If…I…can…just…get…this…button…to…..whatever forget it. You are standing in front of the mirror frustrated. Last month you went to the doctor and they told you that you have insulin resistance and you are pre-diabetic and since then you have been walking three times a week and watching what you eat. You drink apple cider vinegar, googled weight loss pills, even tried a 2-day cleanse. But here we are again, these pants STILL DON’T FIT. You have been having pep talks with yourself every morning and every night about how you need to make a change. Chanting things like “Health is Wealth” and “Tomorrow is not Promised” and telling yourself you are stronger than your craving. BUT IT ISN’T WORKING. Now you are at the point where you ask “does my stomach hate me?”.

And the simple answer is yes, it does! Losing weight is not as easy as the commercials and most doctors make it seem. It is not as simple as exercising 5 days a week and eating fruits and vegetables. Obesity and childhood obesity is a complex medical condition that has many causes. Some of these causes are out of your control. I mean, how can you control your family history? I didn’t ask to be born by c-section? So WHY AM I BEING PUNISHED??? But to get back to your original question, does my stomach hate me….again yes to some extent. Your stomach produces a hormone called ghrelin which tells you that you are hungry, that drives cravings and fights against you when you are trying to lose weight. And to make matters even worse, when you start to loose weight and get close to your goal, your stomach starts making even more ghrelin, so its almost as if you are your own worst enemy during your weight loss journey.

Ghrelin is released by the stomach and small intestine. When your stomach is empty, ghrelin tells your brain that you are hungry. The level of ghrelin increases between meals and it is supposed to decrease when your stomach is full. Ghrelin also promotes fat storage. People who have obesity often have lower ghrelin levels than their peers, and although that sounds like a great thing, it means that your body is more sensitive and you feel HUNGRIER at lower levels of ghrelin. AKA I feel hungry ALL THE TIME.

So what does all of this mean? It means that it is important to work with a trained professional who understands obesity and can work with you and your family to ask about your family history, the medications you take, what strategies you have tried in the past and their effectiveness, and LISTENS to your goals. A professional that can help you fight your stomach and the hormones it creates!