Those last 5 lbs…
How many of you are at that point where you feel like you have hit a plateau. You have been doing so great with your weigh loss goals and then all of a sudden, nothing has changed in your program but you aren’t losing the weight like you were. Is it true that maybe your body just wants to be right where you are at and is resisting anymore loss? How to we break that barrier and get past that plateau?
First of all, you must understand, there is a gene that is the major control source of our body fat regulation and this gene controls our body fat levels by secreting Leptin. This peptide gives us potential for our weight loss. It plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism.
For example, high levels of leptin effect the body by:
* Suppresses appetite
* Stimulates thyroid hormone production
* Increases fat burning within the fat
cell
* Decreases fat storage
* Stimulates fat burning over protein
wasting, ie–reducing body fat and sparing muscle 🙂
* Actually destroys white fat cells
* Increases endorphins
* Enhances sex hormone production
Unfortunately, Low leptin levels can do the exact opposite!
The key is to keep leptin levels high but how do we do that? It isn’t as easy as it sounds. Almost all leptin production takes place in our fat cells. Our goal is to decrease fat cells yet this is where Leptin is produced, by expanding the cells. How does that work? As we increase body fat, leptin production goes up and tells our bodies that there is enough fat stores and therefor then tells the body to lower production. On the other side of the coin, as we lose fat, our bodies sense we may be starving and preserves our energy by slowing down and maybe even stopping Leptin production. This then cranks up our fat-storage, slows the metabolism, makes us feel super hungry and starts eating muscle. Leptin is the overall controller of appetite, energy expenditure and metabolism. So what do we do!!??
Well as I always mention, Change is good and Tricking the body is the key. This is the whole point of varying our workouts and diet so the body is constantly guessing. There are ways trick the body to allow for higher levels of Leptin on a regular basis!
There are a few other components that effect Leptin levels. They are:
* Insulin–insulin stimulates leptin production. It also can create fat stores so you need to be sure to stimulate the production at the right times and with the right foods to increase leptin production without the unwanted fat storage!
* Meal composition– low-fat, high-carb meals are most effective at raising both insulin and
leptin. You don’t want to combine a lot of fat with your carbs!
* Meal timing–Every time we eat a meal leptin levels in the blood increase significantly and stay up for three to four hours. Going without food suppresses production. Key here is, what we all know, eat small frequent meels to maintain leptin levels (hence, keeping your metabolism up!)
* Cortisol–This hormone increases the leptin-stimulating effects of insulin. Note, there is a fine line here because the cortisol level needs to be moderate and of short duration because if your levels are too high for too long the hormone will decrease leptin. A small dose of carbs before exercise and a dose of carbs and protein after will help with these cortisol levels. The short term cortisol is caused by exercise and immediately decreased with the presence of nutrients, before and after…
* DHT has been known to decrease leptin production. It has been said to supplement with Saw Palmetto to decrease DHT production. This is something I am looking into, as I am not totally familiar with Saw Palmetto. I will be researching this.
* BCAAs and Arginine– These are not only important to maintain muscle but have been known to stimulate insulin and keep leptin levels higher without the added fat storage. These are good to take at night before going to bed to keep leptin levels high while you sleep!
* Vitamin E–A daily dose of 800 units of vitamin E has been shown to stimulate
leptin production. Check and see how much Vitamin E is in your daily multi vitamin.
* Zinc–Zinc deficiency has been connected to low leptin production. This is another reason I suggest ZMA before bedtime and have my clients take it.
The key here is to review these key points, be sure to focus on meal nutrient combinations and meal timing. Be sure to get in your carbs pre workout an then carbs and proteins post workout. Now if you are working out super late at night, this brings up another issue, as your carbs should be closely watched.
A few things to remember, don’t combine fats with carbs, in every meal! Eat every 2.5-3 hours without an excuse, always change things up and trick your body with changing carb/protein/fat ratios each day. Not only do you want to change ratios but you want to change the types of foods you eat!
If you take anything from this, this is key: Our bodies are amazing machines and get use to whatever we do, in order to trick our bodies, they need CHANGE!!! Constant change is KEY to keeping our body fat levels dropping and our body composition changin!
Let’s get on this and get past that plateau… All aboard the band wagon onto reaching our fitness goals and losing that last 5 lbs!
