Apr 23, 2019
Do You Have Leptin Resitance?
Leptin resistance, less referred to than insulin resistance, often exists in overweight and obese women and interferes with ability to lose weight.
Do you fail to lose weight even when you diet and exercise? Are you 20 or more pounds overweight? Are you highly stressed? Are you sleep deprived? and...
Do you couch-compensate?
If you do your run, walk, zumba, do you subconsciously compensate the rest of the day with less activity?
You may be at risk if you’re in menopause. And it may be sabotaging your results.
A 2019 study shows the more women in menopause exercised the less active they were in their daily lives. Say you decide to relax on the couch instead of do housework, you enjoy a glass of wine (or two) on the deck instead of taking the stroll around the neighborhood… it all adds up.
To potentially, more weight and body fat.
In fact, it negatively affects your hormone levels, namely leptin tested in this study. Leptin is your satiety hormone, telling you to push away from the table or leave food on your plate (gasp!) because you’re done.
It often misfires in overweight or obese individuals. It’s more common among those who are over-exercising yet under-moving. It’s a phenomenon likened to the all-too-common overeating but undernourished. And it’s relative. You don’t have to be a marathoner to be doing too much for you.
Not New News
Literature has long suggested that the amount of all day every day activity N.E.A.T. is more associated with overweight and obesity than is a gym or at home “workout” session. Even in gym-rats and regular exercisers. If they were more inactive the rest of the day, they are potentially doing less good than a moderate exerciser on the go all day.
Find the right dose of exercise to make you inclined to be more active all day.
Especially if you’re feeling so deserving that you overcompensate with food and or over couch-compensation, your exercise mindset can put you at risk.
How to Avoid the Workout-to-Couch Trap
Track ALL your steps. Try removing your tracker when you’re exercising and compare your non-exercise activity time (N.E.A.T.) on days you exercise to days you don’t. Or to you before you start an “exercise” program to after you start an exercise program.
Mindset matters when it comes to exercise.
Is it punishment? Is it enjoyment? Is it rewarding? Are you trying to burn it off, tone it up, remove it, change it, because “it” now isn’t acceptable.
Exercise plans matters, too.
Is it an appropriate duration, frequency, intensity level for you? Is it based on your “allostatic load”? [the whole sum of stressors from all sources of life]
Why You Care About Leptin
Leptin messages your brain how much fat you carry. It is the satiety hormone that tells your brain you’re full when you’ve consumed enough. But it can go haywire and in many obese adults leptin resistance is common. If you have leptin resistance you have plenty of fat but your cravings are high and you burn fewer calories when you are active.
What contributes to leptin resistance?
Solutions for leptin resistance:
You’ll boost your growth hormone by 60% with strength training than steady state exercise
You’ll double your energy expenditure from HIIT vs. continuous (steady) training
You’ve got to avoid injury and overtraining: HIIT all the time increases injury risk (there’s an upper limit)
Start cooking. Buy and eat real food. Meal prep in your own kitchen is inversely related to risk of obesity. [So is being slightly lesssocial, more active, and working in an active job.] Many ways to cheat the system exist today for those with time constraints.
Leptin resistance can create a vicious cycle making weight loss seem impossible. The good news is, it is reversible. Don’t rely on willpower. It’s not a discipline problem, girl. It’s literally chemical and the right steps in the right sequence can support you.
Get the cheat sheet for this episode!
visit: https://www.flippingfifty.com/leptin-resistance
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3223413/
https://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(18)30062-8/fulltext
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