Is your lifestyle causing you to gain weight? Here’s why you might be sabotaging yourself, and what to do about it.
We’re always speaking to women over forty who are struggling to see any movement with their weight. They’re trying all the plans which worked for them in their 20s and 30s, but stepping on the scales at the end of the week and seeing zero movement.
One of the main reasons this happens is down to the physical and hormonal changes that women go through as they get older. However, the good news is that there’s a quick and easy way to escape from this situation!
In today’s blog, we’re going to talk about lifestyle. This is one of the main reasons that women over forty struggle to see movement on the scales. Even if you get everything right with your nutrition and exercise, if your lifestyle doesn’t align with your weight loss goals, you could still see zero progress.
Here are the main drivers for weight gain affected by your lifestyle. You can also listen to this blog on our podcast.
Lack of sleep and weight gain
Having a lack of sleep can have a bigger impact on your fat stores than you might realise.
A short night’s sleep can actually disrupt your hormones, specifically, leptin and ghrelin. So, what does this mean for your weight? Ghrelin is the hormone responsible for regulating appetite, and leptin regulates our feeling of fullness, or the cue to stop eating.
After a poor night’s sleep, ghrelin levels increase and leptin levels decrease. This causes us to feel more hungry and less full – hence the munchies we experience after a late night!
In the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, he reveals a fascinating study that backs this up. They studied two groups of people, one sleeping 8 hours a night and one group sleeping 5 hours a night. Everything else was kept constant. They then presented both with a buffet, and the group sleeping 5 hours a night ate 300 calories more in one sitting than the group sleeping 8 hours a night.
So, not only does sleep disrupt cortisol levels, which makes it harder for women over forty to lose weight (and easier to gain it) but it also increases cravings and makes you eat more!
We help our clients to improve their sleep in a number of ways, from optimising their hormones, sleep environment, nutrition, caffeine and work-life balance. This means their cravings are massively reduced!
Caffeine and weight gain
Caffeine is excellent for waking us up… but is it impacting your fat stores?
The way this drug works is by blocking adenosine receptors in your brain. These receptors contribute to the feeling of tiredness… so an extra coffee actually temporarily reduces how tired you feel. This is often the main reason we reach for coffee in the morning!
However, caffeine has a half-life of six hours. This means its effects are still half as strong six hours after consumption… and they haven’t dissipated entirely. So, when you have a 4pm coffee or can of diet coke, this can impact your sleep more than you might realise.
On top of this, caffeine spikes your body’s internal stress levels. When the stress hormone cortisol is elevated, your body is much less likely to burn fat. (And more likely to store it in your mid-section!)
But you don’t have to give up coffee entirely, especially if it’s a nice treat for you. Opting for decaf after midday is a really easy fix!
Overworking yourself
Many of our clients work in busy high-pressure jobs, with an email inbox constantly filling up and back-to-back meetings all day. It can lead to trying to catch up by working late into the night.
However, this can have a significant impact on weight loss, as it disrupts sleep quality and sends cortisol levels through the roof.
It can lead to a vicious cycle of cutting sleep short to try and finish work, but then being exhausted. So, having to work longer as you’re less productive and relying on caffeine to get through the day… this then disrupts sleep even more and sends cravings through the roof
Most people need to just have a hard reset on their sleep and energy levels. Commit to finishing at a certain time most days, stop using caffeine after midday, and get that 7-8 hours sleep. Combined with the right food and exercise approaches, and your energy will come back in no time!
To find out more about how Trinity can help you see the results you deserve, click here!
