Do you make regular attempts to lose weight only to fall by the wayside when nothing seems to work? Indeed, are you afraid that you might be exercising too much and causing your body more harm? Perhaps, there’s nothing wrong with the effort you’re making; instead, it’s the kind of effort you’re making that stops you from succeeding at your weight loss program. The following suggestions have a basis in science and will help you understand why you may not be losing weight as expected.

Hormones

One of the most important hormones to help you maintain a healthy weight is called ‘leptin’. In essence, it is the hormone that will send an ‘I am full’ message to the brain and your body will not need more food. In people where the levels of ‘leptin’ are normal, they derive much pleasure from eating just a little food. With people who are obese, this hormone is sometimes not present and, although they have eaten too much, they still feel hungry.

Other hormones you will need to consider are testosterone and estrogen. Both these hormones are present in all human beings. For men, the level of testosterone is higher and, for women, the level of estrogen is higher. Sometimes, when the levels of these hormones are not in balance, you will gain weight without knowing why. Therefore, visit your doctor to check whether your hormones are in balance before you attempt any sort of weight loss program.

Eat every other day

Usually, diet plans suggest that you should eat no more than 1500 calories a day. The problem that many people face with this is that their lifestyle does not mirror such a requirement. In addition, they are constantly hungry and miserable beyond belief. Dr. James Johnson (johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com) explains that, based on a report by researchers at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, you should eat very little one day and eat as much as you wish the next. What happens is that the body becomes used to spreading the intake of calories over a longer period of time and you end up forcing the body to burn fat.

Vitamin D

A lack of vitamin D is commonly associated with diseases like heart disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, rather than weight loss. However, researchers at Imperial College London have come up with an interesting theory: as sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, when there is no sun, the body begins to assume that winter is approaching. Therefore, the body will begin to store more fat to combat the cold. So, to lose more weight, perhaps, you could increase your intake of vitamin D.

Once your metabolic rate is fine, you have low cholesterol, your blood sugar levels are normal and you are responsive to insulin, you can be rest assured that, although you may still be overweight, you’re healthy. In fact, when you do undertake moderate exercise, you’ll probably achieve more success than expected.