Mississauga and Oakville Pain Clinic offering chiropractic, physiotherapy, massage therapy and orthotic services to residents of Churchill Meadows InMississauga
Mississauga and Oakville Pain Clinic offering chiropractic, physiotherapy, massage therapy and orthotic services to residents of Churchill Meadows InMississauga
By Dr. Tanvi Tijoriwala, Naturopathic Doctor
Have you ever felt frustrated because you have been dieting and working out for some time, but the number on the scale doesn’t seem to budge?
If you have tried everything from the keto diet to calorie counting to HIT workouts to yoga and nothing seems to work to shift the weight, it is NOT your fault!
“The calories in, calories out” model is very outdated and does not work in MODERN times.
There are so many health factors that play a role in healthy weight loss that have nothing to do with how many calories you are eating and how much you are working out.
#1: Your thyroid health matters:
Your thyroid hormone controls metabolism. When the thyroid is sluggish and not functioning well, it causes your metabolism to slow down, which makes losing weight extremely hard.
The best way to check your thyroid levels is to get blood work done that measures the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone).
Other symptoms of having an imbalanced thyroid are hair loss, constantly feeling cold and extreme fatigue.
#2: If your stress levels are high, your body tends to pack on the pounds.
Picture this: in olden times when our ancestors used to go hunting, the stress was high, and they went days without food. That turned into a signal for the human brain that when the stress is high, food is low so hold onto the pounds. So that in the event we don’t get food the stored fat can be used. Sadly, our brain signalling has not adapted to modern times when stress equals to work, family, news etc. So imagine having constant stress stimuli that pushes your body to pack the pounds.
High stress weight usually shows up around the abdomen. When this happens, we really have to work on stress management and reducing cortisol, which is our stress hormone, if we want to see good results with our weight.
#3: Your hormone levels can make weight loss hard:
Several hormones, when not in balance, can prevent our body from losing the pounds regardless of how well we eat and how much we work out.
For men, having low testosterone prevents good muscle formation.
For women, having high estrogen can cause higher weight gain around the hips and thighs.
For both men and women, it’s important to adopt strategies that help balance their hormones naturally to ensure they are able to lose weight but also build muscle properly.
Yo-yo dieting, calorie counting and exercising till you faint should never be the road to a healthy weight loss. When I work with patients to help them achieve their ideal weight, we work on managing their stress, balancing their hormones and working on their sleep with the right nutrition and the right supplements.
If you have more questions about getting fit in a healthy way feel free to email me at dr.tanvi@muscleandjoint.ca or call 905-593-1605 to book a free consultation today!
