Why Diet and Exercise Aren’t Enough for Women to Lose Weight
The following is adapted from The Betty Body.
We have been told ad nauseam that when it comes to weight loss, we need to eat less and exercise more. Hormones don’t count. This has been the predominant message for decades, and what a monumental failure it has been. We are more obese than ever before, with chronic illness and lifestyle diseases rising astronomically. The idea that you can tell somebody to eat less and exercise more to lose weight is simply ridiculous. It doesn’t work in the vast majority of cases and is particularly untrue with women.
You can’t eat less and exercise more indefinitely. You also cannot only restrict carbohydrates and eat all the protein or fat you want and think you’ll lose weight. The answer for women, like most things, lies somewhere in the middle. It is nuanced and more complex than overly simplistic models that just count your calories. Anyone who tells you otherwise is sadly misinformed.
The problem is most quick fixes promise the world, and as we attach ourselves to the promise, we reject the risks associated with dangerously low caloric diets, laxative teas, and other snake oil solutions that tout impossible results. We end up feeling it is somehow our fault that we couldn’t follow a nine-hundred-calorie diet indefinitely or work out for an hour twice daily. The trick to losing weight is playing the long game. There are no quick fixes, and it is consistency over time that reaps results.
So, let’s talk about metabolism. A basic tenant of metabolism is body fat regulation, which is how our brain and body communicate with each other to determine our weight set point. In other words, what we want to eat is governed by and orchestrated by the communication between the body and the brain. If you’ve ever heard of the term “set point,” this is what I’m talking about. Set point is a “set” weight we gravitate towards, and it is located in the brain.
The set point, also called the adipostat, works the same way as a thermostat in your home. If the temperature of the room gets too hot, the thermostat, which has been set to keep the room a certain temperature, will kick in and begin to cool down the room. If the temperature is too cold, the thermostat will detect it, kick in, and begin to warm up the room.
In humans, the thermostat is an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus, along with some other regions of the brain, plays a role in regulating weight and body fat mass. If you gain weight, your metabolism will typically increase to bring your weight back down to normal, and if you lose too much weight, it will slow your metabolism down to prevent additional weight loss.
Unfortunately, if you have chronic stress, the inflammation it causes will beget hormonal imbalances like leptin resistance and affect sex hormone production. This will cause your body to increase its set point, making you gravitate toward a higher weight. This reality is what makes weight regulation over the long term tricky — it’s not just a matter of calories in versus calories out. There are systemic influences that impact our set point!
This is particularly important for us ladies because we are more defensive of our fat stores. We will, by default, keep a little extra padding on us for the monthly energy required to have a menstrual cycle and in case of a pregnancy. With chronic low-grade stress, our set point and our weight will continue to rise over time. Chronic activation of our sympathetic nervous system will over-activate hunger signals and decrease our basal metabolic rate, the number of calories we burn simply by being alive. This decrease means when we are sitting and working at our desks, the number of calories we burn naturally will be lower.
So, with chronic stress, even though we might consistently eat the same amount of food, we will gain weight over time. I know, it is so frustrating!
Most women who come to me for help have been dieting for years. For decades in some cases, and quite frankly, they are sick of it. They want to look good in their clothes, look good naked, have limitless energy, and feel good in their skin. I suspect this is the same for you.
Achieving all of this is not impossible. I fundamentally believe, with every cell in my body, that we are all meant to experience grace, ease, and joy in our bodies.
Achieving your optimal health begins with listening to your body and making choices that will allow the fullest, most authentic version of yourself, “Betty,” as I like to call her, thrive.
For more advice on how to lose weight, you can find The Betty Body on Amazon.
Dr. Stephanie Estima is a doctor of chiropractic with a special interest in metabolism, body composition, functional neurology, and female physiology. She’s been featured on Thrive Global, of the Huffington Post, has over 3.5 million article reads on Medium.com, and has helped thousands of women lose weight, regulate hormones, and get off medications with her signature program, The Estima Diet. You can hear her every week on her podcast, Better! With Dr. Stephanie.
