Doing everything right and still can't lose weight?

Weight loss plateaus are a very common and frustrating issue. When I am working with someone who is having trouble losing weight, despite doing everything right, there are a few things I look at, to see if we can uncover the root cause.

Let's explore four of the most common reasons and tips for a resistance to weight loss.

Nutritional Imbalances

Over 30 percent of American diets fall short in nutrients like magnesium and Vitamins C, E, and A. Over 80 percent of Americans have low Vitamin D levels. 9 out of 10 people are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids which, among other things, help cool inflammation and control blood sugar levels.

You can eat too many calories and too few nutrients. And guess what – you need vitamins and minerals to process all those empty calories. Low nutritional status = a poorly functioning metabolism.

Nutrition-based treatment can often help reset your metabolism. You can work with me to test for these deficiencies and put together a plan to correct them. Strategies include using food as medicine, specific meal plan and eating regimens to eliminate deficiencies and support metabolism naturally.

Gut Microbiome imbalances

Research tells us that the bacteria in our gut can have huge effects on weight and metabolism. Some bacteria extract more energy from food, leading to weight gain, while other bacteria will extract less energy from your food, leading to weight loss. Some bacteria trigger inflammation leading to a leaky gut, while others are anti-inflammatory. Inflammation triggers insulin resistance and diabetes, regardless of how many calories you consume. So, clearly, it’s important to heal your gut if it is damaged by imbalances. I typically recommend working with a Functional Medicine practitioner, but there are some things you can do on your own to cultivate a healthy microbiome.

Hormone imbalances:

Subtle hormone imbalances can cause big impacts, especially when ignored too long.

Estrogen and progesterone both decline in perimenopause. Progesterone often dips more quickly, throwing off the necessary ratio between the two. This change in ratio impacts other hormones – including insulin – which triggers symptoms, including weight gain.

To make matters even more complicated, perimenopause isn’t the only reason for changes in hormone levels. Our world is full of endocrine disruptors – chemicals that interfere with your endocrine system – and it’s difficult to avoid their impact. These chemicals are in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. While that might sound discouraging, it is possible to minimize exposure – we simply have to be more aware.

In fact, when women start to change their diets — even just a little bit – and with the help of nutrients for detoxification, they can get rid of those endocrine disruptors and feel so much better. It’s absolutely worth finding out about the dirty dozen, and at least eating organic when it comes to those top culprits.

Food Sensitivities:

Food sensitivities are a lot more common than most people realize. And they can be a reason for weight loss resistance! Food intolerances won’t cause the full blown reaction that allergies do – which means you might have been eating things that are blocking your weight loss goals for years.

These sensitivities may be caused by lack of digestive enzymes, sensitivity to additives, or reaction to chemicals used in the growing process. The most common foods that result in sensitivities are eggs, gluten, dairy, soy, corn and nuts.

When you are constantly exposed to things your body can’t handle, your system over-reacts to everything. It’s like the smoke detectors in your house going off constantly — the alarm is always on. So discovering what you are reacting (or overreacting) to is key in healing digestive issues, which as I said before could be having a huge impact on your ability to lose weight.

What can you do?! Here are 10 ideas!

1. Eat whole, unprocessed, unrefined foods. One of the best ways to maintain gut health involves cutting out the sugar and refined carbs and jacking up gut-supporting fiber.

2. 75 percent of your plate should be vegetables and plant-based foods. Your gut bugs really love these high-fiber plant foods.

3. Eat good fats. The good fats we mentioned earlier (like omega-3 fats and monounsaturated fats, such as extra-virgin olive oil) will help with decreasing inflammation, giving healthy gut bugs a chance to flourish.

4. Supplement smartly. Studies find omega-3 fatty acids can support healthy gut flora, aside from their other numerous benefits, like reducing inflammation. If you’re not regularly eating wild-caught fatty fish, you should definitely supplement with an essential fatty acids formula. Take a strong probiotic supplement as well. This helps reduce gut inflammation while cultivating health and the growth of good bacteria. You can find professional-quality formulas in my selection of natural supplements.

5. Add more coconut. Studies demonstrate anti-inflammatory and weight loss benefits from adding Medium Chain Triglyceride or MCT oils. Some of my favorite fats, coconut oil and coconut butter, contains these fabulous fat-burning MCTs.

6. Remove inflammatory fats. Cut out bad, inflammatory omega-6 rich fats like vegetable oils. Replace these with healthier oils like extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil.

7. Add fiber-rich foods. Nuts, seeds, and a special fiber called glucomannan provide prebiotics and feed our healthy bacteria.

8. Add fermented foods. Sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, and miso contain good amounts of probiotics so your healthy gut bugs can be fruitful and multiply.

9. Be aware of endocrine disruptors. Avoid plastics, eat organic whenever possible, and pay attention to what is in your beauty products.

10. Try an elimination diet to determine food sensitivities. I suggest starting with gluten and dairy. So many women I’ve worked with have seen big results just by changing their eating habits to avoid these two common irritants. I know this is so hard – especially if you are used to eating whatever you want — but it’s so important that I can’t emphasize it enough. You don’t have to remove everything forever — but trust me when I say it’s worth the effort to figure out exactly what’s putting your system on high alert.