it. It doesn't exist here.

5. Sleep

So simple, yet so often a problem.
Walk into any group of women over the age of 25 and simply say “raise your hand if you fall asleep easily and stay asleep for more than 7 hours each night.” You will see heads turning as they all look to see if anyone there has the answer to a good night's sleep.

If you don’t sleep you will have high stress and weight gain. One study showed that people who take less than 5 hours of sleep per night are 73% more likely to become obese.

Declining sleep or disturbed sleep patterns lead to big pants.
Take your sleep cycle seriously.
Exercise will reduce stress hormones and promote a good sleep cycle. A simple natural elements such as melatonin each night will help promote a restful night's sleep.
  Get off of your computer at least two hours before bedtime.

The bright light of the computer is telling your brain “it’s day time” so when you turn it off it takes a couple of hours for your brain to recognize night fall and begin preparing melatonin for sleep.
Watch your caffeine intake and avoid it after 2 PM. Chocolate and soda are also big sources of caffeine.

Each of these topics truly requires more discussion but I wanted to present this list to you immediately so that you can start to explore any metabolic issues that may be hindering your progress.

I see so many people who give up and accept the mutiny that their body is engaged in and just proclaim, “Well, I’m getting older.”  Bullpucky!
Yes your body is changing but addressing the changes with a healthy response can get you back on track and feeling good.

Don't settle for anything less than that.
 Talk to your doctor, your chiropractor, your acupuncturist, your integrated health care professional until you find someone can help you find the answers you are looking for.
 These are the sorts of issues I deal with every day in my practice.
 There are many solutions.
I look forward to 2010 and I hope you have a new outlook for a great new year.

For those of you who participated in our Holiday Challenge I am looking forward to reading about your experience.
 If you had success or total failure, I want to hear about it.

 Within each failure lies the seed to an even greater success so no venture is without its reward provided we are prepared to look for it. Share with others so that we can all gain from your experience.