Losing weight can be challenging. It may feel like you’ve tried every diet or healthy eating trick to no avail. While it may be tempting to turn to a crash diet or supplements to help you lose weight, one GP has said that first, you need to understand what lifestyle factors may be making weight loss challenging for you.
Essentially, Dr Sameer Sanghvi said that any movement on the scale will come down primarily to calories. He said:
Essentially, weight loss depends on eating and drinking fewer calories than we consume.
Dr Sanghvi, who is the head of clinical technology at LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor, explained that the NHS recommended daily calorie intake for the average person is 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 calories for men. The doctor said:
If you’re trying to lose weight, you should aim to reduce your calorie intake by about 600 calories. That’s 1,400 calories for women and 1,900 for men, although this depends on factors like your age, size, and activity level. To keep track of calories, you can weigh the portions you’re eating, check the labels on store-bought foods, and record what you eat in a food journal.
While overeating is an obvious reason why you’re not losing weight, Dr Sanghvi said there are six other indicators to consider.
Dr Sanghvi said that getting enough good quality sleep is essential for maintaining physical, emotional and mental health.
“Around 7-9 hours of sleep per night is considered a sufficient and sufficient amount to support good health in adults. Lack of sleep has a host of consequences. One of them is weight gain. When we can’t sleep, our body releases the ‘stress hormone’ cortisol which can prompt our body to store fat reserves ‘just in case.’ He said:
Not only that, when we are stressed or sleep deprived, we seek energy from food as a substitute, so we may find ourselves eating and eating more.
We’ve all seen stressed-out movie characters eating a tub of ice cream or a bag of chips. Dr Sanghvi said that when we’re feeling more stressed, anxious or depressed, we’re more likely to reach for carbohydrates. Scientists have found a possible link between carbohydrates and serotonin, the hormone that helps regulate our mood, he explained.
He added that in addition to adding numbers on the scale, there are a number of mental symptoms that are also linked to stress. These include anxiety, irritability and depression, which can lead to unhealthy lifestyle changes such as eating more junk food, drinking more alcohol, skipping meals and staying up late, the expert said.
Crash diets are also known as yo-yo diets and someone who does them will often jump from one to the next. Although popular, they rarely result in weight loss and actually result in long-term weight gain, the GP said. The doctor explains:
Skipping meals or eating the bare minimum puts our bodies into ‘self-defense mode,’ resulting in a slower metabolism. When you eventually return to eating normally, it takes longer to burn off the food.
In addition, you are missing out on essential nutrients which can result in you feeling low in energy, added Dr Sanghvi.
Another reason you might be struggling to lose weight, the expert said, is if you have a problem with your thyroid. Sanghvi said:
If you have an underactive thyroid gland, you may experience fatigue, depression, and weight gain. Hypothyroidism is where your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of the hormones needed to regulate your body’s metabolism. If your thyroid gland isn’t functioning properly, this can often result in unwanted weight gain.
Both men and women can be affected by hypothyroidism and it is usually treated by taking thyroid hormone replacement tablets called levothyroxine.
Not drinking enough water is bad for our overall health, but few people realize that it can also lead to weight gain.
Dr Sanghvi added that being hydrated increases our metabolic function, energy and reduces hunger, so there is a strong link between drinking enough water and weight loss.