How to boost your leptin hormone to help you lose weight

Yes, you have a weight loss hormone. Have you tried everything and you can not lose weight? Many people exercise, eat healthy and cut calories, but still can’t lose weight. Most women who struggle relentlessly with their weight are dealing with a systemic imbalance that blocks weight loss physiologically. Your body can block it’s own weight loss from happening.

Leptin is a weight loss hormone secreted by your fat cells. It is what tells you that you are full. (It’s opposite hormone is called ghrelin, which tells you you’re hungry. You can remember this because the word ghrelin sounds like a stomach growling.) Because leptin is secreted by fat cells, you produce more leptin as your weight increases. Ideally as you gain weight, the increasing leptin will tell you, “Stop eating! We don’t need to store, we need to burn!”

The good news is we all have leptin. The bad news is your body needs to listen to it or it wont help you stay at a healthy weight. Here is some advice to help increase your weight loss hormones and lose weight.


Do

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  • cut out added sugar
  • cut out grains
  • eat meat
  • know that sleep is critical
  • exercise
Don't

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  • forget that stress equals weight gain
  • over exercise
  • yo-yo diet
  • eat processed foods
  • drink out of plastic water bottles

[publishpress_authors_data]'s recommendation to ExpertBeacon readers: Do

Do cut out added sugar

Eating sugar is what makes people gain weight. Read labels. If you see any words ending in “-ose” (sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, etc), anything ending in “syrup” (especially high fructose corn syrup), cane juice or fruit concentrate, honey, agave or anything of the sort, do the best that you can to avoid it.

Do cut out grains

Grains turn to glucose the second they hit your saliva. They’re the same thing as sugar. Grains also contain Lectin that makes you leptin resistant. Cut out grains and opt for more healthier and nutritious substitutes, including quinoa, flax, buckwheat, and amaranth.

Do eat meat

Have some protein with every meal. This will slow the release of glucose into your bloodstream, helping to stabilize blood sugar and dampen the vicious insulin/leptin cycle.

Do know that sleep is critical

Get enough sleep. Sleep is so critical for metabolism (and health generally) that it deserves its own article. Getting enough sleep 8-10 hours a night will really help your brain heal so it can listen to the leptin.

Do exercise

If you are leptin resistant, you may not get great results with this at first. This is because when your body is in starvation mode, it’s hoarding: it refuses to burn its energy to feed your muscles even when they need it, and that means your muscles get fatigued faster. Start with resistance (weights) first, since weightlifting “turns on” metabolism by pumping out Growth Hormone (GH). You will begin to lose weight when you no longer feel like you’re always hungry, craving carbs, and exhausted – this means your metabolism has “turned back on.” That’s the time to add in cardio regularly.


[publishpress_authors_data]'s professional advice to ExpertBeacon readers: Don't

Do not forget that stress equals weight gain

Stress and anxiety, as mentioned above, increase cortisol, which is bad news for your adrenals as well as your weight. Cortisol is the stress hormone, and it’s what makes you gain the muffin top weight. Stress also makes your resistant to the hormones telling your body to speed up metabolism.

Do not over exercise

Yes, exercise is good, but if you over do it you will cause physical and mental stress on your body. If you are tired, it is sometimes better to sleep than it is to make your body work out.

Do not yo-yo diet

Being a yoyo dieter will cause your body to want to hold on to weight and make your brain stop listening to the leptin hormone. You see, when you go on a diet, your body isn't aware of your hopes for a slim, tight waistline or your desire to drop 20 lbs in time for your high school reunion or summer beach season. In fact, the only thing it does know is that your calorie intake is now below normal And to your brain, that's a big red flag. The result: reduced leptin levels and dramatically decreased fat burning.

In fact, research has shown that leptin levels drop by as much as 50% after just 7 days of dieting. That puts you at only 50% of your fat-burning potential just one week in to your fat loss plan, and it only gets worse with each passing day.

Do not eat processed foods

If you eat processed foods you are putting garbage in your body. Garbage in. Garbage out. You can't put water in your car’s gas tank and expect it to run correctly. Your body is the same way. You must put good fuel in to get good performance.

Do not drink out of plastic water bottles

Chemicals in plastic mess with our brain receptors. Your body makes an extremely important hormone called MSH. MSH is produced in the hypothalamus by Leptin, and it controls nerves, hormones, and skin defenses, as well as controls the production of endorphins happy hormones and melatonin. If your brain cannot hear leptin (leptin resistance) you will eventually become MSH deficient. And if you are MSH deficient you won't be happy and you won't be able to sleep because you wont have endorphins or melatonin. If that wasn't bad enough, that’s not all. The downward spiral leads to more. More diseases like depression, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia, just to name a few.


Summary

The best thing you can do to lose weight is to cut out processed foods, sugars and grains, workout regularly, and get the sleep you need. All of this will help boost leptin levels to help make you feel like you are fuller and lose weight quicker and easier. Heed this advice and start obtaining your weight loss goals.

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