People who have long been struggling to get rid of their unwanted fat stores often grow disappointed and frustrated in themselves. They feel like they aren’t working hard enough or that they aren’t depriving themselves of fats and calories. In reality, however, issues like these often have an underlying, chemical cause. Learning more about how hormones affect weight loss is often the best way to put yourself on the path to success.
There is one hormone in particular that is likely to put you at a far higher risk of storing unwanted fats around your midsection. This hormone is called cortisol, and it is produced by the body whenever there is excess stress. It is a built-in part of the natural, fight or flight response. When you feel stressed out, your body worries that it’s not going to get enough food. As such, elevated levels of cortisol cause the human body to store extra fats around the midsection so that it can draw upon these reserves as necessary.
While this probably seems incredibly unfair, the human body is hardwired this way as a protective measure. During times when people relied on their hunting and gathering skills, stress and the natural response to it could be life-saving. It is essential for people dieting to remember that at the end of the day, humans are still scientifically classified as animals and thus, they can always expect their bodies to respond to stress as such.
In addition to knowing how to better manage stress in order to prevent the storage of unwanted belly fat, many people have to have their thyroids checked. This gland can have a significant impact on the body’s ability to burn unwanted fat. For women, an over or underperforming thyroid is a common cause of weight troubles.
Testing can be done to determine whether one or more hormones are responsible for your struggles with fat loss. If this is the case, a plan can be implemented for restoring overall chemical balance internally. This program is far more efficient than depriving your body of the vitamins and nutrients that it needs, even as you push yourself to work harder and harder at the gym, and often to no avail.
