There are four major issues that can derail any attempt to lose weight: 1. Insulin resistance 2.

Adrenal stress 3. Hormone imbalance 4. Sleep 1. Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is a pre-diabetic state that means your bodys ability to remove sugar from the blood and place it in the cells is compromised, resulting in a higher insulin level. Insulin sends the signal to all cells to store fat. Environmental factors such as inappropriate quality and excess quantity of nutrients (eg. eating high glycemic foods like bread, rice, potato, pasta will drive glucose up rapidly), insufficient physical activity, low-grade inflammation, and oxidative stress combine with genetic factors to increase adiposity and insulin resistance (Bailey, 2011). This condition can be remedied by lifestyle and diet changes, along with a few simple nutritional adjuncts like magnesium and chromium. Making your insulin receptors more responsive will reverse this trend and aid your efforts to lose weight (Eckel et al., 2011).

2. Adrenal stress Weight gain is a result of increased appetite and decreased metabolism. Stress increases cortisol levels. The cortisol prepares you to be able to handle acute stress situations. Chronically stress results in weight gain because of the way it affects metabolism.

When our bodies experience stress, cortisol shuts out into our bloodstream and supplies the immediate energy necessary for the fight or flight response (MaglioneGarves, Kravitz & Schneider, 2005). The process also shuts down any non-essential systems in our bodies. The Immediate Effects of Cortisol on our Body Catabolic -( breakdown) releases available energy Mobilizes Sugar or glucose Mobilizes fat Prepares us for fight or flight Suppresses the immune system

Long term effects of high cortisol levels cause Increased inflammation in body Causes insulin resistance (burnout your pancreas) Increase body fat the sugar mobilized which are unused gets stored as fat Energy mismanagement it disrupts available energy supply

3. Hormone imbalance 4. Sleep References Bailey, C. J. (2011). The challenge of managing coexistent type 2 diabetes and obesity. BMJ, 342. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d1996 Eckel, R., Kahn, S., Ferrannini, E., Goldfine, A., Nathan, D., Schwartz, M., & ... Smith, S. (2011). Obesity and type 2 diabetes: what can be unified and what needs to be individualized?. Diabetes Care, 34(6), 1424-1430. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ Maglione-Garves, C., Kravitz, L., & Schneider, S. (2005). Cortisol connection: tips on managing stress and weight. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, 9(5), 20-23.