Why you are not losing weight even though your apple watch says you took so many steps daily!
Understanding Weight Loss Challenges: Insights from Renew Weight Loss and Med Spa
Usually, patients will tell me, “My Apple Watch keeps track of my steps and I am walking ‘x’ amount of steps daily but I am still not losing weight.” Or sometimes patients will tell me, “I work a physically demanding job, but for some reason I am still not losing weight.” Several times a day, I hear patients complain that they are not losing weight despite their best efforts.
While these patients are usually well-intentioned, they are typically misinformed about what exactly it takes to lose weight and maintain the weight loss. To be clear; the entire weight loss journey is challenging. But losing weight is typically the easier part of the process, and maintaining the weight loss is the harder part. If patients are not careful, they may sometimes lose weight, but be unable to maintain it.
So why are folks having a hard time losing weight despite taking several steps a day, or working physically demanding jobs? The answer is a little complicated. But to start off, in order to lose weight, patients need to have the mindset that everything they were previously doing is not enough. That means that the amount of steps you take at work, or even the fact that your job is physically demanding, IS NOT ENOUGH.
The reason for this is that over time, your body learns your habits and tries to automate it. Your body learns your eating habits, tracks how physically active you are, and even how many steps you take. Based on this data, your body strives to stimulate you to consume enough calories on a daily basis in order to compensate for the level of activities in your usual routine and to ensure you maintain your weight. For more information on physical activity and weight management, visit the CDC's Physical Activity Guidelines.
Your body releases hormones such as Ghrelin, Leptin, and Peptide YY; which stimulate hunger, appetite, and fullness. So the reason why your physically demanding job, or your many steps on a daily basis are not helping you lose weight, is because your body’s automation process is working against your efforts to help sustain your total daily calorie expenditure and maintain your weight. For detailed information on these hormones, visit the NIH.
There are no shortcuts to weight loss. Even if you are able to achieve weight loss through medication therapy, maintaining the weight loss requires further discipline through nutrition and exercise. For more tips on maintaining weight loss, check out the NHLBI's Weight Loss Resources.
At Renew Weight Loss and Med Spa, we take a wholesome approach to weight loss and management. We encourage all of our clients, including those receiving medication treatments, to partake in our nutrition and exercise program, where we create individualized diet and exercise plans based on the client’s age, weight, height, activity level, etc. to ensure that they can lose and maintain their weight loss over time. We help you unlock a new you and give you the tools to sustain that new you!
To learn more about our comprehensive weight loss programs and how we can help you achieve and maintain your weight loss goals, visit Renew Med and Spa. Our dedicated team is here to support you every step of the way.
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