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Weight Loss after 35 – Yes you can!
“When I turned 35, I started gaining weight around my mid section and couldn’t lose it.”
Has any woman reached 40 without uttering these words of frustration? Not many, it seems. The fact is that despite our best efforts, most women gain weight after 35 —especially around our waist and hips—even when we diet! What’s worse, many women who exercise can’t get through perimenopuase without watching the scale climb upwards.
So what happens to us in those years, that weight gain seems to be our universal problem? The answer lies in the remarkable links between hormonal balance and body fat.
Before we explore these links, though, let’s set aside the basic myth behind most diets—that weight control is merely a matter of “calories in – calories out”. We’ve all been taught to believe that, but it’s patently untrue and it causes countless women to suffer needlessly.
One of the issues popular diets fail to address is that every woman’s “ideal” weight is unique. Our bodies respond differently to the demands we make on them, so it makes sense that resolving weight challenges will be different for every woman!
The reason for this is that every major system in our bodies relates to our metabolism and our ability to lose weight and keep it off. The central nervous, limbic, thyroid, neurotransmitter, endocrine, digestive and immune systems all affect our weight! Amazing, isn’t it, how our bodies are like a symphony orchestra, with the music depending on how every single instrument is played! Some of the music was written genetically, before we were born, while other pieces change as we alter our nutrition, emotions, stress level and lifestyle. Because we’re not clones, the notes played by all of those instruments, together and separately, will be different for every woman.
What it all means: We need to balance our body’s major systems before we can lose those stubborn pounds and achieve a healthy weight. And that doesn’t mean trying to live up to the media’s ideal of a perfect body—most models and actors aren’t the perfect pictures of health they appear to be on the silver screen!
When we mention hormones most women think of estrogen, but a number of other prominent hormones work together in our bodies, and they have a tremendous influence on our weight.
First, let’s look at the “hunger hormones,” or metabolic hormones. Insulin is the major player in this group, directly affected by diet. It’s the smart hormone that decides whether blood sugar gets used right away for energy, or stored as fat. When insulin resistance or another disruption in the insulin-regulating system is at play, then all of the hunger hormones are affected.
Leptin is one we can call the “satiety hormone.” It’s made inside fat cells and is just one small piece of the complex hunger-satiety network. Ghrelin, a hormone released by cells lining the stomach, stimulates your appetite when leptin levels are low. These are joined in the hunger-metabolism panorama by steroid hormones, including DHEA and human growth hormone (hGH), along with cortisol, the stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands (continued high cortisol levels give us extra fat around the abdomen).
Adrenal fatigue, common in women, is linked to high cortisol and can lead to binge eating and intense cravings—no diet will help if these levels aren’t balanced. Melatonin, the hormone that regulates our circadian or “sleep/awake” rhythm, is another influence if it’s out of balance. Our old friend estrogen helps to regulate hunger, but an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone stimulates cravings. Add the effects of too much cortisol, and you begin to understand why women collect abdominal fat in mid life. (For more on this life stage, see our articles on perimenopause and menopause.) Further, if a woman is low in testosterone, she can’t build muscles no matter how much she works out—and, consequently, can’t burn fat.
Have you ever thought about your emotional attachment to food? We all make certain connections when it comes to foods—we associate them with holidays and happy times, or perhaps a comforting reward at the end of a bad day. Whatever the association, most of us look to food for comfort or to pass the time.
It’s possible that emotional eating and food disorders have physiological roots, such as a neurotransmitter imbalance that creates a serotonin shortage, affecting our ability to handle stress and resulting in “anxious eating.” Sleep disorders could be another factor in unhealthy eating.
We ask our clients at Vibrant Way to keep a food journal, not just tracking the foods they eat, but also what is happening with them emotionally when they reach for certain foods. We have found that keeping a food journal helps our clients recognize any pattern of emotional eating, bringing them a step closer to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Click here for our 7-day food journal.
One thing we know: you achieve a lean body by burning fat and building muscle—two key elements of a finely tuned metabolism.
A healhy metabolism has three jobs:
- Converting energy from food we eat into work and heat;
- Eliminating toxins or unneeded nutrients in the form of waste; and
- Storing glucose (glycogen) and extra energy (fat) for future use.
These functions are a three-legged stool supporting a healthy metabolism; you need all three working together or the metabolism isn’t working properly. Ideally, you take in enough calories to fuel you—to support the energy you use—with little left over.
The way to achieve a healthy metabolism is by good nutrition. It’s not true that “a calorie is a calorie,” because you can’t eat 1,500 calories of macaroni and cheese every day and expect to be as healthy as if you ate 1,500 calories of fruits, veggies and lean meats. Nor can you expect to lose weight by cutting your calories drastically. If you starve your body, it wants to hoard calories, so it uses the glycogen stored in your liver for energy (instead of the fat on your thighs). Once that glycogen is used up, your brain starts screaming that it’s hungry—and that’s how yo-yo dieting and repeat weight gain begins.
Clearly, solid nutrition, combined with moderate exercise and quality supplements, such as the Women’s Empowerment Formula, are a much healthier and more direct path to a healthy metabolism and a healthy weight!
The Bottom line: “Calories in, calories out,” is an out-dated nutritional model. It matters a great deal which calories you choose!
Neurochemistry—the chemistry of the brain—is as important as hormones in looking at weight issues. The brain has a big job, telling every part of our bodies what to do in every moment, and it needs a steady stream of glucose in order to perform optimally. During times of stress that stream is interrupted and the body sort of panics and floods our neural pathways with cortisol and adrenaline. This stress response is designed satiate the brain during short periods of stress (such as running from a saber-toothed tiger). But these days we live in a state of constant stress, so unfortunately these coping mechanisms—designed to put us on high alert in times of danger—remain turned on constantly. The end results are depleted adrenals, imbalanced hormones, addiction to sugar and stimulants, and inevitable weight gain.
Conventional diets don’t help, because they overlook the stress response and the connection between serotonin, cortisol and food, not to mention other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline). These brain chemicals are managed by the hypothalamus and directly affect appetite. They’re released as part of those coping behaviors, and they curb hunger—but when we release too much of them, for a prolonged period of time, the result is cravings and mood swings. Only when we balance our brain chemistry will it send out signals that well-being has been restored, all is well, and we can go ahead and burn calories once again.
Science is just beginning to discover the connections between chronic inflammation and so many disorders - including weight gain.
Chronic inflammation is a symptom of an overworked metabolism, and new research finds that proteins produced in adipose tissue can either fight inflammation or encourage it, depending on the healthy balance of our hormones and other factors. We still aren’t sure whether inflammation causes obesity, or whether it’s a symptom, but we’re certain it’s related.
Here are some key points to remember about inflammation and weight loss:
- Digestion – A stressed digestive tract, which can be caused by allergies, food sensitivities, parasites, bacterial infections, yeast overgrowth, and stress (conditions all related to obesity) can cause inflammation in the body. Good digestion, on the other hand, boosts our fat-to-energy conversion rate and we are able to maintain a healthy weight.
- Some fats are good for you – A diet rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs) and other healthy fats helps fight inflammation in fat cells, and helps the liver synthesize muscle-building proteins. So, it’s more evidence that eating healthy fat is a good thing!
- Hold the sugar and trans-fats – Sugar and the wrong kinds of fats feed inflammation like crazy. They also promote cancer-causing free radicals and encourage the body to burn sugar—not fat—for fuel. This is another critical factor that keeps women from building muscle and losing weight.
- Caffeine and stimulants – It's true that a caffeine jolt feels good in the moment but new research has found that caffeine interferes with a sleep regulating molecule produced in the brain called adenosine A1. When we rely on caffeine and other stimulants to stay awake our underlying metabolic systems could be getting worse and contributing to further chronic inflammation and weight gain.
- Exercise fights inflammation – Since humankind began, we were meant to be active. Our ancestors had to run, dig, climb, and work for their food. If there is a “magic pill” for weight loss and managing inflammation, it’s exercise—in healthy amounts, of course.
- Drink good water – Don’t forget to drink 8 to 10 glasses of pure water when you’re trying to lose weight, to help energize your system and flush away toxins. Skip the plastic bottles though - we now know that plastic leaches toxic substances called endocrine disruptors that are extremely unhealthy for your body and the planet.
Here’s what we know about exercise: Our bodies store energy in two ways—as fat and as glycogen. Glycogen is glucose stored in the liver, muscles and other tissues. We can store about 12 hours of glycogen; regular exercise depletes those stores at a faster rate, forcing the body to dip into fat supplies for energy. But if we eat simple carbs and sugar, our body uses those for energy instead, and rarely has to burn fat. So remember to eat a balanced diet that includes protein, micronutrients, and fiber - the fat-storing cycle will be reversed and you’ll start building muscle!
It’s amazing to me that in this modern age, when our lives are full of dangerous toxins and stressors, we hear so little about cleaning out our systems. Allergens, heavy metals, unhealthy bacteria, pesticides, and the cumulative effects of toxic exposure over many years directly influence how well everything else in our body will function! It ties everything else together.
How well you cope with your “toxic load” is an individual thing, but being overweight is a sure sign that the demands you put on your body outweigh the support you’re giving it. Any good weight loss plan will address liver and kidney health; they’re your two essential detox organs.
If you read our article on detoxification, you’ll learn about a number of cleansing levels and methods. Everyone can benefit from a gentle system detox, or a week-long diet of organic fruits and vegetables twice a year. I’ve found that when women gently detox and reduce inflammation, weight loss happens naturally!
While detoxification programs can be a wonderful way to lighten your body burden – some detox diets and protocols may be too taxing for women suffering from certain health conditions.If you’re struggling with chronic illness or advanced adrenal fatigue, consider talking with your health care practitioner before starting a detox diet.
Your best friend lost 10 pounds and feels great on the latest diet plan, but you gained a pound and can barely make it through the day - what gives? The truth is that you are as unique as a snowflake - there isn't another one just like you anywhere on the planet. Shouldn't your diet address your individual nutritional needs?
One of the reasons the Women's Empowerment Program is so successful is that we take into consideration your metabolic type, ancestry, lifestyle, hormonal and emotional needs when we design a custom weight loss plan for you. We have found that when a woman balances her major systems, weight loss is effortless.
We believe that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is every woman's birthright and we'd love to have you as our next success story!
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