Are you exercising regularly? Are you eating healthy? Are you still not losing weight?
I have 5 top tips to help you lose weight, that you would have never thought applied to you, until now. These are in no order of priority. They are all equally important. Some people may need to address some points more than others in order to re-boot the fat loss process. A lot of these issues are directly related with stubborn abdominal fat, mainly stress and gut health.
1. STRESS: Simply, it is almost impossible to reach your body composition goals while you are in a cortisol flooded, acidic, stressed out state. More stress levels means higher cortisol levels (stress hormone) which has a host of negative effects when trying to lose weight. To touch on one effect; cortisol has a direct relationship with insulin. Cortisol will thwart the effect of insulin, meaning the blood sugar (glucose) that's floating about in your body will unable to be absorbed and used by your cells, in this case muscles. As it will not be stored as glycogen in muscle tissue for energy, it will be stored in fat tissue and because the muscles have not received the fuel they need, they will send hunger signals to the brain wanting more food. You will eat, excess calories, the vicious cycle restarts. Higher cortisol also increases craving for 'bad foods' normally that of higher calorie density, sugar, and 'bad' fats.
2. CALORIES: The most simple equation. Eat less calories than you burn. Again it is almost impossible to lose weight in a calorie surplus. Create a calorie deficit, stay consistent with it, and allow your body to slowly lose weight by burning fat for fuel.
3. GUT HEALTH: Your gut plays a massive role in metabolism, emotional feelings, digestion, utilization, detoxification, the list goes on. If you do not have a healthy gut, you will struggle to lose weight. You could have the healthiest diet going, but if your gut is not optimally functional, it will not have the capacity to digest, utilize and absorb all the goodness you are consuming, meaning it will pass straight through, or again store as unwanted fat. You need an optimum ratio of good to bad bacteria in your gut. If you do not, you may find yourself gassy, bloated, experience signs of IBS or IBD.
How to fix this?
Supplement digestive enzymes to help the GI Tract improve its environment to easily breakdown all the foods and macronutrients you are eating. You can simultaneously supplement 'Modbiotics'. This will help clean the gut to return it to a natural healthy bacterial ratio. Do not underestimate your gut health, 90% of how you feel and how you act relate to the signals sent to your brain via your gut. Eating better foods, will help your brain realise you are happy and healthy.
4. EAT FAT:
Are you focusing your diet (if focusing at all) on getting enough protein, small amount of carbs, making sure you get enough fruit and vegetables in? Why are you not thinking about fat? This is probably the most essential nutrient to help you burn fat. You need to eat fat to burn fat. A balanced ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 is vital to achieve this. Recent decades humanity has seen this ratio go to highs of 20:1 ration O-6:O-3 respectively and this has caused weight gain, health effects, diabetes, obesity etc. Omega 6 fats are your vegetable oils, fast food, dairy and eggs, many baked delicacies . You will find more omega 3 rich foods in oily fish; tuna and salmon, nuts and seeds etc. This will directly help you lose weight! Why? Because all of your cells in your body are made up of lipids or fats that will be composed of whatever type of fats you eat. Simple. The healthier the fat, the more permeable (insulin sensitivity) allowing glucose to pass through a lot easier for higher metabolism and energy production. the opposite would be unhealthy fats, causing insulin resistance and leading to weight gain. Fat is also a appetite suppressor, meaning it will keep you full for longer as it takes longer to breakdown, digest and utilise. You wont have to eat again due to lower hunger levels. Lastly if you participate in regular exercise or training, eating fats for fuel will help you tap into fat stores in your body to burn for energy production, leading to increased fat burning during exercise.
5: CONSISTENT: Stay consistent and committed to whatever you need to do. Nothing you do will immediately make you feel better. Over time, the process by which you have injected into your lifestyle will slowly start to make things happen. Be patient, trust the process, enjoy the process and reap the benefits. You may start to sleep better, feel more productive, your performance may improve, your skin may be clearer and you may start to get leaner.
Huge shout out to Mark Roper & "International Fit Chat" who inspired this blog.