Will power and weight loss: What is sabotaging your weight loss?

You get up in the morning with the best intentions to stick to your perfect diet plan, not to eat any chips, fries, cookies (insert your favorite here). It is going well in the morning and you continue with a healthy lunch. In the afternoon the daily stress builds up along with some hunger pangs. You start thinking about how to reward yourself for making it through another day. What about a glass of wine with dinner? Maybe a little dessert is not all that bad? After all, you deserve it, right? You skip the gym because you are too hungry and after dinner, you are too full. There are countless ways of sabotaging your diet and healthy life style. So why is it so difficult to lose those pesky few pounds? You may blame yourself for not having the will power. The few lucky naturally thin people probably keep reinforcing that thought in the overweight. After all, they can do it.

Your Brain and Willpower

The concept of willpower may apply to the number of pushups or situps you can do in the morning, but when it comes to dieting, you might as well try to reason with a hungry crocodile. The human brain can be divided into three sections:

1. The primal brain or hind brain
2. The limbic system or emotional brain
3. The Neocortex or rational brain

The primal brain is responsible for basic species survival functions like breathing, sex drive and making sure you get enough food and water. You have that in common with lizards. So whatever your rational brain decides in the morning will stand no chance against the powers of your inner crocodile when you get hungry. Newer research studies have identified the role of the appetite-regulating hormone leptin that was discovered in 1994 by Jeffrey M. Friedman. Other hormones tied to weight control are Ghrelin, Insulin, Glucagon, Human Growth Hormone, Testosterone, Estrogen, Endorphins, Thyroxine, and Epinephrine.

Weight Loss that works

With all those hormones taking control of our appetites, does that mean that we don’t stand a chance at weight loss? Absolutely not! We do need to understand our body chemistry and work with it rather than against it to achieve lasting weight loss. All the hormones mentioned above can be influenced by exercise and food. That is also one reason why it is so easy to get into a vicious cycle of unhealthy eating and weight gain. You can work with a Nutritionist to figure out a strategy or look at some of the suggestions below:

Leptin: Leptin concentrations are higher in obese people since it is produced by fat cells. Eating fish and legumes seems to help your body respond better to leptin and therefore keeping leptin levels lower

Insulin: Eating low-glycemic index foods (whole grain, some fruits, vegetables), exercise and meal timing will keep your insulin levels steady

Ghrelin: Ghrelin levels increase when you get hungry and decrease after a meal but the amount of ghrelin also depends on your body weight. This may very well play a role in weight loss as you get closer to your “ideal” weight. Getting enough sleep is very important to keep Ghrelin levels in check.

Endorphins: If you have not felt the “endorphin-high” after a good cardio workout, you are missing out. It feels great and helps reduce your appetite.

Estrogens: Try to avoid xenoestrogens (chemical compounds mimicking estrogen) in your environment.

So, is willpower an obsolete concept? We still need willpower to a commit to a healthy diet and exercise program such that our hormones stay in balance. This way, getting back to our balance after an the occasional emotional eating episode is not all that difficult. For more tips and information see http://www.longlifenutritioncoach.com/