The weight loss resistant body is one of the most frustrating health and fitness issues known to man and woman.
You try everything that you believe possible, you exercise like a fiend, you eat crumbs and the scale slaps you in the face. It is frustrating!
If you believe that the solution to a weight loss resistant body is all about cutting calories or burning more than you expend, then you will definitely want to pay attention to this brief article.
If you consider yourself to be weight loss resistant then what do you have to lose?
All too often “weight loss gurus” spurt off the same tired old formula for weight loss, which is “Calories consumed minus calories burned will determine weight lost or gained.”
Why You Are Weight Loss Resistant
Although you can’t deny that calories matter on some level, this formula assumes that the body is nothing more than a biological test tube where calories enter in, react, and exit the body. The problem with this thought process is the fact that it ignores the fact that the body is a complex adaptive system…
In other words, the body is constantly monitoring the environment, it learns from your experiences, and then without any input from your thinking-brain…it adapts. In fact, it does more than adapt…
It predicts!
It isn’t enough that the body adapts to current circumstances. In order to increase the chances of survival, it makes predictions about the future that give you a leg up over the competition.
Proof of this fact has been surfacing over the last couple of decades of research. Unfortunately, this proof gets lost among all of the misinformation that is being circulated related to weight loss.
Study Shows Cells Adapt to Dieting
One such study discovered a curious cellular adaptation to a “low energy environment”. What is a low energy environment? It is an environment designed to mimic famine or…dieting.
You may believe there is a difference, to your cells, and to your body, there is no difference between dieting and starving…something to think about.
In a nutshell, scientists discovered that when the cell was starved, it triggered the genes in such a way as to promote more bile to be secreted into the intestines.
Bile is that stuff that fills your gallbladder and is secreted into the intestines whenever you eat fat. This means that the next time you eat fat, your body will be better able to absorb and store.
So what?
What this means is that when the body is starved, it activates genes that are designed to defend the fat! In this single experiment the cell activated defenses that turn your body into a lean, mean, fat ABSORBING machine.
Your body becomes better at fat absorption!
Let’s say that you are not on a diet, in fact, you are pretty well fed. In a moment of weakness, you decide to order a Big Mac from McDonalds that has 33 grams of fat. In a healthy body that is not on the defense, your body may absorb 15-20 grams of that fat and allow the rest to pass harmlessly through the intestines.
Now let’s say that you have been on a diet for a week and the cells are huuuunnnngggrrrryyy! So hungry in fact that one night when you go to sleep, you wake up to find yourself sitting in front of an empty wrapper to a Big Mac at the 24 hour McDonalds having no idea how you got there. (Hey, don’t laugh, it is called Sleep Eating and it happens more than you think!)
Now that your body is in a semi-starved state, you absorb all 33 grams of fat. Not only that, because your body predicts the future, it is also revving up your fat absorption for future meals as well.
What Does This Mean for You?
It means that you can’t starve away fat.
When you attempt to starve your fat away, it becomes defensive and works hard make fat loss nearly impossible.
This study shows us just one defensive mechanism that is built into the cell. The truth is, there are many more defensive mechanism that make dieting an almost totally ineffective way to lose fat…at least for the long run.
How Do You Use These Findings to Fight a Weight Loss Resistant Body?
Both Blythe and I believe that before we can think about burning the fat, we must first think about nourishing the body.
Fat loss is about simulating an environment of plenty while simultaneously simulating an environment where being lean would be a survival benefit as well. You must realize and accept that we become weight loss resistant for a reason! Only after that reason is discovered and eradicated will the weight loss resistance lift.
Living by this philosophy means being deliberate with your diet in such a way that the body gets what it needs to function on all cylinders.
Try This Experiment Over the Next 30 Days
Instead of focusing on what you should not eat, in order to lose weight; focus on what you need to eat in order to nourish the body.
The weight loss resistant body is screaming for attention and nutrition! Make it a game; see just how many processed foods you can replace with vegetables in a day. Try to beat your record, each day and watch the scale and your shape for the payoff!
There are many factors that can lead to a weight loss resistant body; regardless of the cause, the solutions starts with nourishing the cells so that metabolic healing can occur.
For more information on what makes us weight loss resistant, check out the article and podcast below: