Weight Loss after 35 – Yes you can!

 

“When I turned 35, I started gaining weight around my mid section and couldn’t lose it.” Has any woman reached 40 without uttering these words of frustration? Not many, it seems. The fact is, despite our best efforts, most women gain weight after 35 —especially around our waist and hips—even when we diet! What’s worse, many women who exercise can’t get through perimenopuase without watching the scale climb upwards. So what happens to us in those years, that weight gain seems to be our universal problem? The answer lies in the remarkable links between hormonal balance and body fat. Before we explore these links, though, let’s set aside the basic myth behind most diets—that weight control is merely a matter of “calories in – calories out”. We’ve all been conditioned to believe that, but it’s patently untrue and it causes countless women to suffer needlessly.

 

Losing weight and balancing hormones - A healthy weight, the natural way!

 

One of the problems with popular diets is that every woman’s “ideal” weight is unique. Our bodies respond differently to the demands we make on them, so it makes sense that resolving weight challenges will be different for every woman!

 

The reason for this is that almost every major system in our bodies relates to our metabolism and our ability to lose weight and keep it off. The central nervous, limbic, thyroid, neurotransmitter, endocrine, digestive and immune systems all affect our weight! Amazing, isn’t it, how our bodies are like a symphony orchestra, with the music depending on how every single instrument is played! Some of the music was written genetically, before we were born, while other pieces change as we alter our nutrition, emotions, stress level and lifestyle. Because we’re not clones, the notes played by all of those instruments, together and separately, will be different for every woman.

 

What it all means: We need to get healthy on these other levels before we can lose those stubborn pounds. And that doesn’t mean trying to live up to the media’s ideal of a perfect body—most models and actors aren’t the perfect pictures of health they appear to be on the silver screen!

 

Hormones and your weight.

 

When we mention hormones, most women think of estrogen. But a number of other prominent hormones work together in our bodies, and they have tremendous influence on our weight.

 

First, let’s look at the “hunger hormones,” or metabolic hormones. Insulin is the major player in this group, directly affected by diet; it’s the smart hormone that decides whether blood sugar gets used right away for energy, or stored as fat. When insulin resistance or other disruption in the insulin-regulating system is at play, then all of the hunger hormones are affected.

 

Leptin is one we can call the “satiety hormone.” It’s made inside fat cells and is just one small piece of the complex hunger-satiety network. Ghrelin, a hormone released by cells lining the stomach, stimulates your appetite when leptin levels are low. These are joined in the hunger/metabolism panorama by steroid hormones, including DHEA and human growth hormone (hGH), along with cortisol, the stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands (continued high cortisol levels give us extra fat around the abdomen).

 

Adrenal fatigue, common in women, is linked to high cortisol and can lead to binge eating and intense cravings—no diet will help if these levels aren’t balanced. Melatonin, the hormone that regulates our circadian or “sleep/awake” rhythm, is another influence if it’s off-balance. Our old friend estrogen helps to regulate hunger, but an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone stimulates cravings. Add the effects of too much cortisol, and you begin to understand why women collect abdominal fat in mid life. (For more on this life stage, see our articles on perimenopause and menopause.) Further, if a woman is low in testosterone, she can’t build muscles no matter how much she works out—and, consequently, can’t burn fat.

 

Our Women’s Empowerment Program is a great place to learn how to balance your hormones naturally!

 

Emotions and your appetite.

 

Have you ever thought about your emotional attachment to food? We all make certain connections when it comes to foods—we associate them with holidays and happy times, or perhaps a comforting reward at the end of a bad day. Whatever the association, most of us look to food for comfort or to pass the time. It’s possible that emotional eating and food disorders have physiological roots, such as a neurotransmitter imbalance that creates a serotonin shortage, affecting our ability to handle stress and resulting in “anxious eating.”

 

Sleep disorders could be another factor in unhealthy eating. We ask our clients at Vibrant Way to keep a food journal, not just tracking the foods they eat, but also what was happening with them emotionally when they reach for certain foods. We have found that keeping a food journal helps our clients recognize any pattern of emotional eating, bringing them a step closer to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Click here for our 7-day food journal.

 

How does appetite interact with metabolism?

 

One thing we know: you achieve a lean body by burning fat and building muscle—two key elements of a fine-tuned metabolism. A healhy metabolism has three jobs:

 

• Converting energy from food we eat into work and heat;
• Eliminating toxins or unneeded nutrients in the form of waste; and
• Storing glucose (glycogen) and extra energy (fat) for future use.

These functions are a three-legged stool supporting a healthy metabolism; you need all three working together or the metabolism isn’t working properly. Ideally, you take in enough calories to fuel you—to support the energy you use—with little left over.

The way to achieve a healthy metabolism is by good nutrition. It’s not true that “a calorie is a calorie,” because you can’t eat 1,500 calories of macaroni and cheese every day and expect to be as healthy as if you ate 1,500 calories of fruits, veggies and lean meats. Nor can you expect to lose weight by cutting your calories drastically: If you starve your body, it wants to hoard calories, so it uses the glycogen stored in your liver for energy (instead of the fat on your thighs). Once that glycogen is used up, your brain starts screaming that it’s hungry—and that’s how yo-yo dieting and repeat weight gain begins. Clearly, solid nutrition, combined with moderate exercise and quality supplements, such as the Women’s Empowerment Formula, are a much healthier and more direct path to a healthy metabolism and a healthy weight! “Calories in, calories out,” is an out dated model. It matters a great deal which calories you choose!

 

Is it in your head? You bet!

 

Neurochemistry—the chemistry of the brain—is as important as hormones in looking at weight issues. The brain has a big job, telling every part of our bodies what to do in every moment, and it needs a steady stream of glucose in order to perform optimally. During times of stress that stream is interrupted and the body sort of panics and floods our neural pathways with cortisol and adrenaline. This stress response is designed satiate the brain during short periods of stress (such as running from a Saber Toothed Tiger). But these days we live in a state of constant stress so unfortunately these coping mechanisms—designed to put us on high alert in times of danger—remain turned on. The end results are depleted adrenals, addiction to sugar and stimulants, and inevitable weight gain.

 

Conventional diets don’t help, because they overlook the connection between serotonin, cortisol and food, not to mention other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline). These brain chemicals are managed by the hypothalamus and directly affect appetite. They’re released as part of those coping behaviors, and they curb hunger—but we release too much of them, for a prolonged time, and the result is cravings and mood swings. Only if we re-balance our brain chemistry will it send out signals that well-being has been restored, all is well, and we can go ahead and burn calories once again.

 

Inflammation, the silent culprit

 

Science is just beginning to discover the connections between chronic inflammation and so many disorders - including weight gain.

 

Chronic inflammation is a symptom of an overworked metabolism, and new research finds that proteins produced in adipose tissue can either fight inflammation or encourage it, depending on the healthy balance of our hormones and other factors. We still aren’t sure whether inflammation causes obesity, or whether it’s a symptom, but we’re certain it’s related.

 

Here are some points to remember about inflammation and weight loss:

 

 

Detox for weight loss!

 

It’s amazing to me that in this modern age, when our lives are full of dangerous toxins and stressors, we hear so little about cleaning out our systems. Allergens, heavy metals, unhealthy bacteria, pesticides, and the cumulative effects of toxic exposure over many years directly influence how well everything else in our body will function! It ties everything else together.

 

How well you cope with your “toxic load” is an individual thing, but being overweight is a sure sign that the demands you put on your body outweigh the support you’re giving it. Any good weight loss plan will address liver and kidney health; they’re your two essential detox organs.

 

If you read our article on detoxification, you’ll learn about a number of cleansing levels and methods. Everyone can benefit from a gentle system detox, or a week-long diet of organic fruits and vegetables twice a year. I’ve found that when women gently detox and reduce inflammation, weight loss happens naturally!

 

A note on detox diets:

 

While detoxification programs can be a wonderful way to lighten your body burden – some detox diets and protocols may be too taxing for women suffering from certain health conditions. If you’re struggling with chronic illness or advanced adrenal fatigue, consider talking with your health care practitioner before starting a detox diet.

 

We’ve been most successful with our Women’s Empowerment Program in helping women achieve and maintain their ideal weight!