6 Non-Obvious Reasons That Make Weight Reduction Difficult

An essential part of a weight reduction diet

In order to successfully lose weight, it is necessary to generate an energy deficit, i.e. provide the body with a smaller amount of calories than its consumption and energy requirements. When calories are in short supply, the body must draw on such energy stores as adipose tissue or glycogen reserves. Thus, the process of weight reduction always requires generating a deficit, and there are no exceptions to this rule. This can be achieved by means of a diet with the right calorie content, as well as physical activity.

In theory, weight reduction seems like a simple process based on mathematical formulas and calculations. However, many more factors can influence whether a reduction diet will have the desired results. Some of these can make it difficult to achieve an energy deficit, while others mask the achieved effects. Here are the non-obvious reasons that make weight reduction difficult.

High cortisol, or chronic stress

Stress is one factor that can have a huge impact on body weight. For some people, chronic stress can cause significant weight loss (related to adrenaline overproduction, increased energy demand or food aversion), but it often has the opposite effect and hinders the reduction process.

In this case, cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, plays a big role. Increased production of cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone," is thought to help the body fight for survival. As a result of increased cortisol secretion, blood glucose levels also rise.

The production of cortisol is a natural process. In the short term, for example, it improves concentration and cognitive function and alleviates inflammation. The problem, however, begins if it is produced in excessive quantities, e.g. due to chronic stress. Here’s how excessive cortisol secretion sabotages weight loss attempts:

• Cortisol alters tissue insulin sensitivity and can lead to insulin resistance in the long term.
• It puts the body into a simultaneous state of hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, which makes the fat burning process much more difficult, and can also lead to fat accumulation in the abdominal area (“cortisol belly”).
• It negatively affects muscle tissue by initiating catabolic processes that cause muscle breakdown and inhibiting the synthesis of new muscle tissue.
• It can exacerbate feelings of fatigue and increase appetite (especially cravings for salty or sweet foods).
• It partially blocks the absorption of vitamin D, which facilitates the maintenance of normal body weight.
• Chronic stress is mainly responsible for increased cortisol levels, but they can also be raised by, for example, intense workouts (without sufficient recovery) and sleep deprivation [4].

Dietitian’s tip: Intense exercise and a low-calorie diet are additional stressors for the body. Plan your weight-loss process so that you have adequate resources to carry it out. Starting a new job, an exam period at school or ongoing family problems may not be the right time to cut calories drastically.

Sleep deprivation and weight loss

According to studies, sleep deprivation is a predisposing factor for overweight and obesity. Getting too little quality sleep adversely affects hormonal balance – cortisol levels rise, and leptin and ghrelin (hormones that regulate feelings of hunger and satiety) become dysregulated [2].

Insufficient sleep also causes food to overstimulate the brain’s reward system, more strongly influencing decisions about what to eat. This means that people who don’t get enough sleep may find it much more difficult to “stick to a diet” compared to those who sleep the recommended 6-9 hours a night. Sleep deprivation stimulates cravings for energy-dense foods rich in fat and carbohydrates [1].

Getting too little sleep affects the physiology of the body and its cells, but also has a different negative impact on weight reduction. The longer you are active and awake, the more time you have to eat, and the shorter the nightly fast becomes. This is also an important aspect that affects the total calorie supply, especially when practicing intuitive eating.

This does not mean, however, that you should just sleep as long as possible to maintain a healthy body weight. Too much sleep (more than 9 hours) may also lead to weight abnormalities [3]!

Dietitian’s tip: Sleep 6-9 hours a night. Don’t neglect your sleep hygiene and opt for good quality sleep – avoid looking at screens and blue light before bed, sleep in a well-ventilated room and avoid spending time in bed during the day.

Body recomposition

Are you following a well-chosen diet and exercising, but the scales still won’t budge? Before you decide that your approach has not worked, make sure you are using the right measurement method. Weighing oneself may not be the optimal way to measure the effects of dieting and exercise, as your body may be undergoing recomposition.

It is a process in which you lose body fat and build muscle tissue at the same time. Muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue, so body weight does not change dramatically. The effects of this process are noticeable if you measure your body circumferences (e.g. that of your waist or hips) or when you look at yourself in the mirror. It is the composition of your body that changes in the first place – fat mass decreases and fat-free mass increases.

Body recomposition is most easily triggered in beginners, especially if they engage in strength training. Even if the scales do not suggest a radical change, recomposition is a positive process which in the long term reduces the occurrence of the so-called yoyo effect and speeds up metabolism. Do not insist on pursuing weight reduction at all costs. If you manage to trigger the body recomposition process, enjoy the results, and monitor them by using circumference measurements instead of weighing yourself.

Diseases and disorders that make weight reduction difficult

Not all causes of limited weight reduction are possible to combat on your own. There are many disorders and diseases that affect the endocrine system, the motivation to act, and the body’s ability to use food effectively or engage in physical activity. All these aspects have a direct impact on body weight and body composition.

Diseases and disorders that hinder weight loss include:

• Hypothyroidism, which affects the metabolism, lowers the basal metabolic rate and can make the body retain water.
• Diseases and conditions that limit mobility and the ability to practice sports These include injuries, osteoporosis, arthritis or RA.
• Depression and mental disorders that alter the way you perceive the environment and your own body, and thus often directly affect eating patterns. They can fuel or cause episodes of overeating, compulsive overeating, stress overeating, or coping with emotions through food. Psychotropic drugs can also directly affect body weight.
• Insulin resistance and other disorders of glucose metabolism, which slightly impede the process of fatty acid oxidation (fat burning) at the metabolic level, but above all can exacerbate cravings and tendencies to choose high-sugar and high-energy products.
• Diseases requiring steroid medication. Drugs in this group affect the appetite and water retention in the body, and can cause specific changes in body shape. Side effects of steroid drugs include a larger abdominal circumference, more body fat in the neck area and the so-called moon face.
• Intestinal diseases and food intolerances that can cause malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies or bothersome bloating that increases abdominal girth. There is no single definition of a healthy diet that will work for everyone. If you are struggling with such problems, the traditional “healthy diet” may not work for you at all and may not lead to the desired results.

Dietitian’s tip: The listed disorders and diseases do not rule out your chances of losing weight. In many cases, however, the process will be facilitated by diagnosing the problem and following the advice of a doctor (or a different specialist). Following individual dietary recommendations will increase your chances of successful weight loss.

Insufficient physical activity

Weight reduction without physical activity (i.e. through dieting alone, without exercise) is theoretically possible, but very difficult. Physical activity significantly facilitates the creation and/or enhancement of an energy deficit, whereby the body draws energy from its reserves.

A common mistake is to overestimate one’s daily physical activity when calculating one’s total metabolism and energy requirements. If you overestimate the level of your daily physical activity in your calculations when choosing the PAL (physical activity level) indicator, the low caloric content of the diet, even if you follow it perfectly, will simply not be effective.

Sometimes the energy deficit causes fatigue, sluggishness and a depressed mood. As a result, you make less effort during your workouts, are more likely to give up on an activity and to rest passively (e.g. on the couch instead of walking). If this is your problem, it might mean that you are trying to maintain an excessive caloric deficit.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is also often underestimated. NEAT represents any movement during the day that is not defined as a workout, such as climbing the stairs with your shopping bags, running to the bus stop or dynamically washing the windows. Find your ways to increase the NEAT, and you will see the results of your reduction diet much sooner.

Dietitian’s tip: In the long term, when aiming for a healthy body weight, your most effective tool is physical activity that you enjoy and perform regularly. If you're not an athlete, don't go into detail specifying, for example, the heart rate zones in which calories will be burned most effectively. Test different types of physical activity and choose the one you find most pleasurable.

Inaccurate measurements and unrealistic expectations

Inaccurate measurements may also be an important obstacle to weight loss – as it turns out, they are also among the most common ones. Weight reduction relies on a lot of mathematical calculations, while inaccuracies and bad estimates mean that a well-chosen diet may be ineffective. Here are some mistakes to rule out when your diet doesn’t seem to be working:

• Wrong calorie content of your diet. The proper caloric content of a reduction diet depends on, among other things, baseline body weight, activity, gender, body composition and more. A 2,000 kcal diet will be a weight loss diet for some people, but an extremely low-calorie reduction diet for others. If a strictly followed diet plan fails to work, make your calculations again or ask a specialist for help.
• Overlooking calories from liquids. Liquid calories, which have a low satiety index, do not facilitate the use of the intuitive diet. Many people underestimate how much extra calories they ingest with coffee with milk, juices, smoothies and alcoholic beverages.
• Weekend overeating which cancels out the deficit. If your caloric requirement is about 2000 kcal and you follow a strict 1600 kcal diet during the week, but on the weekend your menu includes extra pizza and a few drinks, you will cancel out the deficit achieved during the week. Of course, strictly abstaining from certain foods does not build a good relationship with food and may not be the right option, but some restrictions are necessary to maintain a caloric deficit.
• Incorrect distribution of macronutrients. If you decide to reduce weight by eating intuitively, insufficient intake of protein and fiber compared to other ingredients may be a certain barrier. If you use a carefully laid out menu, macronutrients will be present in the right amount, but an amateur’s self-composed diet can sometimes be deficient in protein and fiber. Such a menu will not be very filling and will make it difficult to maintain and achieve your results in the long term.
• Unrealistic expectations. A healthy weight reduction plan allows you to lose a maximum of 0.5-1 kg per week. You need to be patient if you want the effects to really last. A few weeks of dieting will not reverse years of faulty eating habits. Be aware of this and set your sights on changing them for the long term, not on completing a “weight loss program” of a few weeks.

_References:

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