There are people who have struggled with weight loss who experience reduced mobility due to health issues - those who want to be active and can't - and there are those without mobility issues - who can exercise but don't. These are the two types of people we are discussing here, but it's important to also note that there could be other medical conditions affecting a person's ability to lose weight.
Some people have reduced mobility or reduced activity levels because of underlying health conditions. Perhaps you can relate. Fundamentally, weight loss is a combination of two things: diet and exercise. People with reduced mobility and reduced activity due to a health issue will struggle to burn the calories needed to lose weight.
You may desire to stay active, but due to activity constrictions you simply cannot. Consequently, if you have limited mobility, it can be nearly impossible to lose weight simply by limiting your food intake. Some of the most common medical reasons for reduced mobility and therefore an inability to lose weight include the following conditions:
If you find yourself falling into this category and know that your weight gain and inability to lose is likely the result of reduced mobility or limited activity, your goal should be to get treatment to increase your activity level in some way. This can include thinking outside the box of the standard exercise regimen and considering ways to get more active while keeping your body safe. Consider lifting light weights, doing low-impact activities like swimming in an exercise pool, or taking up walking. Many people underestimate the impact adding a daily walk can have on their life. Keep your mind open to increasing your activity in different ways than more traditional offerings.
It’s important to note that therapy is directed towards symptoms in most cases, not physical activity. However, your goal is to increase your ability to be active. Modern medicine focuses on treating symptoms, which admittedly might not be your main goal or what’s most important to you. Therefore, your ultimate goal should be improving your overall activity level and your health instead of focusing solely on the symptoms of your condition.
The second most common category that characterizes people who tend to struggle with weight loss is those who do not currently have activity or mobility issues but still are experiencing a reduction in activity. The solution lies in understanding the reason behind the reduced activity, where for whatever reason, you aren't as active as you used to be. Consider the following factors that could be behind your lack of activity when a mobility issue isn’t part of the problem:
Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by fat cells. Its function is to increase activity and metabolism and decrease hunger. But with obesity, your body becomes less sensitive to leptin. Your metabolism doesn't rise, your activity doesn’t increase, and your appetite isn’t suppressed as readily. What that means is you must make a conscious effort to burn more calories.
The way to address this issue begins by determining the reason behind your lack of activity. When evaluating yourself, you might need to reach out to others to get a good idea of what is really going on. Ask your family and friends - people you know will be honest with you - if you fit into the above categories. Ask them if they have noticed a decline in your activity level and find out how you are doing now compared to where you were in years past. In many cases, the changes that take place in our habits are so gradual we don’t even notice them, but others around us might.
Another culprit many people blame for a reduction in activity or a mobility issue is the inevitability of just getting older. It's important to find out if your current struggle with reduced activity is a function of age or of an underlying medical condition. When determining whether your lack of movement is simply part of the natural aging process or you have an issue, ask yourself the following questions:
If you are active and still can’t lose weight, then it’s time to consider the role food plays in your lack of weight loss. Ingesting too many calories is typically the result of partaking in too much alcohol or carbs. Alcohol has hidden calories and is also an appetite stimulant. Carbs are naturally addictive. Therefore, people who eat lots of carbs tend to eat more than their bodies can process, which leads to weight gain and an inability to lose weight. It's best to minimize carbs and alcohol in your diet. Low-carb diets are best.
It’s important to realize there could be a very real and medical reason behind why you find yourself unable to do as much as you once did and subsequently unable to get those extra pounds. Many people don’t realize that a vein condition could be one of these contributing factors.
To determine if this might be happening in your case, ask yourself if your legs hurt. Are they swollen at the end of the day? Do you want to keep up with your family and friends when engaging in activities, but you just can’t? Do you need to sit down and rest, especially in the evenings and at night?
It’s important to note that you might not always see visible leg veins with this condition, which will cause many people to assume they don’t have a vein issue. With a vein condition, some people will have visible leg veins, others will not.
One easy way to improve your weight loss situation is to increase activity by optimizing your vein circulation. Vein treatments work. There is no downtime after treatment, and most people say they feel better afterward and have more energy than they have had in years.
The first step towards solving your problem with weight loss is understanding why you can’t lose weight. Is there an underlying medical condition or is it something else? Once you know this, you can begin taking the appropriate steps toward making positive changes.