June 12, 2025 • 13 mins
Hi friends! I have a new podcast episode live and I’m so thrilled to share a solo episode with you all about a super common and often frustrating topic: Why it's hard to lose weight, even when you feel like you're doing all the things!
Here’s what we discuss:
- Why "calories in versus calories out" isn't the whole story when it comes to weight loss.
- The crucial role of mindset and stress in weight loss resistance, and how to calm your nervous system.
- Why under-eating might be tanking your metabolism, and how reverse dieting can help rebuild it.
- The impact of hormonal imbalances (estrogen, progesterone, thyroid) on your weight loss journey.
- The often-overlooked connection between gut health (parasites, Candida, SIBO) and inflammation/weight loss resistance.
- How over-exercising (especially too much HIIT and cardio without enough strength training) can backfire.
- The importance of mineral balance and how things like stress, caffeine, and sweating can deplete essential nutrients.
- The hidden impact of toxin load from our environment on hormones and metabolism, and gentle ways to support detox pathways.
- Why doing more isn't always the answer, and the importance of self-kindness, patience, and playing the long game for sustainable results.
- and so.much.more!
Partners:
Check out We Feed Raw! Maisey goes crazy for this! I use it as a topper for her kibble or mix it into her pup loaf. You can try the raw version, the raw dehydrated kibble, and they’ll help you customize a plan for your pup. Use FITNESSISTA40 for 40% off your Meal Plan Starter Box here!
The Lifewave X39 patches have been a gamechanger for my energy; the Pilot is obsessed, too! Check them out here.
Check out my new favorite red light device here, and use the code FITNESSISTA for a huge discount.
I’ve been using Nutrisense on and off for a couple of years now. I love being able to see how my blood sugar responds to my diet and habits, and run experiments. You can try out Nutrisense here
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey everyone, I hope you're having a great day.
I'm gonna pop in today with a solo episode.
We are about to head off on our trip and I'm super excited about it.
I also had this mole removed from my chin so the bandage looked worse.
So we're just gonna roll with it today.
But today I wanted to talk about a topic that I feel like it comes up all the time.
I hear about it all the time with clients and also on social media.
(00:24):
And that's why it's hard to lose weight even when you feel like you're doing all thethings.
So like I said, this is a super, super common theme.
So I wanted to dive into that today because a lot of people say it's just like calories inversus calories out.
And that is not the whole story.
That's not telling you everything you need to know.
So we're gonna talk into some factors that you might not be considering if you're dealingwith weight loss resistance and if that's one of your goals right now.
(00:50):
So the first one is mindset and stress.
So you cannot heal in a stressed out body.
Chronic stress can do so many things.
It elevates your cortisol.
It affects your blood sugar regulation.
It leads to fat storage in the body.
A lot of it comes from perfectionism too.
So, so many of us can get stuck in that all or nothing cycle, that binge restrict cycle.
(01:14):
I feel like that's super, super common as well.
So, really thinking about nervous system regulation.
So,
thinking about ways that you can calm yourself, adding in meditation, adding in hobbies,connection time with friends, things that make you feel good.
Something else that I see for women who are in this chronically stressed out state is thatthey're really pushing hard with their workouts.
(01:39):
So they're pushing really hard, also not feeling enough, and this is doing the exactopposite of what your body needs.
So a huge, huge...
factor when it comes to weight loss resistance is how much you're actually eating.
So, so many of the women that I see, they're not eating too much.
They're actually not eating enough.
(01:59):
So, under eating is one of the best ways to completely tank your metabolism.
So, you have something called your metabolic baseline and that's how much your body willburn at rest throughout the day.
So,
If you are consistently burning a really high amount of calories and not eating enough,it's gonna drop that metabolic baseline.
So that's why you might be able to cut yourself to a certain amount of weight.
(02:22):
And then you go back to your normal patterns, your normal habits.
And then after a certain amount of point, you're like, okay, I'm gonna try to do thatagain.
You go back down to that same caloric intake.
but it doesn't work anymore.
And that's because that metabolic baseline is dropped.
So your body's trying to preserve itself.
It's gonna do anything it can to survive.
It's going into survival mode.
uh I also see chronic under eating with women who do things like intermittent fasting.
(02:46):
I think that that's a great way to ensure you're not getting enough calories throughoutthe day.
Super low carb diets, skipping meals, which is really common when you're juggling a lot,especially when it comes to work and kids.
So I really like to work with clients on rebuilding their metabolism.
So usually this involves reverse dieting.
So we will start with wherever they are for their current baseline and we'll add oncalories really slowly, really strategically.
(03:12):
And the idea is to add in the calories so that you're not gaining weight during thisprocess.
So it's a slow process.
It takes a little while, but we're increasing that metabolic baseline so that when we dohead into a cut.
they're actually eating more than they were when they first came to me, but they're ableto lose weight.
So reverse dieting is a great way to break a weight loss plateau, especially if you feellike you're already eating a really low amount.
(03:35):
So that's something to definitely keep in mind.
The next thing is I really think it's important to think about hormones.
I think a lot of the times we blame things on hormones that might not necessarily becorrelated.
with hormones, but as women, they're changing, especially as we head into our 30s and 40s,50s.
(03:56):
Estrogen imbalances are huge, progesterone, thyroid function, these things can make weightloss very, very difficult.
They can lead to symptoms like PMS, fatigue, hair loss, mood swings.
These are all signs that there's something deeper in the body going on.
So if you're dealing with weight loss resistance, it's important to consider hormonesbecause
(04:17):
something else might be happening underneath.
So it's always good to look for root causes.
I love to do functional labs.
So the HTMA is a really nice one just to see your mineral status, any toxic heavy metalexposure, electrolytes.
It's a really nice foundational lab just to kind of see where things are.
It also gives us insights into your oxidation.
(04:38):
So how quickly you're able to convert food into energy.
Usually children, they're fast oxidizers.
They burn through their food really quickly.
And then as we get older, most adults are slow oxidizers.
So it takes them a little bit longer to convert food into energy.
So for that, we typically recommend three rounded, nice whole macro based meals.
(05:00):
And I think that that's a really good starting point.
And that's a great starter lab.
I also like the Candida metabolic and vitamins test.
That's going to look at gut health.
Gut health obviously impacts our hormones.
So what's going on in the gut, also nutrient deficiencies.
And also I like to test hormones to see what's going on there, especially with all the sexhormones.
So estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, also looking at your A1C and thyroid, thatis a huge one as well.
(05:28):
So it might not just be a calories versus calories in versus calories out kind of thing.
We might just need to support hormones, which we can do through diet, lifestyle, alsosmart supplements.
That's also a really good option.
So I mentioned gut health.
If gut health is not ideal, what happens is you're having poor digestion, which affectshow we absorb our nutrients.
(05:53):
You're having nutrient malabsorption, low energy cravings, increased inflammation.
You might be experiencing things like bloating, constipation, gas, or just not having gooddigestion after meals.
So things that might be happening under the surface can be things like parasites.
We've talked about that on the podcast quite a few times.
Candida, SIBO, these can all be underlying contributors to inflammation and also weightloss resistance.
(06:21):
As far as exercise goes, I think it's easy to think that you're not doing enough, but likeI said, just with the diet thing, like lots of go-getters out there just going extra,
doing a lot, going really hard at the gym, really, really stringent with their dietaryroutines and exercising is a big one.
So too much high intensity interval training,
(06:43):
Cardio, especially if you're not doing enough strength training, this can all backfire.
If you're not recovering from your workouts, this can also backfire.
You might feel those overtraining symptoms.
So your heart rate can be elevated.
You just feel inflamed and puffy and cortisol stays elevated.
So you feel really stressed.
So something that might help with this is just to shift your focus more to strengthtraining.
(07:08):
walking, more restorative type movements.
So yoga and Pilates are huge if, especially if you're in a healing phase right now.
So if you're dealing with any autoimmune symptoms, hormonal imbalances, any personalissues, so dealing with grief or just a really busy, difficult season, exercise is
(07:29):
amazing.
It's also a stressor on the body.
Just like any other type of stress, too much stress can tip over that stress bucket andlead to symptoms.
So I like to think about how full is your stress bucket right now?
Is the high intensity interval training going to tip it over?
Are you doing too much?
Is it time to scale it back?
Anything you can do just to reduce the stressors in your life is going to be huge.
(07:52):
When your body feels calm and it's more in that parasympathetic state, it can releaseexcess weight.
But if it doesn't feel safe, it's not able to do that.
I talked about the HTMA already.
Mineral imbalances can really affect energy cravings, metabolism.
HTMA is one of my favorite ways just to see where you might be depleted and then how wecan bring the body back into balance.
(08:18):
Even my friends out there who are super clean eaters, they're also often mineral deficientfrom stress, caffeine.
Also, if you're sweating a lot and you're really active, you just need to replenish thosenutrients.
So I love testing for that one.
Another one to consider is toxin load.
Toxins are everywhere in our environment.
(08:39):
They're hidden in food, water, makeup, personal care products, cleaning products.
These things can all impact our hormones, which affect our metabolism as well.
So detox pathways might just get a little sluggish, especially if you are postpartum.
and just recovering from that after pregnancies, years of being on birth control, this canalso affect detox pathways too.
(09:03):
So I really like to support them gently.
So things through sweating, sauna, I love my sauna blanket, binders can really help liversupport, dry brushing, rebounding, castor oil packs, this can just help to support the
body so it's able to release those stored contents.
(09:23):
toxins and also excess weight that you're working to get rid of.
So I think that the biggest thing I just want to remind my friends out there today withtoday's episode is that it's not always just about doing more.
I think that it's easy to get stuck in that trap where you just feel like you're not doingenough and you're just trying to fight your way into things and weight loss is a huge one.
(09:45):
So it often backfires in this situation.
So just trying to show yourself
kindness and gentleness and patience because I like to play the long game.
I'm sure you guys do too.
I know that you want to do it the smart way, the sustainable way so that you can maintainyour results over time.
And another thing too is women, we just need to remember you don't have to earn your rest.
(10:09):
You don't have to earn the right to recover from your workouts or fuel yourself properly.
Just really listen to your body.
support the foundations and just stick with that long game because it's really what'sgoing to pay off in the long haul when you're able to maintain those results.
So of course I'm here.
If you have any questions, I hope that you got some takeaways from this episode.
(10:32):
Please share on social media or wherever you're listening today.
And also if you're interested in any testing, you can always reach out to me.
My email is Gina at fitnessista.com.
and just put in the subject line testing and I would love to work together on some testingoptions but sending you lots of good vibes on your health journeys because I know we're
(10:53):
all at different pieces of those health journeys and thank you so much for listeningtoday.
I'll see you later, bye.
Hey everyone, I hope you're having a great day.
I'm gonna pop in today with a solo episode.
We are about to head off on our trip and I'm super excited about it.
I also had this mole removed from my chin so the bandage looked worse.
So we're just gonna roll with it today.
But today I wanted to talk about a topic that I feel like it comes up all the time.
I hear about it all the time with clients and also on social media.
(00:24):
And that's why it's hard to lose weight even when you feel like you're doing all thethings.
So like I said, this is a super, super common theme.
So I wanted to dive into that today because a lot of people say it's just like calories inversus calories out.
And that is not the whole story.
That's not telling you everything you need to know.
So we're gonna talk into some factors that you might not be considering if you're dealingwith weight loss resistance and if that's one of your goals right now.
(00:50):
So the first one is mindset and stress.
So you cannot heal in a stressed out body.
Chronic stress can do so many things.
It elevates your cortisol.
It affects your blood sugar regulation.
It leads to fat storage in the body.
A lot of it comes from perfectionism too.
So, so many of us can get stuck in that all or nothing cycle, that binge restrict cycle.
(01:14):
I feel like that's super, super common as well.
So, really thinking about nervous system regulation.
So,
thinking about ways that you can calm yourself, adding in meditation, adding in hobbies,connection time with friends, things that make you feel good.
Something else that I see for women who are in this chronically stressed out state is thatthey're really pushing hard with their workouts.
(01:39):
So they're pushing really hard, also not feeling enough, and this is doing the exactopposite of what your body needs.
So a huge, huge...
factor when it comes to weight loss resistance is how much you're actually eating.
So, so many of the women that I see, they're not eating too much.
They're actually not eating enough.
(01:59):
So, under eating is one of the best ways to completely tank your metabolism.
So, you have something called your metabolic baseline and that's how much your body willburn at rest throughout the day.
So,
If you are consistently burning a really high amount of calories and not eating enough,it's gonna drop that metabolic baseline.
So that's why you might be able to cut yourself to a certain amount of weight.
(02:22):
And then you go back to your normal patterns, your normal habits.
And then after a certain amount of point, you're like, okay, I'm gonna try to do thatagain.
You go back down to that same caloric intake.
but it doesn't work anymore.
And that's because that metabolic baseline is dropped.
So your body's trying to preserve itself.
It's gonna do anything it can to survive.
It's going into survival mode.
uh I also see chronic under eating with women who do things like intermittent fasting.
(02:46):
I think that that's a great way to ensure you're not getting enough calories throughoutthe day.
Super low carb diets, skipping meals, which is really common when you're juggling a lot,especially when it comes to work and kids.
So I really like to work with clients on rebuilding their metabolism.
So usually this involves reverse dieting.
So we will start with wherever they are for their current baseline and we'll add oncalories really slowly, really strategically.
(03:12):
And the idea is to add in the calories so that you're not gaining weight during thisprocess.
So it's a slow process.
It takes a little while, but we're increasing that metabolic baseline so that when we dohead into a cut.
they're actually eating more than they were when they first came to me, but they're ableto lose weight.
So reverse dieting is a great way to break a weight loss plateau, especially if you feellike you're already eating a really low amount.
(03:35):
So that's something to definitely keep in mind.
The next thing is I really think it's important to think about hormones.
I think a lot of the times we blame things on hormones that might not necessarily becorrelated.
with hormones, but as women, they're changing, especially as we head into our 30s and 40s,50s.
(03:56):
Estrogen imbalances are huge, progesterone, thyroid function, these things can make weightloss very, very difficult.
They can lead to symptoms like PMS, fatigue, hair loss, mood swings.
These are all signs that there's something deeper in the body going on.
So if you're dealing with weight loss resistance, it's important to consider hormonesbecause
(04:17):
something else might be happening underneath.
So it's always good to look for root causes.
I love to do functional labs.
So the HTMA is a really nice one just to see your mineral status, any toxic heavy metalexposure, electrolytes.
It's a really nice foundational lab just to kind of see where things are.
It also gives us insights into your oxidation.
(04:38):
So how quickly you're able to convert food into energy.
Usually children, they're fast oxidizers.
They burn through their food really quickly.
And then as we get older, most adults are slow oxidizers.
So it takes them a little bit longer to convert food into energy.
So for that, we typically recommend three rounded, nice whole macro based meals.
(05:00):
And I think that that's a really good starting point.
And that's a great starter lab.
I also like the Candida metabolic and vitamins test.
That's going to look at gut health.
Gut health obviously impacts our hormones.
So what's going on in the gut, also nutrient deficiencies.
And also I like to test hormones to see what's going on there, especially with all the sexhormones.
So estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, also looking at your A1C and thyroid, thatis a huge one as well.
(05:28):
So it might not just be a calories versus calories in versus calories out kind of thing.
We might just need to support hormones, which we can do through diet, lifestyle, alsosmart supplements.
That's also a really good option.
So I mentioned gut health.
If gut health is not ideal, what happens is you're having poor digestion, which affectshow we absorb our nutrients.
(05:53):
You're having nutrient malabsorption, low energy cravings, increased inflammation.
You might be experiencing things like bloating, constipation, gas, or just not having gooddigestion after meals.
So things that might be happening under the surface can be things like parasites.
We've talked about that on the podcast quite a few times.
Candida, SIBO, these can all be underlying contributors to inflammation and also weightloss resistance.
(06:21):
As far as exercise goes, I think it's easy to think that you're not doing enough, but likeI said, just with the diet thing, like lots of go-getters out there just going extra,
doing a lot, going really hard at the gym, really, really stringent with their dietaryroutines and exercising is a big one.
So too much high intensity interval training,
(06:43):
Cardio, especially if you're not doing enough strength training, this can all backfire.
If you're not recovering from your workouts, this can also backfire.
You might feel those overtraining symptoms.
So your heart rate can be elevated.
You just feel inflamed and puffy and cortisol stays elevated.
So you feel really stressed.
So something that might help with this is just to shift your focus more to strengthtraining.
(07:08):
walking, more restorative type movements.
So yoga and Pilates are huge if, especially if you're in a healing phase right now.
So if you're dealing with any autoimmune symptoms, hormonal imbalances, any personalissues, so dealing with grief or just a really busy, difficult season, exercise is
(07:29):
amazing.
It's also a stressor on the body.
Just like any other type of stress, too much stress can tip over that stress bucket andlead to symptoms.
So I like to think about how full is your stress bucket right now?
Is the high intensity interval training going to tip it over?
Are you doing too much?
Is it time to scale it back?
Anything you can do just to reduce the stressors in your life is going to be huge.
(07:52):
When your body feels calm and it's more in that parasympathetic state, it can releaseexcess weight.
But if it doesn't feel safe, it's not able to do that.
I talked about the HTMA already.
Mineral imbalances can really affect energy cravings, metabolism.
HTMA is one of my favorite ways just to see where you might be depleted and then how wecan bring the body back into balance.
(08:18):
Even my friends out there who are super clean eaters, they're also often mineral deficientfrom stress, caffeine.
Also, if you're sweating a lot and you're really active, you just need to replenish thosenutrients.
So I love testing for that one.
Another one to consider is toxin load.
Toxins are everywhere in our environment.
(08:39):
They're hidden in food, water, makeup, personal care products, cleaning products.
These things can all impact our hormones, which affect our metabolism as well.
So detox pathways might just get a little sluggish, especially if you are postpartum.
and just recovering from that after pregnancies, years of being on birth control, this canalso affect detox pathways too.
(09:03):
So I really like to support them gently.
So things through sweating, sauna, I love my sauna blanket, binders can really help liversupport, dry brushing, rebounding, castor oil packs, this can just help to support the
body so it's able to release those stored contents.
(09:23):
toxins and also excess weight that you're working to get rid of.
So I think that the biggest thing I just want to remind my friends out there today withtoday's episode is that it's not always just about doing more.
I think that it's easy to get stuck in that trap where you just feel like you're not doingenough and you're just trying to fight your way into things and weight loss is a huge one.
(09:45):
So it often backfires in this situation.
So just trying to show yourself
kindness and gentleness and patience because I like to play the long game.
I'm sure you guys do too.
I know that you want to do it the smart way, the sustainable way so that you can maintainyour results over time.
And another thing too is women, we just need to remember you don't have to earn your rest.
(10:09):
You don't have to earn the right to recover from your workouts or fuel yourself properly.
Just really listen to your body.
support the foundations and just stick with that long game because it's really what'sgoing to pay off in the long haul when you're able to maintain those results.
So of course I'm here.
If you have any questions, I hope that you got some takeaways from this episode.
(10:32):
Please share on social media or wherever you're listening today.
And also if you're interested in any testing, you can always reach out to me.
My email is Gina at fitnessista.com.
and just put in the subject line testing and I would love to work together on some testingoptions but sending you lots of good vibes on your health journeys because I know we're
(10:53):
all at different pieces of those health journeys and thank you so much for listeningtoday.
I'll see you later, bye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.