The lowdown on leptin

Could leptin resistance be behind your weight gain or struggle to shed unwanted pounds? Marcelle Pick shines a light on this common hormone imbalance and what you can do about it for better health

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Remember that old question 'Can you pinch an inch?' I'm way beyond that!" That's what Darlene said to me during her consultation for my weight loss program.

“I never used to have belly fat. What happened?” she asked.

Darlene's story is so familiar to me, and so is the frustration she was feeling. She had tried so many things to lose the stubborn fat that had been slowly but steadily accumulating, especially around her midsection.

She had been on and off diets for years, but nothing seemed to help. She told me she was almost ready to give up.

I'm so glad she found me when she did. Too many women do eventually give up, resigning themselves to life with a body that they don't love.

But it doesn't have to be that way. And the need for weight loss isn't just about improving how you look, or even how you feel about yourself (though, of course, that's very important).

An appropriate weight is critical to good health in so many ways. And good health is a significant piece of the weight loss puzzle. That's why controlling your weight can be so tricky—you can't have one without the other.

Many of the women I work with have imbalances of one kind or another that make losing weight nearly impossible without drastic changes to lifestyle and diet. But although the overall shift is necessary for long-term success, you can't start there.

The first step is always to identify the root problem. Why is the body resisting weight loss? So many factors can be behind a woman's inability to maintain a healthy weight. And one hormonal imbalance that's often missed is leptin resistance.

You can't change what you don't know about, which is why it's so important to know the possibilities. If you can identify leptin resistance as the culprit, you can take steps toward healing.

What is leptin resistance?