Updated: 5/18/2021 Written by Andrew Akhaphong, Mackenthun's Registered and Licensed Dietitian
The issue of weight is a sensitive topic. Many negative connotations have evolved around the word "weight". To name a few, this includes "obesity", "heavy", "fat", or "gigantic".
For those who are desperate to lose weight, whatever the reason may be, many may resort to extreme measures such as cutting down calories or specific food groups. Perhaps some individuals may jump on the most popular fad diet because they promised fast results. Or more concerning, spending loads of money on nutritional supplements with the hopes to "burn fat".
So why is it some people, who are doing all these things, may not lose the weight?
Your Muscles Aren't Getting Enough Attention
he muscle is the largest organ in our body (the largest organ outside our body is the skin) whose purpose is to assist with movement, but also metabolize nutrients into energy. Your muscles are the primary powerhouse for metabolism. The more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolism is both during physical activity and at rest or inactivity.
Therefore, many exercise and fitness professionals recommend incorporating weight training into all exercise regimens, not just cardio.
Resistance training is the use of free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, etc) and weight machines to grow muscle by creating microtears in muscle tissue. To see muscle gains, it is best to perform exercises to exhaustion, often using heavier weights that allow you to perform the exercise safely. The more exhausted (feel the burn) your muscles become, the more microtears there will be to repair and grow from.
Strength training often relies on your body weight to perform exercise. Persons who do not want to be too bulky in muscle often use strength training as a tool instead. It does increase gains through strength and endurance, but without the bulkiness. Examples of strength training exercises include yoga, pilates, kickboxing, push-ups, wall sits, and chin pull-ups.
Vary Your Exercise Routine, Challenge Yourself
To get the best out of your metabolism, it is important to vary your exercise routine. The more muscle groups you are challenging, the more muscle cells available to kick your metabolism into high gear.
Take for example cycling. The major muscle groups that are working most of the time are those in the legs, while your core is engaged to keep you sitting upright on the bike. Which muscle group is working more, the legs or the core? Which group of muscles will be burning more calories, the legs or the core?
If your body can handle it, research shows the best type of exercise is performing multiple different ones in a circuit called “high intensity interval training” (HIIT). Many cross fit programs for example are an adaptation of HIIT. HIIT will also double the amount of calories you burn at rest during recovery! For example, if you burn 400 calories during exercise, you will burn an additional 400 at rest. One study found that people performing HIIT three times per week for 20 minutes per session lost 4.4 pounds, or 2 kgs, of body fat in 12 weeks — without any dietary changes
What does this look like?
Station 1: Treadmill running.
0% incline, 5 miles per hour speed, run for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
5% incline, 5 miles per hour speed, run for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
10% incline, 5 miles per hour speed, run for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
15% incline, 5 miles per hour speed, run for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
Repeat starting at 0% incline for a second time
Station 2: Strength Training
Medicine ball slams for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
Overhead squats for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
Medicine ball rainbow slams for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
Burpees for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds
Repeat starting at medicine ball slams for 1 minute, rest for 30 seconds for another second round
Even if you choose not to do multiple circuits in one workout session, try to change up your workout routine each time you do exercise to target all the different muscle groups.
Your Body Needs Fuel
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends a cut of 300 to 500 calories each day to see an average weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week. Though there is many supporting research that shows this works, some people choose to cut out calories way too much or specific food groups. This in fact could harm your metabolism.
Registered Dietitian Liz Weinandy with the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reports not eating enough versus not moving enough is the top perpetrator to slow metabolism.
Registered Dietitian Joey Gast with I Thrive Nutrition and Fitness reports severely cutting out calories mostly results in water weight. Because your muscles and other cells do not have the proper nutrition to function and feed metabolism, it ends up either digesting its own muscle or fat for energy which results in water as a byproduct. If you have or know someone who has done keto, you may have noticed or heard about the frequency of urination following. No food group or type of food should be demonized, but it is important to be cognizant of the quantity of food you are consuming.
Keep Your Hormones in Check
Hormones are often underutilized as a screening tool to examine underlying causes that may affect weight. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid to work. High levels of TSH have the potential to cause weight gain while low levels of TSH can cause weight loss. Estrogen, the female sex hormone, is known to also regulate carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Low levels in women may result in weight gain.
Testosterone, the male sex hormone, also functions as a determinant of muscle mass. Less testosterone (which can often be correlated with high estrogen in men) a person has, the more difficult it is to develop muscle mass and increase metabolic capabilities.
Please consult with your primary care doctor or endocrinologist to see if you can get hormone testing done. Interventions often require strict monitoring of medication with blood labs every 3 months.