You finally signed up for regular sessions at the gym, and have been consistently following every session and attempting every single move. You religiously obeyed the diet regimen to the last letter. Several days after you pull out your scale in anticipation. Huh? Why are the digits the same as what you weighed last? How could that be? Maybe the scale is broken. You try checking your weight with another scale, and aargh... the same digits pop up again. Blimey! Why is the number not dropping? With the way you've been working your arse off at the gym all week, why are you not losing weight?
In this article, you'll discover why you're not losing weight despite your weight loss efforts. You'll also learn easy and natural ways to lose weight faster and break the weight loss plateau. This is not about a fad diet, weight loss pill or rigorous exercises. This article is about using aromatherapy for weight loss.
Before we delve into how to use essential oils to aid weight loss, let's unravel the reasons why a person may not be losing weight regardless of how hard they've been trying.
Indeed, losing unwanted body fat and getting it to stay off just the way you want is not an easy process. It requires more than lifting heavy dumbbells, doing a thousand sit-ups or any HIIT. There's very little diet plans like intermittent fasting, Keto or Mediterranean diets can do when some other factors necessary for a successful weight loss process are not in place.
For you to naturally lose weight without surgery, your emotional, physical and mental state all have roles to play. For instance, if you're going through emotional stress or some internal changes in your body, the effects could hinder you from losing weight optimally.
7 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight
Here are some reasons you're not losing weight as you should.
1. You are not getting enough sleep
I guess you might have heard that sleeping too much makes you gain excess weight. True that. However, the reverse is not actually the case - sleeping too little won't make you lose weight. Not getting up to 5 hours of sleep at night can be the reason why your weight is increasing or refusing to drop.
Poor sleeping habits is listed as one the major risk factors for obesity. When you don't get enough sleep at night, it affects some hormones in your body, reduces your quality of life and makes you pile on extra weight. Lack of sleep makes your body release more of the stress hormone (cortisol), makes it less sensitive to insulin, causes the hunger hormone (ghrelin) to increase and reduces the hormone that tells your body you've had enough food. This puts you in a perpetual hungry mode, decreases the rate at which your body burns fat and at the same time makes your cells hoard excess sugar. All of these translate to more fat storage and increased weight for your body. Getting enough sleep daily can be the jinx you need to break that weight gain spell.
2. You don't eat well
Eating well isn't just about counting calories and not skipping meals. It also entails getting enough nutrients without eating more than you should, avoiding junk foods and not eating at the wrong time. For example, lentils are healthy foods but having a large quantity of beans for dinner can have your tummy heavily bloated by the next morning. Eating close to your bedtime makes you pack on more body fat. Likewise eating a large portion of food at a go.
3. You're stressed out
Stress is one of the main causes of weight gain. It can sabotage your weight loss plans. If you're struggling to lose weight you may want to check whether it is stress that's making it difficult for you to lose weight.
There are several ways stress can contribute to your weight not dropping. For one, stress pushes you to eat more, and you're more likely to binge on high-calorie treats when you're under stress. It could also make you turn to caffeine and alcohol for quick fixes. Both of these substances negatively affect your weight loss efforts and cause you to gain more weight.
In addition, elevated levels of stress hormone (cortisol) makes you crave more carbs and stimulates your body to store excess sugar.
4. Your thyroid Is underactive
Your thyroid is a small gland located at the base of your neck. It produces certain hormones that help to regulate how your body burns calories. It also controls some other processes inside your body. When your thyroid is underactive and doesn't function normally, processing the food you eat becomes difficult and you may find it hard to lose weight.
5. You're having issues with your insulin levels
The hormone, insulin, controls your blood sugar levels by regulating how your body absorbs sugar. Being resistant to insulin will make weight loss a big struggle because your blood sugar level is likely to be higher than normal. If you're on insulin medication you may be gaining more weight as high levels of insulin cause your body to hold on tenaciously to sugar.
6. You’re in your menopausal stage
Most women experience a difficulty in burning body fat as they approach menopause. This is not really surprising as the changes in hormone levels can trigger health challenges such as stress, changes in blood sugar levels, lack of sleep, mood swings, etc. These could contribute to your not losing weight.
7. You're not drinking enough water
Water keeps your body cells active and functioning properly. Your body system needs water to carry on its duties of using the sugar (the end product of every food you eat) to drive other body processes. If you don't drink enough plain water, your body may not be able to burn fat as it should.
Moreover, water has zero calories and so drinking enough of it keeps you full without adding to your weight. The fuller you feel, the less you eat.
Also, in addition to the above reasons, another challenge that could make your weight get stuck on a particular level is the dreaded weight loss plateau. Even though many people are not aware of this, there's actually such a thing as a weight loss plateau. This is when you've reached the peak of your weight loss. From that point, shedding weight becomes difficult. Your weight just stops changing, even though you may still be doing the same exercises and dieting that gave you positive results previously.
Getting stuck at a weight-loss plateau is an experience that most people trying to lose weight will experience at some point in their weight loss journey. This is due to your body adjusting to compensate for the lost weight - your metabolism begins to slow down to protect your body from losing too much weight. Hitting this plateau could also be a reason you're not losing weight.
Now let's see how aromatherapy can help you get that number on the scale to start dropping down fast.
Aromatherapy and Weight Loss
Aromatherapy involves using essential oils to treat diseases, promote your health and improve your wellness. It's a scientifically established fact that essential oils are very effective, and they can help you lose weight faster. Essential oils can help you gain less weight and lose body fat faster, and break a weight loss plateau.
Let me show you how essential oils aid weight loss and how you can use essential oils to lose weight if you're facing any of the weight loss hindrances we discussed above.
Best Essential Oils For Weight Loss
Essential oils have healing properties that could help you lose weight naturally. However, not all essential oils make you lose weight. There are some specific essential oils that possess weight loss-boosting properties. While some of them can help you burn fat, some help you shed extra kilos by improving your digestion, boosting your metabolism, relieving symptoms of stress and depression, making you sleep better, stopping you from feeling hungry, and thus make your weight loss efforts more productive.
Best Essential Oils For Improving Sleep
If lack of adequate sleep is jeopardizing your efforts at shedding weight, lavender oil is just what you need to help you sleep like a baby. Lavender, popularly called the queen of sleep, naturally promotes weight loss through its several therapeutic properties. Massage on a few drops to your temples or the nape of your neck when you're about to sleep. Or put a few drops in your diffuser, for a good night's rest.
Blend your lavender oil with cedarwood oil or bergamot oil for a deeply calming and peaceful sleep.
Best Essential Oils For Suppressing Food Cravings
The following essential oils will help you burn more calories by reducing your appetite and enhancing your body's use of stored fat.
These oils can also help to clean your digestive system, prevent bloated tummy and burn belly fat.
Best Essential Oils for Stress, Anxiety and Depression
A good number of essential oils have been shown to be good at reducing the symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress. Essential oils for preventing stress-induced weight gain include:
Lavender oil
Bergamot oil
Peppermint oil
Lemon oil
Grapefruit oil
Best Essential Oils For Improving a Aluggish Thyroid
If an underactive thyroid is making your metabolism sluggish and causing you to pile on weight, these essential oils can help to improve your condition.
Peppermint oil
Ginger oil
Lavender oil
Cedarwood o il
Diffuse one or a blend of these oils every night at bedtime.
Best Essential Oils For Controlling Blood Sugar/Insulin Levels
Even though essential oils may not reduce your blood sugar levels on their own, they facilitate your efforts at maintaining a healthy sugar level in your body. They do this by curbing your sugar cravings, enhancing your body metabolism and promoting weight loss.
Essential oils for controlling your blood sugar levels include:
Ginger oil
Peppermint oil
Grapefruit oil
Lavender oil
Rosemary oil
Lemon oil
Bergamot oil
Best Essential Oils for Supporting Reproductive Hormones During Menopause
Women who are not losing weight because of the effects of menopause can try these essential oils to balance their hormones and alleviate menopausal symptoms.
Lavender oil
Bergamot oil
Ylang Ylang oil
Blend the oils together for best results.
How to Use Essential Oils for Weight Loss
Essential oils for weight loss can be inhaled or applied topically. Your method of using the weight loss essential oils will depend on the type of oil and the result you want to achieve.
For topical application, dilute the essential oil in a carrier oil (*one drop of essential oil per teaspoon of carrier oil) and massage directly on your skin. The active chemicals in the essential oil seeps into your bloodstream through your skin to carry out the desired effect. You'll also achieve the same results when you add diluted oil (*3 - 6 drops of essential oil for every 15mL of carrier oil) to your bath water and soak in it for 20 - 30 minutes.
In the case of inhalation, place a few drops of the essential oil on a piece of cotton ball/fabric and inhale. Better still, make use of a diffuser for more effective and efficient results. Diffusers make inhaling essential oils easy and hassle-free. Just put a few drops of the essential oil into the diffuser, relax and inhale the mist of essential oil particles released into the atmosphere.
When you inhale essential oils, the molecules pass through your nasal passage into your body where they then suppress your appetite, increase the rate of your body's metabolism, lift your mood, help you sleep faster, etc.
So, there you have it. Essential oils can help you lose weight whether you're stuck at a particular weight or you're not losing as much kg as you'd like. These oils help you lose weight naturally by causing your body to burn fat quicker, improving your digestive health, curb your appetite, promote good sleep, counter stress and anxiety symptoms, regulate your blood sugar and so on.
