Struggling With Weight Loss - Taking A Closer Look

Can struggling with weight loss mean you don't have enough willpower? Other factors can serve as weight loss blockers, such as medication or hormones. For instance, a sluggish thyroid could be the reason the pounds are hanging on. For others, stress could be preventing weight loss. The stress hormone, cortisol, is released during stress times and cortisol can aid in fat cell production.

If medication and hormones are not your issue, let's take a closer look to the cause of your struggle.

Taking A Closer Look At Those Struggling With Weight Loss.

*You are relying on exercise alone to do the trick. Exercise is essential to burn calories and fat cells but, you do need to cut down on sweets and junk food. It is important to consume fresh fruits and veggies everyday for every meal and snack. A fresh fruit and veggie smoothie in the morning for breakfast will give your metabolism a kick start and boost your energy. Snack on finger foods like grapes, carrots and berries.

*Using exercise as an excuse to eat whatever you want. It is easy to believe that since you did a workout that day, that it is okay to have a bowl of ice cream and a piece of cake. Although you should congratulate yourself on exercising, do not use food as a reward. Instead, use an activity or time spent with a loved one as a reward.

*Consistency is the key to shed pounds once and for all. Stop bad habits and adopt new ones that will improve your lifestyle. If necessary, change your environment. You must keep good habits going to enjoy the freedom of being healthy. When you experience setbacks, do not dwell on them. Just start again, make some needed adjustments, and don't look back. Moving forward is still moving in the right direction. Quitting means just that, you're done. If you don't quit, you will accomplish your weight loss goals.

*Positive thinking can aid your body's response to burning fat cells. Be grateful for your body. It is a miracle! Compliment your body and think positive thoughts. Your body and your mind are closely linked. Use that power for good, not for degrading yourself.

*You are not sure what you eat all day. Keep a food and exercise journal everyday. By tracking your food, you may be more conscious of what you eat. In addition, it is helpful to see your progress in exercising. Congratulate yourself on positive steps in the right direction.

Article Source: Ezine Articles

How I Healed My Body & Lost 60 Pounds Along The Way

Do you ever find yourself craving foods that you don’t want to eat? Do you ever feel guilty after eating food you wished you hadn't? Do you find yourself in a constant struggle with your fluctuating weight and self esteem? 

If you said yes to any of the questions above, there is one thing I want you to know: you can change your life for the better. 

Why do I know this to be true? 

Well, I spent most of my teenage years secretly tormented by my relationship with food, my excess weight and my ever-dwindling self confidence. Just days before turning 20, I was 60 pounds overweight and was suffering from a host of chronic ailments including eczema, asthma and adrenal exhaustion. It was at the precise moment that my body completely broke down, leaving me bedridden for months. 

When my doctors offered me experimental medication, I just knew that there had to be another way. Despite not really knowing which way to turn, I was intuitively guided towards the path of healing. Over the course of the following two years, I consulted with healers and naturopaths, as well as many alternative books before uncovering the path that was right for me.

 

Not only did I heal all of my chronic conditions, I also managed to lose 60 pounds naturally and have kept it off for over 15 years now.

 

In this article I share three healing thoughts to inspire you along your own weight loss journey. 

1. Allow food to nourish you.

Let me be frank. Food addictions are one of the most challenging addictions to overcome. Unlike addictions to drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex, where at times, under medical supervision, addicts can go cold turkey or participate in a program to wean themselves off of the substance over time to break the cycle of addiction, food addictions necessitate a completely different approach. 

To break free of a food addiction, you need to transform your relationship with food. Allow yourself to see food as a source of nourishment rather than something you need to fight or struggle against. Using deprivation or restriction will only strengthen your addiction and is one of the big reasons most diets fail. 

Treat your body with love and kindness. Give it what it needs so that you can create strength, flexibility and wellness. If you really want to lose your excess weight for good, let food be a source of vitality in your life. Let it fuel and energize you. 

 

You don't need to radically change your diet overnight, either. All you need to do is keep taking baby steps towards improving your nutritional intake. The key here is progress not perfection.

 

2. Listen to your body.

If you are like most people, you're probably prone to being hard on your body, even when you know that you shouldn’t. I spent many years overburdening my own body until it finally broke down.

There are countless ways that people but excess strain on their bodies including working too hard, sleeping too little and overeating, drinking too much and exercising too much or too little. 

As an alternative to over-extending yourself, give yourself permission to work within your natural limits. Start to listen to your body so that you can give it what it really wants.

The body has its own secret language and will tell you exactly what it needs if you create enough space to listen to it. A great way to begin attuning to your body is by gently reducing your intake of stimulants such as caffeine, sugar and television. 

Reducing your intake of stimulants has the added benefit of creating space in your life for things that truly nurture your body like gentle stretching, yoga and breath work. 

All of these factors contribute to building a deeper awareness and will help you to feel more at home in your body. When you do this, you will find that you naturally move in the direction of balance without pushing or straining. 

3. Do the things that make you happy.

Doing what makes you happy is one of the most important keys to healing. To cope with our complex modern world, most people end up living the life that other people want them to lead rather than pursuing their own dreams. 

When you push yourself to do things you don't want to do, you work against your natural self and create unnecessary mental, emotional and physical stress. This stress, if left unaddressed, can become chronic and result in many different forms of illness as well as weight gain. 

A number of years ago I felt stuck in a career that didn't make me happy. I had graduated from college with an honors degree in marketing so I thought that it made sense to begin working professionally in the field. 

It didn't take me long to figure out that not only did I not like working in a corporate environment, but I wasn't particularly good at it either. After a number of unsuccessful work experiences, it became obvious that I needed to do something different in order to reduce my stress levels and regain my natural happiness. 

I quit my job, went to art school and life has been an amazing adventure ever since.

When you do the things that make you happy, you create an environment for a healthier life. This will not only help you on your weight loss healing journey, it will also help you to become a happier and more balanced person in the process.

Source: MindBodyGreen

Why Aren't You Losing Weight?

You're following a weight-loss eating plan. You're exercising almost every day. You're proud of the new healthy habits you've learned. Yet week after week, the scale barely seems to budge. What gives?

Chances are your food portion sizes have crept up (time to get out the scales and measuring cups again). Or your workouts may not be quite as intense as you think (start checking that heart rate).

But if you know you've followed your reducing plan religiously, there's another possibility: A medical condition -- or medication -- may be to blame.

"If you haven't been able to lose weight and you can't understand why, you need to determine whether there's a medical condition underlying your weight problem," says Peter LePort, MD, director of the Smart Dimensions Bariatric Program at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in California. "You need to cure that problem first before you can address the weight issue."

Medical Reasons for Weight Gain

Several conditions can cause weight gain or hinder weight loss, says Rebecca Kurth, MD, director of PrimeCare at Columbia-Presbyterian Eastside and associate professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University.

Among them, Kurth says, are:

• Chronic stress. When you live with anxiety, stress, or grief, your body can produce chemical substances -- like the hormone cortisol -- that make your body more likely to store fat, especially around the waist. That's the type of weight gain that really increases your risk of serious health problems. (Extra weight around the hips and thighs poses fewer health risks.)
• Cushing's syndrome. This happens when the adrenal glands (located on top of each kidney) produce too much cortisol, which leads to a buildup of fat in the face, upper back, and abdomen.
• Hypothyroidism . If your thyroid is underactive, your body may not produce enough thyroid hormone to help burn stored fat. As a result, your metabolism is slower and you will store more fat than you burn -- especially if you're not physically active.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This disease, the result of a hormonal imbalance, afflicts more than 5 million women in the US. Common symptoms are irregular menstrual bleeding, acne, excessive facial hair, thinning hair, difficulty getting pregnant, and weight gain that is not caused by excessive eating.
• Syndrome X. Also called insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia (high insulin levels), syndrome X goes hand-in-hand with weight gain. Syndrome X is a cluster of health conditions thought to be rooted in insulin resistance. When your body is resistant to the hormone insulin, other hormones that help control your metabolism don't work as well.
• Depression. Many people who are depressed turn to eating to ease their emotional distress.
• Hormonal changes in women. Some women may gain weight at times in their lives when there is a shift in their hormones -- at puberty, during pregnancy, and at menopause.

Two other considerations: people tend to gain weight with age for unknown reasons, and though it's not a medical condition, drinking alcohol in moderate to excessive amounts can sabotage your efforts to lose weight. Alcohol (including beer and wine) is a refined carbohydrate, similar to sugar, candy, and white flour. Besides adding calories, alcohol may raise blood sugar and insulin levels, which can contribute to weight gain.

A Prescription for Weight Gain?  

It's not only medical conditions that can add pounds. Some medications can also cause you to gain weight, or keep you from losing it, says Ken Fujioka, MD, medical director of the Scripps Clinic Nutrition and Metabolism Research Center in San Diego.

"It's very common for medications to cause weight gain," says Fujioka, noting that approximately 25% of his patients are on medication or have an illness that is causing them to gain weight.

Among the medications that may cause weight gain in some people are:

• Medications used to treat type 2 diabetes (such as sulfonylureas)
• Antipsychotic or schizophrenia medications, including chlorpromazine (such as Thorazine), thioridazine (Mellaril), and olanzapine (Zyprexa)
• Beta-blockers (prescribed for high blood pressure, and some heart conditions)
• Antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil), imipramine (Norpramin), or trazodone (Desyrel)
• Hormone replacement therapy
• Birth control pills
• Corticosteroids taken for conditions like asthma and lupus
• Antiepileptics taken to control seizures, especially valproic acid (Depakene or Depakote) and carbamazepine (such as Tegretol)

The reasons certain medications cause weight gain can vary and are not always known, says Fujioka.

Antipsychotic drugs, for example, may increase appetite as well as lower the metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories). Beta-blockers are thought to lower a person's metabolic rate by about 80 calories a day. And hormone replacement therapy increases the body's level of estrogen, a fat-storing hormone.

"Weight gain is a very troublesome -- and unpredictable -- side effect of certain medications," says Arthur Frank, MD, director of the George Washington University Weight Management Program. "You can experience a substantial weight gain if you're sensitive to that particular medication."

But if you're gaining weight on one medication, your doctor may be able to help you find a similar drug that won't have the same effect. For example, an older class of antidepressants known as tricyclics may cause weight gain, while a newer class of depression medication called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) usually doesn't, says Fujioka. SSRIs include Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft.

Medications cause weight gain in both men and women, but because women gain weight more easily than men in general, and have a harder time losing it, they may notice more added pounds than men taking the same medication.

Work With Your Doctor

It seems obvious, but bears repeating: If you suspect you are having trouble with weight loss because you have a medical condition or medication, talk to your doctor right away. And don't give up on getting fit. Although it is difficult to lose weight gained because of a medical condition or medication, it's not impossible, says Frank. 

"Monitor your weight closely," he advises, "and if you see that you're gaining weight, tell your doctor so that he can see about switching your medications." Changing your diet and getting more exercise can also help you lose the weight, although it might take you longer than it otherwise would. But remember, if you have any sort of medical condition, you should be carefully monitored while trying to lose weight. 

If you have diabetes, for example, says Fujioka, eating less and exercising more can cause your blood sugar to fall too quickly. "Diabetics should be under close medical supervision when trying to lose weight," Fujioka says.

No matter what your medical condition is, if it's causing you to gain weight, don't try to manage the problem yourself, says Rebecca Kurth, MD, associate professor for clinical medicine at Columbia University.

"Talk to your physician," Kurth advises. "Don't overburden yourself. You are not to blame."

 Source: WebMD