I'm Doing Everything Right and Not Losing Weight! Hints on What is Holding You Back.

Ever feel like you're doing everything right but the scale just won't budge? It's time to uncover the hidden saboteurs of weight loss!
Join Aimee on this eye-opening episode of Blasphemous Nutrition as she dives into reasons why your weight loss efforts may be falling flat. Prepare to be enlightened as Aimee dives deeper into the obvious, but also reveals the often-overlooked factors that could be hindering your progress.

From the nuances of tracking food intake and addressing nutrient deficiencies to the impact of stress, common medications, and underlying medical conditions, Aimee provides insights on why losing weight is harder than it was a generation ago. Tune in for actionable insights that go beyond the basics and empower you to achieve the results you're after.

Don't miss out on this essential episode—hit play now and start transforming your weight loss journey with Aimee's expert guidance!

 Key Takeaways:

• Tracking food intake is incredibly helpful to increase awareness and uncover potential aspects that may hinder weight loss progress, but it may not be appropriate for everyone.
• Nutrient deficiencies, chronic stress, poor sleep quality, and dehydration can all impact metabolism and weight loss outcomes.
• Patience is key in the weight loss journey, as everyone's body responds differently and progress may take time to manifest.
• Medical conditions like PCOS, hypothyroidism, and hormonal imbalances, as well as certain medications, can pose challenges to weight loss efforts.
• Adopting a positive mindset, addressing lifestyle factors, and seeking support from healthcare professionals are crucial for sustainable and successful weight loss.

Resources:

Work with Aimee
Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack
Check out Cronometer to assess energy intake and micronutrient status
Photography by: Dai Ross Photography
Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative

How to Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts
Via iOS Device
1. Open Apple Podcast App (purple app icon that says Podcasts).
2. Go to the icons at the bottom of the screen and choose “search”
3. Search for “Blasphemous Nutrition”
4. Click on the SHOW, not the episode.
5. Scroll all the way down to “Ratings and Reviews” section
6. Click on “Write a Review” (if you don’t see that option, click on “See All” first)
7. Rate the show on a five-star scale (5 is highest rating) and write a review!
8. Bask in the glow of doing a good deed that makes a difference!

Transcript

0:01

Hey Rebels, welcome to Blasphemous Nutrition. Consider this podcast your pantry full of clarity, perspective, and the nuance needed to counter the superficial health advice so freely given on the internet. I'm Amy, the unapologetically candid host of Blasphemous Nutrition and a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years experience. I'm here to share a more nuanced take. On living and eating well to sustain and recover your health. If you've found most health advice to be so generic as to be meaningless, We're so extreme that it's unrealistic, and you don't mind the occasional F bomb. You've come to the right place. From dissecting the latest nutrition trends to breaking down published research and sharing my own clinical experiences, I'm on a mission to foster clarity amidst all the confusion and empower you to have the health you need to live a life you love. Now let's get started. Welcome back to Blasphemous nutrition. I'm your host, Aimee. And I think laughter is the best medicine. Especially when served with a side of guacamole. There have been many times in my career when someone comes to me, assuring me that they are doing everything right and still not losing weight. These people are often dismissed completely by their personal trainers or their doctors. Who do not believe that they are telling the truth. And the case of one client who showed her log to her trainer, she was told that it was because she was not getting the same percentage of her macros day in and day out. And that her body was confused. And that's why she wasn't losing weight. With all due respect, which is probably more than this dude deserves I think it's the trainer who was confused. This client was actually under eating, but the trainer from the sounds of it knew nothing more than the calories in calories, out dogma with a little bit of macros ideology thrown in and so he comes up with some fancy pants explanation that highlights his total ignorance of the human body. If you're eating the healthy foods you have been told will lead to weight loss, but you are not seeing the scale budge. Today, I'm going to tell you the things that you need to consider that might be at the root of you not getting the results you are working so hard for. Some of these may surprise you. Some of them may piss you off. But what I'm going to do is just lay out what I've seen over the last couple of decades and ask you to consider what may be impacting you. Firstly. Top of the line. You may want to reassess. What you're eating. If you're not already doing so, tracking your food for a week to see if you are as on track as you think you are, can be very enlightening. Maybe you are chronically under eating. Maybe you're not getting enough protein. Maybe you're overestimating how frequently you have just a little of this or that. Maybe you are tracking, but you're not tracking those three bites of your kids leftover rice and the sample that you had at Costco and a couple sips of wine from your husband's glass. And these things can add up. To bring us to a place where we are in plateau rather than a caloric deficit. So it is worth while to go back and take a look with a fine tooth comb at what you are actually consuming. Both liquids and solids to see if what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing line up. Food tracking is often a huge wake-up call. And when you're recording, you want to know not just what you eat, but also how often you decide not to eat something. Because it would need to be logged. This little piece alone can often reveal many ways. We unconsciously are sabotaging our efforts with just a bite here and a bite there. If we're not tracking it and we're not thinking about it. It's really easy to just, you know, have a bite here and have a bite there and then end up exceeding what our body needs in order to lose weight. But when we start tracking, we're being hypervigilant and with that often comes these split second decisions of no, I'm not actually going to reach for that because I'll have to log it. The very act of tracking leads to behavior change for many, many people. And so again, it can look like, well, I'm doing everything right, but if you are not taking into account, the things that you aren't tracking, that you would be consuming because you weren't thinking about it, were you not tracking? You may realize that you are overestimating the frequency of just a little bit here and just a little bit there. Okay. And before you think I'm an asshole for even suggesting this before you throw me into the same camp as an gas lighting doctor or that jackass personal trainer. This is a human thing. Like we all do this. We all tend to under report and. Not really fully have awareness. Of how much we eat because our brains are not designed. To quantify food. There was a study that was done that aimed to answer the question, do dieticians track their food accurately? And this was a decently well controlled study. Actually, they had a control group of. I'm calling normal people. And then they had a group of dieticians and they had both of them track and record their food. And while the dieticians did track more accurately than those who did not have degrees in nutrition, they still. Underestimated what they were eating by an average of 230 calories a day. The non professionally trained group. Underestimated by about 429 calories a day. So. Just because you have a degree and you spend all day talking about food. Doesn't mean that you are doing this perfectly either. It is not in human nature. To weigh measure. Strictly quantify. And view what we eat in a quantified manner. So. Going back and doing the best you can, having that mindfulness on what you're eating can be very enlightening. Even if it is not a hundred percent precise and that goes for all of us. It's really easy. To not see what we are doing. And then when we start to take a look at it again, acknowledging. What we are now not doing that. We would've been doing. Had we not been tracking. Once we face that music. Of recording every bite. We may see that what we think we're doing and what we're actually doing may not be in alignment. Another thing that people are often surprised of when they're tracking is that they're actually chronically under eating. And if this is the case for you, your metabolism may have adapted and slowed down. Due to the lack of energy that it has been given. So if this is a chronic habit for you, if you have low appetite and you struggle to get enough food, or if you've had gastric bypass surgery or a sleeve put in, that makes it difficult for you to eat sufficient calories, to maintain your metabolic rate. You can slowly and steadily re-introduce more calories. And doing it in a systematic way will prevent weight regain. Focus on increasing your protein and your vegetables first to make the most of the nutrients and the metabolic impact of these foods. Now it would not be wise for me to suggest logging food. Without acknowledging that for some people, the act of tracking can be very triggering, particularly for individuals who have eating disorders or who have a history of disordered eating behavior. So if you fall under that category, I don't necessarily advise doing this first. Let's take a look at some of the other things that may be getting in the way, and then we can come back to food. Logging. Another thing that some people find a little bit less triggering then using something like my fitness pal or a chronometer is simply writing down what it is you're eating throughout the day and not plugging it into any kind of app. That's going to give you an output on macros or calories or anything that you have previously restricted in the past So with that recommendation to closely track your food for a week, I do want to make sure that that caveat, that. It's not the best choice for everybody. Be made explicitly clear. The second thing that may lead to one's inability to lose weight. Is straight up nutrient malnourishment. Several of the B vitamins as well as iodine, zinc, vitamin D magnesium, calcium chromium, and selenium play very important roles in maintaining a healthy metabolism. And multitudes of those exact nutrients are consumed in insufficient amounts by the general population. Now, if you're up for the food tracking, I strongly recommend using chronometer, which I've put in the show notes. It's not spelled how you may think. So take a look at this show notes. Additionally, working with a nutritionist who is familiar with micronutrients, such as myself can help you ensure you are getting what you need. We can utilize labs as well as comprehensive food logs to assess. If you are getting enough nutrients in the diet. And if the nutrients that you're eating are actually being absorbed by the body. At the end of the day. We are not what we eat. We are what we absorb and assimilate. And if there is something happening within your body, like a digestive disorder or, um, inflammatory bowel disease or any other host of digestive issues that may be reducing your ability to absorb nutrients from what you're eating, you could have the perfect diet, but still be in a deficit. So it's important to look at those two things when you're assessing overall nutrient sufficiency. Now the next thing, and this is likely if anything, to agitate you. Is a request to be. Patient. If you're not losing weight. It may not actually be due to anything wrong that you're doing. I mean, if I'm honest, most of the time there is some aspect that isn't being addressed that we can change. But at the end of the day, Not everybody drops weight quickly. If you used to drop weight quickly and you're not now. Sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Our bodies are constantly evolving and changing and. As anybody who has lived to be 40 or older knows your body's not operating in the same capacity in the same way. As it did when it was 20. For better and for worse, right? There are definitely some things. In your forties that are so much better than when you were in your twenties. But for most of us, our metabolism, isn't it. So while some people will drop weight quickly, even into their forties and fifties, others drop weight consistently, but much more slowly. And there are still others who have to do the hard grueling. Unsexy boring work for months without seeing any results. And then it seems their body slowly starts to come around and begins to lose weight. And I think this may be due to the body, working on rebalancing itself, particularly with issues of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. It often takes much longer than we expect for the body to relearn how to utilize fat for fuel. So adjusting your expectations and reminding yourself that any progress you see is still progress, whether it is a scale victory or a non-scale victory. It must be acknowledged. If you still feel frustrated, ask yourself if you want any of that lost weight back. If you're one of those folks who gets pissed off because you're not losing weight fast enough. One thing. I always tell my clients and I'm going to tell you, well, do you want those two pounds back? Yeah. It's only two pounds, but you know, your body will take them back if you want. And everybody's like, no, no, I'm good. I'm good. With the two pounds, I'd rather have the two pounds be off than not. So acknowledge that consciously acknowledge it and say, I'm glad these two pounds are gone. I'm going to work to keep them off. And I'm going to continue to do the work to make more progress. Chances are no matter how little weight loss is lost. You'd rather take that than nothing at all. Right. Your mindset itself is very, very powerful. If you are stepping into this objective of losing weight with a pessimistic negative attitude, you are going to find the process. To honestly be fucking miserable and harder than it has to be. You're also putting yourself in a very tenuous position where you're easily derailed and more likely to give up because of how you're stepping into the process and thinking about the whole. The whole thing, right. Any endeavor in your life that you undertake with dread resentment and anger is not going to be a sustainable endeavor. And when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, we have got to do something that we can sustain for the rest of our lives. Otherwise that weight that gets lost we'll come back on A weight loss plan that works is something that you can do ongoing for the rest of your life. And this is why these liquid diets, these extreme detox diets, right? All this nonsense, none of that lasts longterm because it is not a plan that is designed to be done for the rest of your life. So a temporary plan is going to lead to temporary results. That's it. But if you step into something that you know, needs to change for forever, with that negative attitude and that pessimism It's going to be really hard, if not impossible for you to stick with it. Independent of any other variable that I'll mention today, I've noticed that those who do the worst, those who. Lose the least amount of way. Those who struggled the hardest. Are more likely to have a very rigid mindset. Limited thinking. And an overall pessimistic and punitive mindset. If you step into weight loss with this belief that you're at war and fighting your body, that your body is your enemy, and it must be corralled and controlled. You're setting yourself up for a very special kind of mental torture that is completely unnecessary and ultimately counter productive to what you want to achieve. Individuals who are in this space often do much better when they combine their weight loss efforts with cognitive behavioral therapy. Or another therapeutic modality that they're amenable to. I do believe that in these circumstances, aside from greater difficulty adhering to any kind of change, These folks are also likely unintentionally inhibiting their progress by generating a lot of internal stress that can directly impact their body's ability to lose weight. The fourth thing is to check your lifestyle. Speaking of stress. Stress is one of several common non caloric inhibitors of weight loss. Whether it's coming from poor sleep quality, chronic dehydration or high amounts of chronic work or family or life stress. These things can hijack the results you're seeking, even when your nutrition plan is totally on point. Lack of sleep itself is a stressor on the body. And this is something particularly in north America that we. Minimize much to our detriment. Sleep is essential recovery and restoration is mandatory for all living species. There is not an animal in existence that does not sleep. But just like humans think they don't need to pay attention to sunrise and sunset and they don't need to like, have any kind of acknowledgement about their existence as a biological, being on a biological planet. Just as that is not taken into consideration. When we don't take sleep into consideration, we screw ourselves over hardcore. Sleep is the time that the body has to repair and regenerate and recover. And so when we neglect our sleep or when our sleep is of poor quality, and we do not address this, we end up inhibiting cellular repair on all levels. And this leads to increased insulin resistance as well as glucose levels. Even with as little as one night of bad sleep. Higher cortisol levels and lower sex hormones. This is longterm lower sex hormones, like testosterone. Sleep deprivation also totally jacks up our hunger and satiety hormones, which makes it even harder to feel full and stave off hunger during the day. Hydration is also something that's really easy to overlook, but quite important. Water is essential for most, if not all of the metabolic processes that happen in the body. Chronic dehydration gums up the works a little bit. It's like when your oil gets dirty and it's not efficiently running through the engine of your car smoothly, right. It's a really crappy analogy, but see, the only thing that comes to mind. So being chronically dehydrated can actually inhibit weight loss to some degree. While there's not rigorous research on this. There are associations of obesity and dehydration that have been reported in the literature, in both children, as well as adults over 50 and excess weight itself being overweight or obese likely increases your hydration needs. So you may need more water than you think you do. Having a life that is stressful, whether it is chronic emotional stress from circumstances in your life. Or chronic physical stress from over exercise or poor sleep causes multiple hormone disruptions, making, losing weight much, much harder for many. I got started in my career, working in a boutique runners studio with a running coach. And I would work with all of the people who started running to lose weight or were training for races and not losing weight, even though they had expected to, or in some cases gaining weight. And this is actually more common than you may think. And this is due to some individuals having a specific physiological makeup that leads to weight loss, resistance or weight gain when they do high amounts of cardiovascular activity. And this is likely due to chronically elevated cortisol levels, which is really strongly linked to increased insulin resistance and increased production of glucose by the liver. And this is effectively a one-two sucker punch to the body, right? You've got the liver generating more sugar in the blood, and then you have reduced ability for insulin to get that sugar into the cell. That's going to cause some problems. Additionally chronic, emotional or physical stress can disrupt our thyroid hormones as well as our sex hormones, making it harder to lose weight. And chronic stress is also associated with reduced output of those hormones. If you are in a stage of life where you're carrying a great deal of emotional stress. Or you carry a great deal of emotional stress and your way of dealing with it is exercising like a maniac. This may be something to look more closely into for yourself. Getting a thyroid panel done assessing your sex hormone status. Taking a look at your cortisol levels, your insulin levels, your glucose levels. This can help you get a clearer picture on how your body is coping or not coping with stress or your preferred method of dealing with stress. One of the hardest things I have to do is telling people who are stressed out and rely on exercise to reduce their stress, that they have to change the way they exercise. Most of these individuals are type A go getters and they really mentally thrive on that high-intensity exercise to reduce their physical stress things like running, cycling. High intensity interval trainings, CrossFit, right? These super high intensity like hardcore activities. Feel really good for these types of people. However, sometimes that may be the thing. That is the obstacle for them. Just putting that bug in your ear. If. This may apply to you. The last two things that can really get in the way of weight loss are a little taboo to talk about. But they are important to acknowledge. There are certain medical conditions that many of us have that can make it harder to lose weight. Aside from insulin resistance, having health challenges, like PCO S low testosterone hypothyroidism, and those hormonal fluctuations of peri-menopause. Can make weight loss much less reliable than it used to be. And this is where working with a health practitioner who understands these conditions can help you gain some traction. If you're a struggling. Chances are you're not going to lose weight quickly and easily with those conditions, unless they are very, very well-managed or put into remission. But there are some steps that can be taken. And if you're working with a health practitioner who is really skilled at bringing some of these conditions into better balance at mitigating some of the negative impacts of having them. You may find that weight loss goes from not happening at all. To beginning to happen in a little bit more tolerable, uh, pace. And then finally medications themselves. Multiple commonly prescribed medications are classified as obesogenic, which means they promote weight gain. Anticonvulsants antidepressants anti-anxiety meds. Anti-histamines anti-psychotics beta blockers, hormonal contraception. And even some diabetes medications, such as insulin can promote weight gain and make it harder to lose weight. Now, not every single medication in those classes, I just mentioned are obesogenic. But if you are taking a class of drug that I just spoke to and you are struggling with your weight, it is worthwhile to have a conversation with your doctor to see if the medications that you're taking are contributing to your weight loss struggles and if a viable alternative might be possible. In some cases it can be. And in some cases, particularly with things like mood stabilizing medication, You may not want to rock the boat if it took you awhile to get to a place where you're feeling really good about where you're at. So this is an important conversation to have with a practitioner that knows you that you have good rapport with if at all possible. If like many of us you're kind of in between physicians or. You've lost your regular person that you talk to don't neglect to get this addressed anyway, and it is worth making an appointment with a physician or a psychiatrist to have this discussion. There was a research study of over 600 veterans that showed those who are taking at least one of the medications I mentioned while participating in a supervised weight loss program we're 37% less likely to have any meaningful progress during an eight week weight loss course. And those who are taking three or more, within those classes of medications had the least success overall. When compared to those who were enrolled in the program, not taking any medications. So these can actually have a pretty profound impact on your success. And if you've been beating yourself up, because you're doing all the right things and nothing's working in, you're pulling your hair out. Maybe. It's not your fault. Again, a worthwhile conversation to have with your physician. So the big takeaways from today's episode is that if you're not getting the results, you're looking for, you first want to do what you were told to do in school. Go back to the drawing board and check your work. Make sure you're eating as you think you ought to be. As this is really easy to overlook and a simple solution. If it's the cause of your lackluster results. If you find that you are consuming enough calories, you're kind of in the sweet zone. Dig deeper and assess your nutrient status check for malabsorption or malnourishment as that may be inhibiting your weight loss and then beyond what you're eating, it's really important to take a look at your overall lifestyle and do what you can to reduce chronic stress. Ensure good sleep and stay well hydrated. These factors can support weight loss. Even if you need to stay on an obesogenic medication. Or if you have a chronic disease that impacts your ability to lose weight. And then finally for the love of God, be patient with the process. I know by time you are even ready to start taking a look at losing weight. You want it to be gone yesterday. But it is very, very much a process that rarely comes as quickly as we want it to. Hey, if today's episode has been helpful to you, please share it with a friend. You can also leave a written review on iTunes and rate the podcast in Spotify or iTunes to help more listeners, just like you find this little sweet spot of sassy, sunshine to add to their podcast queue. And for those of you who have already rated and reviewed Blasphemous nutrition, thank you so much. It makes such a difference and it is one of the easiest ways you can let me know that this is worth all of the effort I put into each episode. I appreciate you so, so much. Until next time, my Blasphemous buddies, this is Aimee and I am out of here. Any and all information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not to be misconstrued as offering medical advice. Listening to this podcast does not constitute a provider client relationship. Note, I'm not a doctor nor a nurse, and it is imperative that you utilize your brain and your medical team to make the best decisions for your own health. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked to this podcast are at the user's own risk. No information nor resources provided are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Be a smart human and do not disregard or postpone obtaining medical advice for any medical condition you may have. Seek the assistance of your healthcare team for any such conditions and always do so before making any changes to your medical, nutrition, or health plan. If you have found some Nuggets of Wisdom, make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Blasphemous Nutrition with those you care about. As you navigate the labyrinth of health advice out there, remember, health is a journey, not a dietary dictatorship. Stay skeptical, stay daring, and challenge the norms that no longer serve you. If you've got burning questions or want to share your own flavor of rebellion, slide into my DMs. Your stories fuel me, and I love hearing them. Thanks again for tuning in to Blasphemous Nutrition. Until next time, this is Amy signing off, reminding you that truth is nuanced, and any dish can be made better with a little bit of sass.