Why Isn't My Diet Working?

We’ve received this question a lot lately!!  Ladies tell us that they can’t seem to lose weight no matter what they eat!  They go on a diet and lose a little but when they come off the diet the weight comes right back on!  What’s the deal with that?? Why is it so hard to sustain weight loss? Sustaining weight loss being key to this discussion!

Let’s talk about dieting. Dieting is where you cut calories way back for an extended period of time in order to lose weight quickly.  This is rarely ever sustainable. When you go back to your normal way of eating, you gain the weight back, and in many cases, you gain more weight.  Studies have shown that when most people go on a calorie restriction diet to lose weight, 30-65% of that weight will be regained within a year and one in three will end up heavier than before.

Why does this happen? Let’s talk about a few reasons why this happens.

When you cut calories for an extended period your body may lose muscle mass. Your body needs the calories for fuel and it taps into some of your fat stores but also into your muscle.  You need muscle to burn fat and calories! With less muscle mass your metabolism decreases. So now when you want to lose weight again, you have to cut calories even more to get the weight to come off, and you lose more precious muscle.  Your metabolism decreases more. It’s a vicious cycle.

This yo-yo style of dieting; the losing and the regaining, then losing and regaining, is damaging to the body and the thyroid.  Yo-yo dieting is one of the reasons the thyroid does not work well. The thyroid gland produces mainly inactive thyroid hormone called T4.  It relies on the tissues to convert T4 to the active form, T3. T3 attaches to the receptor sites on the cell membrane’s surface and turns on the cells ability to turn up the rate at which it burns glucose to make energy (ATP).  This increases your metabolism. When we go on a crash diet, a physiological response takes place where the body thinks it’s starving or there is a scarcity of food. To conserve energy, it converts T4 into inactive Reverse T3 (RT3).  RT3 clogs the receptor sites where T3 is supposed to attach. Since RT3 is metabolically inactive, it can’t direct the cell to burn glucose so the metabolism slows conserving fuel for the impending “famine” it thinks it’s about to face.  This increases the storing of food as fat in your fat cells. When we do this over and over our metabolism gets stuck and we will gain weight on even fewer calories. It may take a long time to recover from this kind of metabolic damage.

Yo-yo dieting can lead to Fatty Liver Disease.  Fatty liver is associated with changes in the way the liver metabolizes fats and sugars which increases your chances of type 2 diabetes.  It can impair insulin sensitivity and increase insulin resistance and make it even harder to lose the weight.

Yo-yo dieting is also hard on the heart!  It can lower the good cholesterol, HDL and raise the bad cholesterol which can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Yo-yo dieting increases the stress hormone, cortisol.  Cortisol raises blood sugar which raises insulin and suppresses the thyroid.  This leads to an increase in fat stores especially around the middle. In addition, a chronically high cortisol decreases sex hormones which exacerbates the situation further.  

So what is a better plan?  Let’s don’t even call it a diet, first of all!!  This is a nutrition and lifestyle plan, that is sustainable and pleasurable long term, something you can start out and hold out on.  Your plan must include whole foods that give you the nutrients and micronutrients needed for energy and vitality!  What are whole foods? They are vegetables and fruits that are in their natural form, clean and lean proteins that are not processed.  Whole foods will prevent cravings and leave you satisfied; keeping your hunger, energy and craving in check. Your thyroid, your metabolism your hormones will all be working in harmony with each other to prevent that regain!  One indulgence won’t derail your efforts and your thyroid will adjust to handle the extra calories. Let’s face it, we all know it, processed foods will not give you the sustainable results you are desiring. If you are tired of the yo-yo lifestyle and are looking for something sustainable that allows for results to flow, let us help you find your sweet spot so you will have a plan for life!! Next program start date is March, 11. 2019. You don’t want to miss this!!