Why You Can’t Lose Weight

If you're trying to lose weight, you're probably extremely familiar with these images, all claiming you can easily gain the body of your dreams with just some diet and exercise. You may have found yourself, despite hundreds of crunches and tons of salads, imagining that your body is working against you.

Well, good news, I guess, it's not all in your head. Dieting advocates have long subscribed to the theory that the number of calories you consume versus the calories you expend determines your weight. So, to break it down, in this theory to maintain a certain weight, if you ate a 57 calorie snack, you must then burn roughly 57 calories. And if you plan to lose any weight, you have to expend more calories than you're taking in. But scientific studies are now confirming what we've all suspected; that's a load of hooey. It's just not that simple. Everyone has a friend that is tiny despite eating pizza and Cheetos all day and another that eats salads and runs, but can't lose a pound. So, why is it so hard for so many people to lose weight? Let's start with exercise. Although exercise is really, really good for you, it doesn't affect your caloric expenditure nearly as much as you'd think. The majority of calories we burn come from the energy it takes for our body to perform basic functions and to break down food, which is essentially out of your control. Only about 10 to 30 percent of your caloric intake can be burned via physical activity. On top of that, working out may elevate hormones that increase feelings of hunger. So, a post-gym nosh could easily undo that hour of cardio. Okay, so working out isn't guaranteed to help you lose weight. Changing what you eat will though, right? Diet management can be more effective than exercise, but again, it's not that simple. Generally, when you do lose weight through diet, your metabolism drops. Weight loss also results in a fall of leptin levels, a hormone that regulates hunger. This makes it difficult to balance appetite and to burn calories. Additionally, some studies show that the more we try to diet the harder it is to keep the weight off. We cannot catch a break. Sheesh. So, why? Why does your body not want you to have the six pack of your dreams? Well, evolutionarily, having extra fat keeps us from starving to death in lean times. And having some fat on our bodies allows us to maintain energy levels, even when sick. So, some bodies are totally healthy, whether they appear underweight or overweight. There is a spectrum of sizes like a beautiful rainbow of bodies. The one thing you can do is embrace the fact that some factors are out of your control. Despite what society has told you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with loving what you've been given.