Stubborn Excess Weight

There are many unsuspected and hidden contributors to stubborn excess weight.

This Stubborn Excess Weight page is to help people who have done ALL they know to do to be healthy, and, even with heroic efforts, have not been able to budge their excess weight and have even watched their weight go up!  (My thoughts on exercise, which you likely have done much of to no avail, is in that page.)

Stubborn excess weight results from three major sources (or combos thereof): endocrine imbalance, dysglycemia, lymph stagnation and/or toxemia/toxic accumulation.   A fourth and common cause of stubborn excess weight is pharmaceuticals.  If this is the case, talk to your doc about it (but he won’t be able to do anything but apologize.)  Herbs can’t help here.

1. An endocrine imbalancemeans that your hormone producing glands (the thyroid, pituitary, ovaries or adrenals and their backups) are imbalanced. The best way to remedy this problem is to feed the respective endocrine gland(s).   The indicators that any of these are imbalanced are covered in the endocrine page.  Read that to see if any of the indications apply to you.  If not, skip this contributor and go to the next.
   For example, we know that often women will gain weight on synthetic estrogen (birth control or hormone replacement) due to the endocrine imbalance it introduces. Men and women gain weight on steroids given for inflammation – respiratory (asthma) or otherwise, and steroids are doing the work of your undernourished adrenals.  Stubborn excess weight is often considered a thyroid problem and synthetic hormones are given. But Synthroid doesn’t do for the body everything that your properly functioning thyroid does, so other problems result – such as osteoporosis.  So we can conclude from observation that hormone imbalances cause weight problems.
   A clue that the cause of your excess weight may be due to your endocrines is that these imbalances often result in emotional swings from weeping for no reason, to your impersonation of the Tasmanian devil.  Docs often prescribe psyche drugs for these emotional swings, which also cause weight gain.  The discussion of endocrine imbalances offers clues and suggestions.  I recommend you begin here if there are any mood issues, as people often address their bad feelings with bad food choices and overeating, worsening the weight situation.  If you suspect a food addiction, that document may offer some insight.
2. Dysglycemia is the body’s inability to manage its fuel which includes being able to access its reserves (fat).  A more detailed explanation is found in that page.  When insulin levels are high, the body will store unused food energy as fat. Fat is like the body’s battery that gets ‘charged’ if the food energy is too abundant for complete conversion to usable energy. Dysglycemia is often accompanied by various food/sugar cravings.  (See Lifestyle Compensations for insights on what cravings mean and how to reduce them.)  The Insulin Resistance diet is a good discipline and easy to follow if you are a sugar craver and approaches to address this are also found in the endocrine imbalances   Some indicators that dysglycemia is a contributor are excessive appetite and inability to sleep through the night – waking for no apparent reason. It is the job of the liver to access fat reserves so check the liver page to see if you fit that profile.
3. Lymph stagnation deserves a page to itself as it is has been long thought as the origin of cancer.  I lay out a step by step program to open the exits because often weight cannot escape the body due to some dysfunction on the way out.  So go there.  Read that.
4. When you have followed the relevant recommendations and still cannot get weight to move, you may need to make an appointment.  (Oh and check your pharmaceuticals for side effects of weight gain.  If this is the case, I may not be able to find an herbal protocol to circumvent it.  Talk to your doc.  If there are natural alternatives to your meds and your doc is willing to work with you to undo the damage, there is hope.)

©Pat Block ND 2007