Next on my myth busting list of so-called ’causes’ of common symptoms…weight gain.
Have you gain weight over recent months, maybe years, but other than that you don’t feel much has changed? You think your diet is pretty good. You exercise. But you’re feeling yucky, tired and over it.
Common suggested cause: eating too much and not exercising enough. Common solutions: follow the latest fad diet – keto, high fat, low carb, calorie counting, eliminate grains, gastric band surgery etc, and/or try to increase how much you exercise, even though you’re feeling exhausted. You manage to keep it up for about a month, lose some weight, but then stack it all back on afterwards… sound familiar?
Actual cause(s): let’s take a step back here… there are so many potential underlying causes of weight gain, which aren’t just to do with diet and exercise. Yes, these are big factors, but when you work with me, I put my detective hat on and find out about…
- Your thyroid health (under active thyroid can lead to weight gain). Note: TSH doesn’t always give the full picture.
- Your stress levels (cortisol is not your friend in weight loss)
- Your gut health (having an imbalance of gut bugs can change how your body deals with food)
- Your ability to deal with carbohydrates (insulin resistance can contribute to weight gain)
Finding the cause means taking a thorough case history. Yes I’m interested to know about diet and exercise, but there are often underlying mechanisms at play which could be affecting your weight.
Let’s just be clear – I don’t do weight loss as a service; I do health. A happy side effect of improving health can be losing weight. So by finding the true cause of why you’ve gained weight, you’ll not only be in better balance, but will most likely lose some weight too.
Want to find out more? Contact me today.