How to Lose Those Last 5 to 10 Pounds: Mystery Solved!

Are you a woman who eats right, exercises, and tries to do everything she can to maintain her health, but is unable to lose those last five to ten pounds? It can be frustrating to feel like you are doing all the right things yet not achieving the results you want. Before you throw up your hands and try the grapefruit diet or the latest celebrity cleanse, check the list below to see if perhaps the answer to your problems is simpler than you think.

1. You’re eating more than you think. Are you eating till you’re full, instead of eating till you are comfortable? Slow down when eating your meals and forget about cleaning your plate. Make meal time a time when you sit and focus on your food and how your body is feeling.
2. It’s hormonal. Have you had your estrogen levels checked? Too much of this hormone can cause difficulty with weight loss. Estrogen Dominance is known to occur during menopause, but can also be brought on by exposure to xenoestrogens like BPA, which can be found in manufactured plastic, household cleansers and even meat from animals that have been given growth hormones. Take the time to get a health check and educate yourself about what exactly is in the products that you use and consume.
3. You may have high cortisol levels. Cortisol is the so-called “stress hormone.” When your body creates more cortisol and blood sugar to deal with stress, whatever is leftover afterward is stored as fat. Take the time to manage your stress levels–meditate, listen to music, go for a walk or just take some time out.
4. Your healthy foods aren’t that healthy! You may think you’re eating to lose weight, but most diet foods are heavily processed and contain a lot of salt, which causes water retention and weight gain. Just because something is labeled “healthy” or “all-natural” doesn’t mean it’s good for your health. Read food labels, and watch out for those that contain too many ingredients you can’t pronounce.
5. You’re not getting your sleep. Getting enough sleep is essential to weight loss. This may seem counter-intuitive, since you are not getting any activity while you’re asleep, but the more tired you are, the less able you are to make healthy food choices. We need sleep to keep our ghrelin (the hormone that tells us when to eat) and our leptin (the hormone that tells us when to stop eating) in balance. When you don’t get enough sleep, you end up with too much ghrelin and not enough leptin.
6. Eat your veggies. We know that vegetables are good for us; not only are they low in calories and high in fiber, but they also have an effect on our estrogen levels. Cruciferous vegetables are full of a compound called diindolylmethane, which boosts estrogen metabolism and keeps estrogen levels lower. If you are not giving your body the nutrients it needs, it goes into save mode and starts to hold onto fat. Eat your veggies and take a vitamin supplement to give your body a well-deserved nutrient boost.
7. Detox. When your body is overloaded with toxins (which is super easy in today’s world that is overflowing with convenience food and stress) it has trouble breaking down fat. Take the time to do a detox and flush out all the toxins and get your body working in optimal order.

These are just some of the things you can do which will help melt the fat cells and allow you to shed those last few stubborn pounds.

Laras Bio: Lara Davies writes for timetocleanse.com, a popular cleansing and clean living website. Lara is passionate about helping people reduce their exposure to harmful toxins, eat a clean, healthy diet, and use cleansing to get the body back in to balance.