The universal thought regarding weight, is that once you lose weight, your health should improve. What if that were wrong? Although I would venture to say that it is not entirely wrong, it is backwards. We should improve our health in order to lose weight. Most of the time, the difficulty in losing weight is because there are health issues that cause the body to hold onto the weight as a protective mechanism.
One of the biggest causes of weight gain is stress. Stress can be emotional, physiological, or physical. You can have stress because of your diet, or because you aren’t sleeping well. In order to lose weight, we have to mitigate the stresses on the body.
Most people who are overweight are accused of overeating. Although that is true in many instances, people who under eat can have a weight issue also. They are typically malnourished! Yet they continue to put on the pounds, or have difficulty eliminating them. The quality of food is much more important than the quantity. They type of fat consumed is more important than the grams of fat. Counting calories is actually worthless! The quality as well as the quantity of carbohydrates (starchy foods) is a critical element, and one wrought with confusion, yet it really can be quite simple. Artificial sweeteners are one of the biggest faux pas in regard to weight management.
Exercise, if done incorrectly can actually inhibit weight loss. If you are working out heavily and consistently and still not losing weight, there may be something in your exercise routine that is actually countering your ability to lose weight. Exercise itself is a stress, and though essential as part of a weight loss regime, the wrong type exercise for the wrong person can be a detriment.
Physical symptoms, such as pain, inflammation and other health conditions have a great impact on health. While the body is trying to contend with a poorly functioning organ system, the body will respond by protecting itself with fat. This is a survival mechanism.
Hormonal imbalances have a dramatic effect on weight – possibly more than any other cause of weight gain. The thyroid, adrenals, liver, pancreas, sex hormones, and pituitary – all have a role in weight management. The hormonal system is an intricate system of highly interdependent actions. When one goes out of balance, the others have a feedback response that tries to compensate. You can easily ricochet all over with your hormones, ultimately creating a physiological stress on the body, which, amongst other things, causes weight gain.
If you want to lose weight, you must FIRST address the stressors that contribute to the weight gain in the first place. In other words, instead of losing weight to get healthy, you must get healthy to lose weight.
© 2010 Holly A. Carling, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D.
