You know I mentioned that calorie burn was the least interesting thing about exercise?  Here are the more interesting things:

1. Reduced risks of all the metabolic-type  and cardio vascular diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Exercise has been shown to lower blood sugar levels as well as making your heart muscles work better.

2. Reduced risks of dementia and Alzheimers by increasing blood flow to the brain and increasing levels of brain-protective chemicals. And by reducing your risk of strokes, you're also reducing your risks of dementia BTW.

3. Reduced risks of falls and bone breakage as you maintain muscle mass & bone strength AND continue to work on balance and coordination (i.e. avoid the falls in the first place!).

4. Reduced stress levels because exercise reduces cortisol and adrenaline levels (your stress hormones), while at the same time stimulating the production of endorphins which are neurotransmitters that are your body's natural mood elevators.

Ok, so the last item that I mentioned in the paragraph above was that exercise reduces your stress levels.

That's because chronic stress (i.e. the type that is sustained for a long period of time) plays a really important part in your ability to lose weight. Now I'm not saying it's the main or only reason why you find it difficult, but it is definitely a factor.

The reason is that elevated adrenalin and cortisol in your system lead to a surge of glucose being released in order to meet the "fight or flight" needs that your body associates with raised stress hormones. 

This leads to insulin being released into your body to bring glucose levels back under control. And over time, your body becomes resistant to the increased levels of insulin. 

Meaning that you've got a load of glucose sloshing round with nowhere to go. So it gets laid down as body fat. Often around the middle and round the organs. Which is bad! You can check out this blog I wrote a while ago if you'd like to learn more about this.

So, this was all a long way of saying, step 1, find ways to reduce your stress levels. Whether that's exercising, mindfulness, delegating, or just saying "No" to stuff. 

Step 2 is to dial up your sleep hygiene. 

This is closely tied up with your stress levels both because increased stress makes your sleep less restful; and because operating on insufficient sleep makes us more stressed. 

I described the loop between insulin and adrenalin, cortisol...and now. I'm bringing in two other hormones that are impacted when you don't have enought sleep: ghrelin, which is the hunger signal hormone; and leptin, which is the satiety signal hormone.

When you're short on sleep, our bodies release more ghrelin (so you want to eat more) and less leptin (which means you're less likely to feel full). 

And when you're in this zone, what your body wants is lots of high energy food - that is stuff loaded with simple carbs and fat - so that it can get to the energy nice and quickly. 

Want to dig into this topic a bit more deeply? Check out this blog.

Now we've got our hormones a bit more under control by reducing our stress levels (reduce adrenalin/ cortisol => increased insulin sensitivity) and increased our sleep (get ghrelin and leptin at the right levels), it's time for step 3 and focusing on what we're eating.

I said at the beginning that exercise alone is poorly correlated with weight loss. Not only is not strongly correlated, but actually, there are studies that show that increased activity does not lead to an equal and sustained increase in your body's energy expenditure. 

So, if weight loss / gain is a function of calories used versus calories consumed, then you can see that the other lever we have to play with is calories consumed.

Ok, we've all done it. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Cabbage Soup Diets, Slimfast, "Cleanses". 

They all work because you're substantially reducing your calorie intake. 

But, there is no way that you can do this forever. 

What are the things that work for me for a more sustainable approach?

1. Drink more water - your body gives you the same signals whether you're hungry or thirsty. 

So before you eat something, drink some water. 

Wait fifteen minutes and if you're still feeling the same, you may actually be hungry.

2. Eat more veggies - they're full of fibre that make you feel fuller. Also, they make your gut biome happy. 

And when your biome is happy, you're happy.  

Extra points for adding lots of colour to your plate for all the health-giving vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

3. Eat enough lean protein - extra points for making it plant protein (e.g. beans, pulses, lentils). Protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer, so you're less likely to graze.

4. Eat less processed food and highly refined sugar. They're highly correlated with cardio-vascular disease, strokes, high cholesterol, diabetes....and the list goes on. 

Also, they're usually high in calories while being low in nutritional value.

5. Ditch the booze. This is literally liquid sugar with zero nutritional value. It's also a Group 1 carcinogen, in the same group as tobacco and radiation. 

6. If it works for you, try keeping a food diary so that you can be intentional and really know what you ate. 

It's super easy to eat without thinking or even really noticing what you're eating. I speak from the place of someone who finds it hard to eat just one biscuit.

7. Don't make yourself miserable over it. Life's too bloody short!

Just making it clear that I'm not a trained nutritionist and I can't write diet plans for you. 

I am, however, someone who does their research. 

So  if you've got questions and want some help with general nutritional info, please get in touch - happy to point you towards facts and research!