Why is weight loss so hard when it’s supposed to be so important to our health to avoid being overweight of obese? Why does it feel as though our bodies are working against us when we’re trying to do something good for ourselves?
What Makes Permanent Weight Loss So Hard?
The main reason that makes weight loss so hard might surprise you. The fact is that for many people who are overweight or have obesity, your body actually is working against your efforts to lose the unwanted pounds.
You’re not imagining things. You’re not just being hard on yourself. You don’t just have some kind of weak level of willpower. The way the human body works can often stand in the way of using stored body far or can even work against those efforts. There is a complex but highly logical reason to explain this phenomenon.
Why is Your Body Working Against You?
There are many reasons that can make weight loss so hard. According to the University of Utah Health, when you get right down to it, your bodyweight is controlled by a complicated mix of interacting neurons and hormones in the hypothalamus part of your brain.
The hypothalamus is the portion of your brain that regulates hunger, thirst and body temperature. The neurons and hormones interacting there affect your appetite and how much food you want to eat in order to feel you have satisfied it.
One of those hormones is called leptin. In an overweight body or in someone who has obesity, it’s common for a resistance to the leptin hormone to occur. Leptin is made by the body’s fat cells. In the hypothalamus, this hormone is what signals to your brain that you have enough stored body fat, therefore shrinking your appetite so that you don’t feel the need to keep eating to store more fat.
As a result, when your body has a resistance to leptin, it means that its signals aren’t as effective to tell you that you don’t need to eat more to boost your body fat storage. Your appetite doesn’t shrink, and you continue to feel hungry even after you’ve had enough to eat.
How Your Own Habits Make Weight Loss So Hard
As if that weren’t enough, the odds are that your lifestyle habits could also be behind what is making weight loss so hard.
These lifestyle habits include:
- What you eat
- Your regular activity level
- The quality of your sleep
- Your stress control
Any of those factors can play a role in the success of your weight management strategy. If you are overeating, aren’t active on a regular basis, don’t typically sleep well, or are struggling to cope with chronic stress, or have other hereditary/medical issues affecting bodyweight, the way your body is functioning can easily explain what’s making weight loss so hard.
Healthy weight management involves long-term changes to your lifestyle. Making these changes slowly and gradually will typically help you achieve the most lasting results. Getting help from your doctor or even from a supplement developed to support your efforts can provide you with advantages to overcome your challenges so that you and your body can work toward the same goal.
