1. Overexercising

Jumpstart your weight loss with a 12-week kickboxing class? Make a resolution to hit the gym every day for an hour?

Well, you can try! Different personality types do need more challenge, but in my experience, overexercising can often sabotage weight loss efforts. Why?

• It’s about stress and hormones. When you exercise intensely, you’re stimulating adrenaline and cortisol. Most of us are already sympathetically dominant (think “fight-or-flight” mode), so over-exercising ends up increasing our stress and bringing hormones further out of balance. Instead, we want to exercise just enough to increase strength, circulation and decrease stress.
• Intense exercise can sometimes lead to attitudes of “punishment” toward the body. I speak from experience –when I first started my weight loss journey over 13 years ago, I remember thinking that “if I don’t exercise an hour a day, I’m a failure.” Check in: is that true? Am I doing this out of love or fear?
• Intense exercise can make us super hungry later, and potentially lead to over-eating
• If our muscles get too sore, we may eat to “feel better” or end up taking a few days off, which leads to spurts of intense exercise followed by longer bouts without it. In other words, it may not be sustainable and may send us on a roller coaster, leading to decreased self-esteem and willpower. Yo-yo dieting is more damaging than not dieting at all, so we want to avoid the roller coasters and instead opt for small, sustainable lifestyle changes.

What I suggest:

• If you’re open to it, I’m openly biased toward yoga. 🙂 I feel it’s one of the more powerful tools for sustained weight loss. It reconnects you to your body (and internal sensations generally), strengthens functional movement, and decreases stress, leading to happier hormones and better food choices.
• If you’re not into yoga, try stretching for about 15 minutes each day. It’s enough to start feeling your body, relieving tension, and releasing soothing opioids to calm the stress response. Then add 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio each week (just enough to break a sweat on the forehead). Choose something fun! Walking/ listening to music/ dancing/ pickle ball. If it can be outside, all the better!
• Remember: the intention is to bring in love, fun, pleasure, and to soothe yourself. If there’s any spirit of punishment, your hormones will not be so happy.

2. Confusing hunger and thirst

This is super common! We think we’re hungry when we’re actually dehydrated. If you drink any sort of coffee, alcohol or tea regularly, be alert to the subtle signs of dehydration: inability to focus/ brain fog, dry lips/ mouth, joint aches.. Or maybe you exercise a lot and just dream about eating tons of fruit, especially after a workout?

Chances are you need hydration and electrolytes.

There’s an easy fix. When you feel hungry, drink a glass of water first, preferably warm with some lemon or electrolytes added.

Wait 15 minutes and check in to see if you’re still hungry.

3. Not sleeping enough

Did you know that insulin sensitivity is impaired after just 4 nights of poor sleep? Insulin is the hormone responsible for bringing sugar into the cells, which means poor sleep over time can lead to hyperglycemia.

Not only that, but leptin (the lean hormone) and ghrelin (the hunger hormone) are affected, leading to increased cravings for carbs and sugar, and decreased willpower.

There’s some interesting research now that not only do we need sleep, but we actually need darkness for at least 8- hours. We co-evolved with light/ dark cycles, and the timing of light exposure is responsible for regulating hormones like cortisol and melatonin.

What I Suggest:

• Prioritize sleep (yes, even above exercise if you have to choose).
• Know your number (When do you wake feeling refreshed? After 7 hours? 8 hours? There are “short sleepers” but the vast majority of us need at least 7- 8 hours of sleep and darkness).
• Wake with the sun. Put sunlight into your eyes before smart phone – light.
• Make sure your sleeping environment is free of nightlights, and get blackout shades if you need to, remove all electronics (I’m a stickler about this), etc. and I turn off my wifi as well.

4. Have you heard of “Obesogens”?

If you haven’t, this might be a game-changer! Obesogens sounds like the title of a Horror movie, doesn’t it? In a way, it is! An “obesogen” is a term I learned from researcher Bruce Blumberg PhD to describe environmental chemicals that can disrupt normal fat cell development and lead to weight gain. Some of the better studied obesogens are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Unfortunately, our environment is full of EDCs which, as the name suggests, are linked to obesity. Here are just a few examples of obesogens:

• Pesticides in conventional farming
• Bisphenol A (BPA) can lead to increased abdominal adiposity and glucose intolerance (49)
• PFOA (perfluorooctainoic acid) found in nonstick products and microwave popcorn bags
• Phthalates found in vinyl, plastic, paint, air fresheners
• PCBs/ PBDEs (flame retardants, such as those found in foam furniture and textiles)
• MSGs found in packaged foods
• High fructose corn syrup
• Artificial sweeteners
• Nicotine
• Air pollutants
• Parabens found in many personal care and beauty products

The environmental dimension of health can be overwhelming if you try to eliminate everything at once, so here are some basic suggestions to get started:

• (1) Choose organic foods if they are on the EWG Dirty Dozen
• (2) Consider buying a water/ air filter for your house
• (3) Opt for whole foods over processed
• (4) Stop using plastic water bottles and containers — Choose glass or stainless steel
• (5) Slowly swap out toxic furniture for less toxic as you are ready to replace your mattress, shower curtains, flooring, etc. Choose natural fibers and materials (wool, cotton, leather, wood, metal) over foam and flame retardant – treated options.

Remember – we are ALL exposed to toxic chemicals. There’s no “perfect” here. It’s just a game of reducing exposure. As Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, do better.” But no shame, blame, or guilt, ok?

If you are curious about this topic, check out Bruce Blumberg’s book “The Obesogen Effect: Why We Eat Less and Exercise More but still Struggle to Lose Weight.” Fascinating.

5. Not Nourishing Ourselves/ Missing key nutrients for detoxification

When we lose weight, fat cells can release stored toxins and environmental pollutants back into the blood stream. The liver then needs to detoxify these compounds in order to flush them from our bodies.

Ironically, when we are told to “eat less” we may end up being deficient in the very nutrients that the liver needs to detoxify these waste products. So what could happen? They may need to get stored again in fat to protect us. Hello, weight loss roller coaster.

This is why it’s super important to focus on nourishing yourself, rather than simply reducing calories. If you have a calorie budget you need to stick to, you won’t have a lot of wiggle room for choosing between nourishing, vitamin and mineral -rich whole foods and “empty calorie” processed foods. Make every bite a nourishing bite. Choose antioxidant, colorful fruits & vegetables, resistant starch, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole proteins, healthy fats (avocado, nuts, omega-3s, extra virgin olive oil uncooked) and – yes- reduce carbohydrates but consider smaller, balanced amounts of sweet potatoes and whole grains or quinoa (which is actually a seed). And if you do include grains, favor color. Wild rice is better than brown. Purple potatoes are more nutritious than white.

Want more support on your health journey? Check out my high-touch wellness coaching programs.

Sources:

Book: Blumberg, B. (2018). The Obesogen Effect

Kim JA, Kim JY, Kang SW. Effects of the Dietary Detoxification Program on Serum γ-glutamyltransferase, Anthropometric Data and Metabolic Biomarkers in Adults. J Lifestyle Med. 2016 Sep;6(2):49-57. doi: 10.15280/jlm.2016.6.2.49. Epub 2016 Sep 30. PMID: 27924283; PMCID: PMC5115202.

Environmental Working Group

Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only.

Dayna Yvonne LLC provides integrative health and resilience coaching information and education.  Our services are not medical or mental health advice.  Dayna Yvonne Jondal is a board certified health & well-being coach, not a licensed medical or licensed mental health professional.  Nothing on our website, in our Content or in our Services should be construed as healthcare or mental health advice or as a substitute for a consultation with a licensed medical or licensed mental health professional who can review and advise you on your specific situation.  Anyone choosing to implement any information on our website or in our Services should obtain prior medical clearance from a licensed medical or licensed mental health professional to declare them sufficiently healthy, and determine that the information on our website or in our services is appropriate and useful for them. Do not disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking professional advice because of information you have read on our website, or received from us.  Our coaching services and content are in no way to be construed as psychological counseling, therapy or medical advice. 

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