Five Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight

“I have tried everything and I am not losing weight.”

🙋‍♀️ Are you a busy woman who has struggled with this question?

Many of our Butterflies have tried different diets, cleanses, work-out trends, apps by the time they join our community. They have often experienced a cycle of rapid weight loss and weight gain with no long-term sustainable change.

There are typically FIVE reasons that busy women struggle with weight-loss after trying most conventional methods:

1. Not including building muscle into exercise routine. If you are not building muscle, you will not increase your basal metabolic rate, which is essential for weight loss. Without increasing lean muscle mass and basal metabolic rate, following the same routine of calorie deficits and cardio will not lead to body transformation.

2. Focusing only on quantity of calories instead of nutritional density. Our bodies are amazing. We have evolved to withstand scarcity. When we consume less calories and operate in a state of hunger, our bodies will lower our basal metabolic rate to store energy. By consuming nutrient-dense, protein-rich, nourishing, filling foods that keep us satiated, our bodies will not lower their metabolic rate in protective evolutionary reflex. Restricting calories or foods from our daily nourishment will elicit a stress response. Our brains do not compute the concept of restricting nourishment. This all goes back to our bodies evolving to store and withstand times of scarcity. Withholding nourishment is not natural for us as humans and having to do so is very recent in our evolutionary history. Instead of focusing on food elimination, I advise to focus on adding foods to our plates that that will love us back: greens, grains, legumes, veggies, fruits, nuts, nut butters, and seeds. I encourage Butterflies to add all these to their plates and not worry over whether a food is “allowed” or not.

3. Not tracking metrics besides the number on the scale. Weight and BMI are not always accurate measures of state of health. When you embark on a wellness journey that includes exercise, you may be increasing muscle mass as you decrease percent body fat. When this happens, the number on the scale, weight, may remain unchanged, especially early on. However, this does not mean you are not transforming your body. Many women give up at this point, because they mistakenly think their interventions are not working. We recommend tracking other metrics besides weight and BMI including:

   1. Basal metabolic rate

   2. Skeletal muscle mass

   3. Percent body fat

   4. Lean muscle mass balance

4. Mindset Change. We need a total mind set change of what a meal looks like and how to prepare it to be able to overcome the misleading and harmful marketing from corporate food industries. The Big Grocery and Fast Food industries want to us to believe that consuming the Standard American Diet is cheaper, more convenient, easier, and even tastier than consuming whole, plant foods. This is so far from the truth. A recent study showed that subjects with obesity who consumed WFPB nourishment spent less money at the grocery store. Also, the framework behind WFPB meal planning involves batch cooking only a few things, and then adding or assembling intact foods to form a nourishing, satisfying meal. Many of these can come together in less than 20 minutes. And the idea that WFPB foods are not tasty is an absolute myth. Personally, I love food. I look forward to my WFPB meals. Basically, we are fighting thousands of daily marketing ploys to get us to purchase and consume the Standard American Diet. Corporate food systems have a much bigger marketing budget than broccoli, quinoa, chickpeas, or kale. But with the proper mindset change, we can disregard their lies and manipulation.

5. Not mobilizing a supportive community for accountability. A lonely wellness journey is destined to fail. Human beings are social by nature, even us introverts need support. Forming an accountability “pod” or ecosystem is essential for the success of your wellness journey.

At Culver Wellness Center, we help busy women increase basal metabolic rate with FOUR key steps:

🥦 Protein-rich #wholefoodsplantbased nourishment

🏋️‍♀️ Comprehensive physical activity program that includes cardio, strength training, and stretching

🧘‍♀️ Mindfulness-based stress reduction

📈 Tracking monthly muscle-mass, percent body fat, lean muscle balance, and basal metabolic rate using #Inbody Body Composition Analysis AND bi-annual wellness labs

Connecting you with a community of Butterflies for support and accountability.

We offer a transformational wellness experience exclusively for busy women who ARE NOT looking for a quick fix. We partner with you on your wellness journey to achieve your goals holistically and sustainably without the use of pharmaceuticals.

Do this for YOURSELF.

We offer a complimentary initial consultation to all prospective Butterflies to make sure we are the right wellness team to guide your journey.

At Culver Wellness Center, we help busy women transform their mind, body, spirit health holistically and sustainably. The habits that transform your body and health will also transform the health of the ones closest to you. Schedule a consultation to join our Ecosystem of Butterflies.

You can also find Dr. Adame on the Plate Up Health App as a physician expert. Follow her on the app or join the Metamorphosis Wellness Ecosystem on the app for meal ideas, exercises, mindfulness based stress reduction, group meetings, encouragement, support, and more.

We aim to be the best pediatric practice in Marshall County, Lake Maxinkuckee area, and the state of Indiana. If your child is not yet part of the Culver Pediatrics Center family, sign up in the email opt-in below to learn more about our boutique pediatrician services.