What you need to know
- If you’ve been trying to lose weight for a long time and aren’t seeing progress, you might feel disheartened, but there could be a simple explanation.
- Hormones play an important role in how your body stores food, triggers hunger and decides when to stop eating, so it makes sense that hormones would be an essential part of the equation.
- Better understanding of hormonal balance and how to harness this to your advantage could help you to take control of your weight gain at last.
Why weight gain is about more than just food and exercise
A long-standing position in the health sector is that weight loss is a simple equation of calories in versus calories out. This can be disheartening to hear when you are reducing your caloric intake, getting more active and still not seeing the number on the scale shift.
What is missing from this equation is the role your hormones play in regulating everything from how your body uses food to how hungry you feel.
While this equation might work for those with no health complications, it sadly doesn’t work for everyone. What is missing from this equation is the role your hormones play in regulating everything from how your body uses food to how hungry you feel.
By paying close attention to the role of hormones in weight loss and weight gain, we can gain a better understanding of how the individual might be affected. Armed with this information, you are much more likely to be able to make progress.
How do hormones impact weight loss and gain?
Hormones are chemicals that send messages around your body and help to control key processes. There are a number of hormones that are directly linked to how your body uses and stores food, including:
- Insulin – This is the fat-storage hormone that tells the body when it should switch to fat-storage mode. Insulin is intended to help control blood sugar levels, but a diet that is high in refined carbohydrates and sugar will lead to something known as insulin resistance. This means that cells stop responding to insulin correctly, which tells the body to hold on to fat stores.
- Cortisol – This is the stress hormone that helps to increase appetite and triggers cravings for salty or fatty foods. Chronic stress can cause the adrenal glands to produce excessive cortisol, which can cause your body to hold on to visceral (belly) fat.
- Leptin – This is the hormone that sends the message that you are full and have enough energy stored. It is produced by fat cells, so it is overproduced in many people with obesity, which causes the brain to stop responding. This leads to persistent hunger and overeating.
- Ghrelin – This is the hunger hormone that lets your body know you want to eat. It is released by the stomach, but a lack of sleep and many calorie restricted diets can cause ghrelin levels to rise, which can make it harder to keep up with your diet.
Sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone can also influence weight loss. During menopause, estrogen levels fall and this can lead to an increase in visceral fat. Declining testosterone levels (in both men and women) can lead to a decline in overall muscle mass, which causes your metabolism to fall, leading to a lower metabolic rate.
Controlling weight gain is about more than just tackling calories in versus calories out.
A complete picture for weight loss
Controlling weight gain is about more than just tackling calories in versus calories out. While a calorie deficit can help individuals to lose weight, this is only one part of the equation.
Sleep is essential for weight loss, as this helps to regulate metabolism and hormones like ghrelin. Aim for 7 hours of quality sleep per night to ensure you have sufficient energy for physical activity.
Finding a way to manage stress is another important part of losing weight. Chronic stress can lead to weight gain and will make it more difficult to lose weight.
Adding resistance training to your workout plans will also help to build muscle, which boosts your metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories even at rest. This is preferable to an approach that heavily restricts caloric intake, as this often slows the metabolism.
Frequently asked questions
What are the signs of hormonal imbalance?
Weight gain is often a sign of hormonal imbalance, along with fatigue, hair issues, skin problems and mood changes. Stress and poor sleep are often linked to hormonal imbalances.
What is the relationship between metabolism and weight gain?
Your metabolism remains fairly consistent throughout your life, only starting to slow around the age of 60. A sedentary lifestyle and loss of muscle mass (often occurring in your 30s and 40s due to lifestyle changes) can cause your basal metabolic rate to fall. This can make it more difficult to lose weight, as your body needs far fewer calories at rest, which often leads to overeating.
Why am I gaining weight despite eating less?
If you are eating less but still gaining weight, your body may be adapting to the lower caloric intake, which causes the metabolism to slow. Stress, hormones, sleep and water retention can also play into this pattern. Increasing resistance training and focusing on a diet made up of whole foods and free from highly processed foods can help to tackle this common complaint.
