The #1 Thing Stalling Your Weight Loss
You know that excess weight around your mid-section that you just can't seem to lose no matter how hard you workout, or how clean you eat? In the natural health space, we've affectionately named that the "Cortisol Belly". You're probably quite familiar with cortisol by now, the main stress hormone produced by your adrenal glands. Well, this hormone not only warns you to run away from a bear or get out of the way of a moving car, it also gets fired up during mental, emotional and other types of physical stress, such as lack of sleep and low-grade toxicity.
"So, Asher, you're saying that I'm not losing belly fat because I'm stressed?" Quite possibly!
Emotional factors related to stress, including adverse childhood events, are often factors keeping one in a fight or flight state. In addition to emotional stress, there are various physical factors that lock our bodies into a chronically stressed state:
Congested Detox Organs & Pathways
With hundreds of mostly unregulated chemicals added to our food supply alone each year, regular detoxification is not optional, it's essential! Toxins clog up our liver, a key organ for fat-burning and metabolic health, and put added strain on our kidneys and lymphatic system to clear the excess toxicity. These days our bodies need additional support in order to effectively and efficiently clear waste and function at peak performance.
Are You “Regular”?
The first place to start in any detoxification or weight loss protocol is to get your bowels moving regularly and emptying fully. You want easily passed, foot-long, brown stools that float mid-bowl at least 2x a day, without visible undigested foods; anything less is a sign of an under functioning colon. Proper hydration, diet and supplementation are key tools for regulating bowel function. Furthermore, our emotional state STRONGLY affects our ability to digest and eliminate properly and vice versa!
Eating A Stressful Diet
Is your diet putting added strain on your system? If you're regularly consuming an inflammation-promoting diet with processed foods, sugars, fried foods, gluten and non-organic foods, the answer is yes. Even healthier diets too high in carbohydrates or too low in fat can stop you from reaching your goals. We focus on an anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, fibre-rich diet with our clients, especially those looking to lose weight. Hidden food allergies may also be a culprit for weight loss resistance and fasting can be part of an effective weight loss protocol, depending on the individual.
Gut Stress Can Halt Weight Loss
Eating a healthy diet and exercising is only part of the solution. If your gut is still under functioning, your microbiota will be imbalanced, and this can put the breaks on your metabolism! With 10x more bacteria than human cells, you better believe the type of bacteria living in us have an influence on weight! Being nutritionally deficient due to poor diet, poor digestion, yeast overgrowth or infections such as parasites, tells your body to hold onto your fat stores because you’re not getting enough nutrition — Even if you’re eating alll the vegetables! Crazy right? That’s why we emphasize cleaning up and rebalancing your gut and reducing inflammation so much.
If you've struggled to lose weight in the past, especially in 2020, don't give up hope. Work with your nutritionist to get to the root of stress and inflammation so you can start seeing results! For more info, take a look at my last article, 4 Keys to Increasing Stress Resilience in 2021.
Asher Kleiber
Registered Holistic Nutritionist™
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