6 Reasons You May Not Be Able to Lose Weight

Weight loss is not often just eating less and working out more. Work with a practitioner who will help you get to the root of your stubborn weight gain or inability to lose weight. Here are some possible reasons:

1. Under-active thyroid. The thyroid is the master metabolism gland. It controls how well we produce energy and how well we can lose weight. It is essential to get a full thyroid panel done in order to assess thyroid function. Running TSH is not enough, you will also want at least FT3, FT4, and thyroid antibodies. This will give the whole thyroid picture which is necessary when assessing a very important gland.
2. Insulin resistance. Insulin’s job in our body is to manage our blood sugar. When sugar levels go up in the blood (often from eating sugar or carbohydrates), insulin is released from the pancreas to deal with it. Insulin helps move sugar from the blood into our cells so that our cells can use it for energy. If we have excess blood sugar coming in, then we will have excess insulin being pumped out. Eventually our cells get too overwhelmed and no longer accept insulin binding to its cell membrane. This is now what is called insulin resistance. So our cells have stopped responding to insulin but that means there is still elevated blood sugar, so our pancreas continues to pump out insulin. This becomes a vicious cycle that can lead to endless chronic diseases and symptoms, and metabolic issues is a big one. Insulin increases our fat cell production which can lead to weight gain and issues losing weight. 
3. Under-eating. This may seem contradicting but it is the truth. Harsh diets can lead to stubborn weight hanging on. Our body is very smart and if it is only getting minimal calories, it will think that it is in starvation mode. If your body thinks it is starving then it will shut down metabolism to try and preserve whatever energy it has left and whatever energy is coming in. This is often why people will lose weight at first but then will plateau. 
4. Inflammation. Inflammation also increases our fat production and fat storage. Inflammation can come in the form of eating inflammatory foods, not eating anti-inflammatory foods, stress, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, toxicity, chronic infections, and more. Inflammation can be assessed by blood work so it is important to work with a provider who will check these levels for you.
5. Dysbiosis or an imbalanced microbiome. The state of our microbiome, or the ecosystem of the bacteria in our gut, is massively important in weight loss and weight management. If there are issues with the gut bacteria, there can be an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic issues. Work with a practitioner who can help you identify if you have dysbiosis and if your gut may be the root of the problem.
6. Excess toxicity. Our body is very smart part 2. If we have excess toxins in our body, our body will store them in fat to try and dilute them and keep them out of important organs. Then of course our body does not want to let go of that fat because that releases the toxins back into our body and they can then go anywhere. These toxins can come from chemicals on our food or in our food, personal care products, cleaning products, toxins in the water, mold, heavy metals, etc. If our liver can’t keep up with detoxing them, they often get stored in fat.