It’s quite frustrating when you are doing everything right, following all the golden rules to lose weight to the T, but the extra pounds just refuse to melt away! Hitting the gym with a vengeance will not be fruitful without straightening out underlying conditions because they might be the actual reasons why you are not losing any weight despite dieting and exercise. Calorie deficit is the key to unlock weight loss; however, in certain conditions, burning fat can be a bit more complicated than maintaining a deficit and burning calories through exercise. So, let’s find out what underlying causes make it extremely difficult to lose weight.

1. Insulin Resistance: Insulin, which is a blood sugar regulating hormone, also plays a huge role in fat metabolism. When we eat high-glycemic foods (sugar, refined carbs, etc), the level of blood glucose rises. When that happens, insulin is released by pancreas to regulate and bring down glucose levels and also to carry glucose into body cells to be used as an energy source. However, when there is high amount of glucose circulating in the bloodstream on a steady basis, after a point, body cells become less responsive to the efforts of insulin. When that happens, all extra circulating glucose is directed to be stored as body fat. If you are insulin resistant, it can prevent weight loss and encourage storage of body fat. In fact, high and frequent insulin secretion will block fat burning (aka lipolysis). Insulin resistance also ...