Navigating Weight Shifts: How Healing Impacts Weight Loss and Gain
Navigating Weight Shifts: How Healing Impacts Weight
Women often assume that as soon as they start making changes to their diet and lifestyle that they should start seeing positive shifts with weight loss and body composition. The reality is that it's not uncommon for women we work with to experience weight loss resistance or even some weight gain initially when they start making positive diet and lifestyle changes on their healing journey.
Shifts with weight on a healing journey can be a super normal and necessary part of a healing journey, which is why it's so important to understand the nuances when it comes to weight and healing.
Whether you’re making positive nutrition changes, focusing on better sleep, incorporating exercise, or working to manage stress, the body’s response to these changes can sometimes surprise us. Instead of shedding weight immediately, some women will notice weight loss resistance—or even weight gain—despite doing “all the right things.” So, what’s happening?
Why the Body Holds On
Weight and weight loss is a lot more nuanced than the over-simplistic "calories in vs calories out" approach that we've been taught. For women, in particular, sex hormones, stress hormones, blood sugar balance, gut health and nutrient intake are just a few of the key players involved with how we manage weight.
Our bodies are hardwired to protect us. In order to have a healthy metabolism and to be able to support shifts with body composition or to build lean muscle, the body has to feel safe. If the body doesn't feel safe, one of the primary ways that it adapts and responds to protect us is by conserving resources and slowing things down (aka our metabolism becomes sluggish). This is one reason why many modern diet trends like 1200 calorie diets, intermittent fasting, and chronic low-carb approaches don’t lead to lasting results. In fact, these are often the exact approaches that disrupt our body's sense of safety, leading to weight loss resistance.
When the body senses scarcity (from things like under-eating or over-exercising), it adapts by holding onto more fat/adipose tissue and prioritizes its resources towards vital functions. This reaction is a natural survival mechanism; historically, our bodies needed to conserve energy in times of famine. However, in today’s world, constant dieting can send the body the wrong signals, leading to a sluggish metabolism and weight gain.
We work with so many women that have been intentionally or often unintentionally under-eating, over-exercising, and chronically disrupting their body's lack of safety by engaging in popular diet trends. Stress from chronic dieting causes the down regulation of thyroid, sex, and leptin hormones. This drives metabolic adaption leading to a decrease in the thermic effect of food (energy expended to breakdown food), non-exercise activity thermogenesis (energy expended by non-structured movement), and your basal metabolic rate (energy burned at rest).
The Importance of Healing
Supporting a healthy, robust metabolism and achieving sustainable shifts with weight involves supporting the body to a place of safety and focusing on patience and consistency. If you've been low grade under-eating or putting a lot of stress on your body, when you start introducing positive changes—like eating enough, balancing blood sugar, reducing stress, and focusing on nutrient-dense foods—it takes time for the body to feel safe again. During this recalibration period, some women may experience temporary weight gain as part of the process (we refer to this as "safety weight"). This is a sign that the body is working on rebalancing itself!
Signs Your Metabolism Is Healing
Instead of focusing solely on the number on the scale, look at other indicators of progress. Here are some key signs of a healthy metabolism:
Consistent hunger cues throughout the day
1-3 daily bowel movements
Stable energy levels all day long
Restful sleep and waking up refreshed
Clear skin and strong nails
Regular, symptom-free menstrual cycles
Balanced moods and a healthy libido
Healthy basal body temps
Your periods are regular and involve minimal symptoms
Moving Away from Diet Culture
Many women find themselves stuck in patterns of chronic dieting or jumping from one fad diet to the next, hoping to achieve quick results. However, these approaches often come at the expense of health and hormones, leading to more stress on the body, hormonal imbalances, and eventual weight regain.
Crash dieting, for example, may initially cause rapid weight loss, but this often includes the loss of lean muscle. Since lean muscle is critical for metabolism, losing it can slow down weight loss progress in the long run. The body adapts by lowering its metabolic rate, making it harder to maintain or lose weight in the future.
The Concept of Safety Weight
For some women, the initial healing process may involve gaining some weight before the body feels safe enough to release it. This can be frustrating and might even make us question if we're on the right path, but it’s important to understand that weight gain is a normal, healthy response when coming from years of under-fueling, over-exercising, or stress.
Once the body feels consistently safe—you will start to experience shifts with weight and your body will respond positively to strategies geared towards building lean muscle and fat loss. Focusing on foundational health practices first and foremost will provide long-term results that are sustainable and supportive. This means consistently eating enough, balancing blood sugar, 7-9 hours of sleep, and daily stress management.
Sustainable Weight Loss
If your body consistently feels safe and you're experiencing the signs/signals above of a healthy metabolism, below are some strategies to dial in to support fat loss.
Balanced Blood Sugar: Eat regular meals every 3-4 hours with adequate protein and carbs to support stable energy. Stable blood sugar leads to less inflammation, healthy thyroid function, and balanced stress hormones - all of which are essential for sustainable weight loss.
Whole Foods: Focus on eating primarily whole foods that are rich in nutrients - high quality animal proteins like eggs, beef and fish, starchy root veggies, whole grains, fruit, nuts, seeds, and non-starchy veggies.
Amp up protein: Aim for a minimum 100 grams protein daily and ideally 30+ grams protein at meals consistently. Protein supports stable blood sugar and satiety, healthy detoxification, and muscle protein synthesis.
Sleep: Prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep to help regulate hormones and to support a healthy metabolism.
Movement: Aim to incorporate daily walking and to break up sedentary time regularly throughout the day. Incorporate 3 days of strength training to support lean muscle mass and insulin sensitivity.
Stress Management: Incorporate nervous system support practices daily. Unaddressed stress and elevated cortisol will derail weight loss efforts 100% of the time. We cannot overlook this one!
Consider a slight short-term caloric deficit: Most women we work with experience positive shifts with weight and body composition over time from focusing on everything mentioned above! If you've been super consistent and patient with supporting safety in the body and implementing the weight loss tools above, but you're not seeing shifts, a slight caloric deficit can be helpful short-term. Our preferred method of achieving this deficit is through increasing cardio/energy expenditure (ex: add in an additional longer walk or bike ride daily) Remember: We do NOT want to come in hot here and reverse the progress we've made by going too low calorie or disrupting the body's sense of safety!!
Reassessing the Scale
One last note: your relationship with the scale can often be more harmful than helpful. Rather than fixating on the numbers, which don’t account for fluctuations like water retention or muscle gain, pay attention to how you feel, your energy levels, digestion, mood, sleep and other markers of progress.
Consider your mindset and how you might be able to give yourself more grace and space to navigate shifts while healing. Can you take the pressure off yourself and fully lean into allowing your body to do it's thing while you heal?
Remember, healing takes time! If you’re working on balancing hormones, restoring your metabolism, and addressing stress, weight shifts will follow. Stick with it, trust the process, and always prioritize health over numbers.
In Summary
Navigating shifts in weight while healing is a multifaceted journey that requires patience, consistency, and a focus on overall well-being. It’s normal for the body to initially resist weight loss or even gain weight as it works to restore balance, especially after years of chronic dieting or stress. By supporting your metabolism through balanced meals, adequate sleep, proper movement, and stress management, you allow your body to feel safe enough to release weight naturally.
Healing is not a linear process, and we need to prioritize sustainability and long term health outcomes. Shifting your mindset from quick fixes to long-term health goals will help you build a strong foundation for lasting changes.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your healing journey, we invite you to work with our team of Functional Medicine Registered Dietitians. Our personalized approach focuses on restoring balance, supporting optimal health, and addressing the root causes of your symptoms so you can show up fully in life as the best version of yourself. Apply today to get started and to learn more about how we can support you on your health and healing journey.
