Losing weight can be extremely difficult, especially when you feel like you're doing all the right things but the scale just isn't budging. Frustration can often cause people to lower their calories to an unhealthy level, follow a dangerous fad diet or spend hundreds of dollars on magic pills that promise to make those extra pounds disappear. When it comes to losing weight, your metabolism plays an important role, but that doesn't mean you need to invest in the latest metabolism-boosting pills or powders to lose a few pounds. If you want to shed some fat, there are a few things you need to understand about your metabolism.
1. Your Liver Affects Your Metabolism
You probably know that the liver is responsible for detoxing the body, but did you know it's also responsible for 75% of your thyroid hormone production? When you fill your body with processed foods, medicine, alcohol, sugar or other toxins, your liver can become too overwhelmed to work properly. These toxins slow down the liver, which in turn slows down the production of the thyroid hormone. This can lead to various metabolic issues including weight gain, bloating, trouble sleeping and low energy. When the liver is healthy and not weighed down by toxins, it's able to work properly, keeping the body at a healthy temperature and regulating the metabolism. So how can you keep your liver healthy and your metabolism up? Avoid alcohol, foods that are heavily processed and foods that are full of sugar.
2. Your Adrenal Glands Affect Your Metabolism
The adrenal glandsare responsible for secreting hormones in the body that affect the metabolism in one of two ways. They can either help balance your hormones to promote a high metabolism, or they can slow the metabolism down. The affect your adrenal glands have on your body is largely in your hands. Factors such as food, exercise and lifestyle habits can change the way your adrenal glands interact with your metabolism. Living a non-active lifestyle, making poor food choices and filling your body with toxins can result in an overproduction of stress hormones which leads to fat storage. The best way to keep your adrenal glands working in your favor when it comes to your metabolism is to de-stress your life.
3. Your Thyroid Affects Your Metabolism
The thyroid usually gets blamed when it comes to a slow metabolism. But the truth is, the metabolism is affected by many different parts of the body. Thyroid hormones do however play a large role when it comes to regulating the metabolism. They're responsible for controlling cellular metabolism throughout the body, so if there is too much or not enough thyroid hormone in the body, the metabolism suffers. If you think your thyroid hormone may be low, make an appointment with a doctor to have things checked out. Minimizing stress, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet will put you on the right track to balancing your hormones and losing weight.
Ask Yourself:
If you find that you're having a hard time losing weight, ask yourself a few questions.
1. Am I eating too many processed, sugary foods? If so, you may be overloading your liver with toxins.
2. Am I relying on large amounts of coffee or energy drinks to get through the day? If so, you maybe be tiring out your adrenal glands, causing them to release large amounts of stress hormones.
3. Do I need to be more active? If so, start out with something simple. A few walks here and there can eventually turn into a daily run!
You can either be a fat-burning machine or store fat like never before. The choice is really up to you!
Sources:
The Hearty SoulHealthEveryday HealthEndocrine Web
