black table with eggs, meats, cheeses and vegetables on it.

The keto diet has been brought to the forefront of people’s awareness when considering ‘diets for weight loss’. Every January, millions of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, often tackling past goals with renewed enthusiasm. Without surprise, one of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight or get into shape. In fact, each year, an estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet, yet, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention):

  • 71.6% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight, (2015-2016)
  • 39.8% of adults aged 20 and over are obese: (2015-2016)

If traditional diet and exercise plans aren’t working for you, you’re not alone

Time and time again, women walk through the doors of our center searching for answers. Many of them have tried every diet plan out there, but the weight doesn’t budge. They try eating less, swear off carbs, or spend hours in the gym and yet, nothing is working. They are stressed out, burnt out, and feeling defeated. What’s worse, many of these women are suffering from issues that go way beyond their weight loss struggles. They aren’t sleeping well, their moods are all over the place, their focus is cloudy, and they don’t understand why.

It’s Not You. It’s Your Hormones!

Your hormones impact everything in your body, including your weight. Hormones send signals to your body, telling it what to do and how to function. Every aspect of your metabolism is regulated by hormones. When it comes to your weight, no matter how much you exercise or what you eat, if your hormones are out of balance, losing weight will be a struggle even when following the popular Ketogenic (Keto) diet.

What Is The Keto Diet?

A keto diet is made up of mostly fats, some protein, and a minimal amount of carbohydrates. This way of eating can put your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When in ketosis, your body uses its fat and ketones rather than glucose (sugar from the foods you eat) as its primary fuel source. Ketosis is a very efficient way for the body to function. The heart, kidneys, and other organs prefer ketone bodies over glucose to perform. However, not all Keto diets are created equal.

The Keto diet has gained enormous popularity in the last few years. But truth be told, this type of eating has been around for years. In the past, doctors used ketogenic diets to treat many diseases, such as diabetes. In the 1930s, however, drug companies began to create synthetic drugs to treat these conditions and moved away from the more natural approach of the ketogenic diet. 

Why Doesn’t the Keto Diet Work for Some People?

The answer is STRESS, which contributes to imbalanced hormones.

Tired woman tries to workSimply put, stress affects your hormones, and hormones control your weight. So, if your hormones are out of balance – mainly progesterone, estrogen, cortisol, and insulin – losing weight will be nearly impossible even when following a traditional keto (or low carb, or low calorie) diet.

In times of stress, the hormone cortisol is released, increasing your heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar (even without eating any sugar), respiration, and muscle tension in response. When cortisol is produced, it also temporarily shuts down certain functions in your body that it considers unnecessary like digestion and reproduction.

Ideally, when a stressful situation is over, your bodily functions will go back to normal. Unfortunately, most Americans are under constant stress. Stress from work, your commute, artificial light, caffeine, alcohol, raising kids, financial responsibilities, toxins in our water supply and household products, inadequate nutrition, lack of sleep, and even intense exercise. Your body looks at every type of stress the same way and is trying to protect you. 

The result? Cortisol is being continuously produced, and your body simply can’t keep up.

Since your body cannot keep up with the demand for cortisol, it steals valuable progesterone and converts it to cortisol. When progesterone lowers, it creates an imbalance between progesterone and estrogen, resulting in issues with your weight, as well as your mood, sleep, energy, and female health. When ovulation ceases (menopause), this imbalance increases because progesterone is produced during ovulation. Worsening symptoms and new symptoms such as night sweats, hot flashes, and a lowered libido often occur.

If a woman is estrogen dominant, the extra estrogen in her bloodstream, not balanced by progesterone, will then stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin even without eating any sugar or carbohydrates!

When insulin is in the bloodstream, it is nearly impossible to get into ketosis, making it difficult, if not impossible, for your body to burn fat efficiently, regardless of what you eat. This is because insulin is a fat-storing hormone. It’s trying to keep you alive but is sabotaging your weight loss goals.

And here are a few other reasons why the Keto diet doesn’t always work

It’s Unsustainable

Woman diets and rejects donutKeto diets have a gnarly flaw, and that’s their lack of sustainability. You can go full-on low-carb and high-fat, but then it becomes a real struggle to keep it up long-term. This is because keto diets often require a major overhaul of your eating habits and can be super restrictive, making it a real challenge to stick with the program for a while. And when you give up on the diet, guess what happens? You regain the weight you lost, which can be really disheartening. 

 

Difficult To Customize

One of the major concerns associated with keto diets is their difficulty in customization to fit individual needs. The diet is based on a high consumption of fats and proteins with a limited intake of carbohydrates. However, the specific ratios required for optimal results can vary widely, and finding the right balance can be challenging. Additionally, some individuals may experience undesirable side effects, such as fatigue, brain fog, or digestive issues, which can hinder adherence to the diet plan. Therefore, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional to determine the optimal macronutrient balance for your unique needs and to monitor any potential side effects to ensure a safe and effective keto diet plan.

 

Risk Of Nutrient Deficiencies 

The ketogenic diet, with its strict limitation on carbohydrate intake, has been associated with a plethora of potential health risks. One such issue that merits scrutiny is the possibility of nutrient deficiencies. Given that adherents of this diet eschew many fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-rich foods that provide the body with essential vitamins and minerals, there is a risk of developing deficits in key nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, and potassium. Moreover, the perils of consuming keto-friendly foods such as processed meats and dairy products should not be overlooked, given their propensity to be rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, both of which have been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease and a panoply of other deleterious health outcomes.

 

Saturated Fat Intake

While this macronutrient is undoubtedly critical to the regimen, it’s worth bearing in mind that the source of the fat is just as important as the quantity. Relying on processed meats and dairy products as primary sources of saturated fat is ill-advised. Instead, selecting healthier alternatives like nuts, seeds, and avocados is crucial in mitigating the detrimental health effects that can arise from high saturated fat intake. After all, such consumption has been shown to increase cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease, among other health problems. 

How the BeBalanced approach to weight loss is different from traditional dieting

The BeBalanced program is a comprehensive 14-week program that is not just a diet but a complete lifestyle change.

It begins with a fat-burning phase that puts your body into a ketogenic state that is more efficient than that of traditional ketogenic diets. Since no dietary fat is taken in during this portion of our program, all of the fat needed for energy is taken from your own body fat. In other words, the body uses up the fat for fuel as quickly as it breaks it down. 

We also provide supplementation your body needs to balance hormones naturally through liver support, enhanced gut health, natural plant-based progesterone, and ingredients for adrenal support and better stress response.

Unlike traditional keto diets that often include unhealthy fats and processed foods, lacking in fiber and nutrients the body needs, our program consists of a nutrient-dense, whole foods diet in a specific combination. Our program helps the body detoxify, improves digestion, and reduces inflammation. After the first 28 days of weight loss, we begin to slowly and precisely add in new food groups, balancing out your nutrition and increasing ongoing success.

We also include relaxation techniques and one-on-one guided support to help you not only lose weight but also balance your hormones naturally, helping you keep the weight off long-term. When hormones are balanced, you will see improvement in your sleep, mood, energy levels, and more!

Keto diet vs BeBalanced approach
How the BeBalanced Approach to Weight Loss Differs from Traditional Keto Diets.

Could your hormones be holding you back from your weight loss goals?

If you have tried diet and exercise plans but are not seeing results, hormones could be to blame. To find out if your hormones could be holding you back from your weight loss goals, click here to take a FREE Wellness Quiz.

Our Promise:

We believe in a balanced way to lose weight and keep the weight off. We know that most of the diets or weight loss programs that you have tried in the past don’t work. Unavoidable stress, enormous food cravings, friends that visit you with a bottle of wine, those fresh baked goods you see in the store window, emotional triggers, lack of sleep, food sensitivities, poor gut health, inflammation, and more all affect your weight loss journey. Don’t blame yourself! Blame your hormones!

If you’re ready to learn more, schedule a free consultation with one of our compassionate BeBalancing Specialists. 

– Be well!