Weight Loss and Hormones

You’ve probably heard how common rebounding is when it comes to dieting and weight loss.

After a few months on the diet, people fall off track and gain everything back – or worse, they gain back even more than they started with!

It’s a common occurrence, and it’s likely happened to you or someone you know. But a new study sheds light on exactly why this happens – and it may be a little more complicated than you think.

The old assumption has been, of course, that it’s all psychological. Old habits slip back in, major cravings hit, and people make up for lost time and indulge.

A recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that there’s actually a physiological reason for this rebound. Hormones seem to be playing a major role, keeping people from reaching their goals and often setting them further back.

So what exactly is going on?

First, it’s important to understand some basics. Body weight is heavily regulated by hormonal signals in the hypothalamus, which regulate food intake and energy expenditure and impact metabolism. When people diet or reduce their caloric intake, according to researchers, their hormones go a bit wild – an effect that may last for up to a year.

Essentially, obesity creates a higher body-weight set point, making it more difficult to maintain weight loss. Dieting efforts reduce weight, but as soon as these efforts are reduced, the weight comes back. In other words, it takes a lot of constant hard work to keep the weight off.

And what’s worse, the research shows that for many people, hormones are affected to the point that even more weight is gained when the diet is abandoned – not entirely due to lack of will power.

The first major lesson here is that weight loss efforts can’t be abandoned entirely. In order to avoid these rebound effects, some sort of regular exercise program and healthy diet must persist. This is why I always recommend making permanent, practical lifestyle changes. Fad diets simply don’t work because they’re too extreme and can’t be maintained, which means they’re more likely to lead to the hormonal fluctuations observed in this study.

Researchers also claim that these new findings highlight the need for drugs that effectively regulate hormones during weight loss efforts, so as to better maintain the weight loss.

But in the meantime, here are a few tips to help you stay on track:

Eat small meals frequently throughout the day. This is a great lifestyle change that effectively leads to an increased resting metabolism, which means you’ll burn more fat and calories.
Regularly change up your exercise routines so that you don’t get bored. And make sure you’re including some weight training in your routine – it helps increase your metabolism over the long term.
Consider trying a natural weight loss supplement like NOW Green Tea Extract to give you that extra boost! If you’re more serious about your weight training efforts, you might also want to consider a fat loss stack. Check out these – Men’s Fat Loss Stack and Women’s Fat Loss Stack.
Put more emphasis on your sleep. Having a healthy 8 hour sleep cycle is extremely important to hormone regulation and hence why it is called the Circadian Rhythm.

Have any questions or feedback about weight loss and hormones? Please leave a comment below…

Weight Loss and Hormones