Resistance to insulin, leptin, or ghrelin can make it difficult to lose weight effectively, if at all. Insulin plays an important role in regulating your blood sugar, leptin in weight loss, and ghrelin in your hunger cues. In Part 8 of So Much More Than Weight Loss, I talk about these three resistances and how you can heal from them.

 

How to Decrease Your Leptin Resistance

1. Increasing your Basal Metabolic Rate
2. Having a specific and unique nutrition strategy that will work for you 
3. Do exercise that induces Post Exercise Oxygenation Consumption (like HIIT)

 

The Role of Insulin in Your Body

Insulin is responsible for keeping your blood levels regulated. Insulin resistance can happen in bodies that carry more weight, making it more difficult for your body to regulate its insulin levels. This can result in insulin spikes; what we eat and when we eat do matter.

There is a relationship between your insulin levels and fasting, too. There are times when fasting is a viable weight-loss method, but when you’re working out and doing strength training, you do need to eat more often. If you’re fasting, I believe getting as much protein as you need will be difficult. 

Your Basal Metabolic Rate can change quite a lot if you’re fasting – this is something you need to monitor closely. Your changing BMR might also contribute to insulin resistance, though this can happen in many circumstances.

 

The Problem with Leptin and Ghrelin Resistance

If you’ve dieted, especially yo-yo dieted, over the years and are now finding it difficult to lose weight, you might have leptin resistance. When you have leptin resistance, even if you’re doing all the right things to lose weight, your body no longer knows how to respond to your normal levels of leptin.

HIIT exercise can help to lower your leptin resistance. HIIT is also beneficial for ghrelin resistance, another hormone that impacts your ability to lose weight. It’s known as the hunger hormone and will often cause you to feel extremely hungry right before your body loses weight.

Do you know if your body has any of these three resistances? What are you doing to heal from them? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.

 

In This Episode 

• The role of insulin in your body [1:00]
• Why you have more of an insulin response when you eat carbs [4:30]
• How fasting impacts your body while exercising [7:30]
• What can happen to your Basal Metabolic Rate when you fast [10:00]
• When you might develop insulin resistance [11:00]
• The relationship between body fat levels and leptin [11:45]
• The benefits of HIIT exercise [15:00]
• What’s happening when you’re hungry while losing weight [18:00]
• How to get protein if you don’t eat meat [22:30]

 

Quotes

“If you’re exercising, you can’t get away with not timing your nutrition optimally. If you’re exercising and strength training, and you want to actually lose the body fat and maintain it, we have to keep your Basal Metabolic Rate up. This means we can’t allow you to lose body mass, which means you have to eat enough protein, and if you’re fasting, that window may be very difficult to get your protein in.” [9:04]

“Leptin resistance is probably the reason why you’re doing everything right if you’re not insulin resistant, and you’re not getting results. What happens is that if you’ve ever dieted, you have some type of degree of leptin resistance. Your body stops responding to your normal levels of leptin.” [13:17]

“If you’re really hungry while you’re losing weight or are about to, your ghrelin is increasing. Your body knows it before the scale shows it.” [17:59]

“No matter where you are, whatever you desire is available to you. The key is being aware of all these things so you can make sense of it for yourself and focus on what it is you want to focus on.” [21:46]

 

Resources

31 Days of FIT.  Learn more HERE.

Muscle Maintenance During Fat Loss. Waitlist HERE.

Fit Woman Collective™. Learn more HERE.

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Subscribe to The Muscles and Mindset Podcast on Apple Podcasts

*** Ali Novitsky MD, this podcast, and podcast write-up are NOT providing medical advice ***

 

Related Episodes 

Episode 137: So Much More Than Weight Loss Part 4

Episode 138: So Much More Than Weight Loss Part 5

Episode 136: So Much More Than Weight Loss (Part 3)