Not-so-obvious reasons why you’re not lean

Let’s cover the obvious first… Your diet sucks, you don’t work out and you drink too much booze – if any of these describe your lifestyle you need to change them for a significant period before the next part will be of any use to you.

Now the no-so-obvious for the people who train hard and try to improve their diets, and yet they still struggle. They lose a little fat then seem to gain a little and the process repeats itself over and over. If this sounds like you these next things could be the problem:

1. Poor Gut Health: The food you eat creates an environment for your bacteria – both good and bad. When you try to change your diet, your “bad” gut bacteria will demand to be fed, making you experience cravings. Unfavourable gut bacteria can cause cravings of the junk foods that best feeds them. Poor gut health also effects the absorption of essential nutrients. Remedy: take probiotics and glutamine every morning upon waking and digestive enzymes with protein based meals.
2. Eating too few calories: low calorie diets lead to increased cortisol production – our major stress hormone. Increased cortisol leads to insulin resistance and weight gain. In addition, low cal diets have shown to down regulate our thyroid hormone making weight loss more difficult in the long run. Remedy: Pretty simple solution… Eat more! A strong appetite means your metabolism is firing properly.
3. Poor Recovery: I’m talking about sleep – getting adequate rest every night is one of the simplest and most dramatic ways to improve body composition. Getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night by establishing a consistent sleep schedule should be a staple daily goal – including a nap during the day will further accelerate the benefits on body composition. Not getting enough or poor quality sleep will lead to increased inflammation in your body, which is associated with multiple health complications such as insulin resistance, chronically elevated cortisol and reductions in testosterone and growth hormone production. Add in a weekly deep tissue massage and you will feel like superman in the gym!!