“Hey, Hey, Mae: If I’m trying to lose weight and feel like I can only devote attention to one - which is more important for reaching my weight loss goals: nutrition or exercise?”

Let’s chat about weight loss, friends. There is so much noise surrounding this topic that it can be really hard to know what to do. Just talking about the need to lose weight can be very vulnerable and emotional.

Eat 1,200 calories and you’ll lose weight.

Do 60 minutes of cardio 7 days a week to lose weight.

Drink nothing but juice for 5-7 days to lose weight.

Avoid carbs to lose weight.

Go on a low-fat diet and you’ll lose weight.

Right?

WRONG.

Let’s break that down and see what actually happens to the body when any of the above mentioned are implemented.

In order to lose weight, we need to be in a caloric deficit. That’s the simplest way to break it down. We lose weight by burning more calories than we consume. However, under eating too much can have far more consequences on the body, than the gains made toward weight loss. Blood sugar regulation, hormone health, HPA-axis function, and thyroid health are all major components that need to be in balance to promote sustainable weight loss in a healthy way. Under eating, over-exercising, and consuming an imbalance of macro-nutrients (i.e. low carb or low fat) can all contribute to the dysfunction of one more of those components.

• Blood sugar regulation: the body must be very sensitive to insulin when it is released into the bloodstream. Insulin signals muscle cells to open up and receive glucose that is circulating through the bloodstream post-meal. Chronic blood sugar dysregulation leads to decreased insulin sensitivity. This initiates a stress response (more on this in a bit) that turns off the body’s fat burning-mode, and increases fat storage.

• Hormone and thyroid health: throughout a woman’s cycle, different hormones are increasing and decreasing. Estrogen levels rise mid-follicular phase gearing the body up for ovulation, and then fall post-ovulation. Estrogen levels rise once more mid-luteal phase gearing up for menstruation, and then fall at the end of the menstrual cycle. Progesterone levels are lower at the start of the menstrual cycle. and peak after ovulation. If a woman doesn’t become pregnant after ovulation, then progesterone levels fall before her next menstrual cycle. So what does this have to do with weight loss (or gain)? Progesterone helps to support the thyroid, which is the regulator of our body temperature and metabolism. If progesterone is inadequate, thyroid function can suffer and in turn slow metabolism. Excess estrogen can encourage weight gain, water retention, bloating, irregular periods, and PMS symptoms to name a few.

• HPA-axis function: the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis is the master switchboard for the body’s stress response. Together, the parts of the HPA axis help regulate digestion, immunity, mood, libido, and energy. Here is a quick rundown of how the HPA axis works in the body. When we are stressed the hypothalamus sends out hormones that signal the pituitary gland to secrete an additional hormone to stimulate the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands then release our stress-related hormones, which I’m sure you are familiar with, cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones do things like increase blood pressure and release glucose to muscle cells to gear us up for survival. A great thing when there is a tangible threat, like being chased by a bear. A not-so-great thing when the stressor is something like under eating or overexercising. Two things we typically do when trying to lose weight.

So what about exercise?

We all know we need to exercise, or as I like to better phrase it, MOVE to encourage the body to burn fat and build muscle. Both very beneficial to weight loss, and health in general. But here’s the awesome thing...you do not, and I repeat do not, have to spend hours in the gym (or even 60 minutes) to reach your weight loss goals. It’s all about working out with and in support of your body. Are you struggling with any of the above mentioned (blood sugar dysregulation, hormone imbalance, HPA-axis or low functioning thyroid)? If so, working out at an intense level can actually be hindering your weight loss goals. This is because intense exercise will initiate a stress response in the body, which is furthering damaging if you are already in a high-stress state.

Movement is not the same as exercise. Exercise is targeted movement using specific muscle groups at a time. Movement is simply moving the body. Walking the dog, dancing in the kitchen, cleaning the house, and stretching out before bed are all wonderful ways to move the body.

So, let’s wrap this up shall we?

**If we have our sights set on a weight loss goal, we need to focus on our nutrition first and foremost.**

And I don’t mean this in a calories-in, calories-out kind of way. We need to focus on our nutrition to:

#1- Fuel for our health AKA to support blood sugar regulation, hormone balance, thyroid function, and HPA axis function.

#2- Fuel for our movement. If we up the intensity of our workouts, we cannot expect to maintain a good level of health if we don’t appropriately adjust our nutrition.

#3- Fuel for a healthy and sustainable weight loss. The World Health Organization advises that women not eat less than 2,000 calories a day. Let that sink in. It kind of throws off how much diet culture has told us we need to eat to lose weight, huh? If we are under eating, even eating 1,200-1,400 calories when our body is calling for 1,800-2,000, this is yet again initiating a stress response on the body. When we are in that stress response our body is more focused on storing fat than burning fat because we are in survival mode.

Be mindful about your exercise routine. Cardio exercises will help burn fat, while strength training exercises will encourage the growth of lean muscle mass. Find a balance between the two, and try not to over do it. Keep at least 2 full rest days in your routine, so that your body has time to repair and grow those muscles you are working so hard to achieve. Find some type of movement that you enjoy to incorporate every single day, especially if you work a sedentary job and exercising isn’t really your thing.

Let’s be happy and not give in to diet culture.

Let’s fuel our bodies for health and not give in to fad diets.

Let’s find a sustainable way to lose weight that we are able to maintain for the rest of our lives.