Home / pages / Overweight

Overweight

Your Journey to a Healthier You: Understanding Weight & Metabolism

It's easy to get caught up in the numbers on the scale, but being overweight is about more than just a number. It's about your overall health and well-being. When excess weight starts to impact your energy levels, quality of sleep, and even your mood, it's time to take a closer look.
At gCODE, we understand that weight management is a journey, not a quick fix. We combine the latest in medical science with the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda to help you understand your unique body and find a sustainable path to a healthier weight.

Consult Our Doctor

What is Overweight?: Simplified Science

Being overweight is generally defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or higher. BMI is a calculation that takes your height and weight into account. However, it's important to remember that BMI is just one tool, and it doesn't tell the whole story. Muscle mass, body composition, and overall health are also important factors.

Achieving a net calorific deficit, meaning burning more calories than you consume over time, is fundamental to weight loss. However, the how your body burns those calories – your metabolism – plays a crucial role. Metabolism includes your Basal Metabolic Rate (energy used at rest), the Thermic Effect of Food (calories burned digesting food), physical activity, and even small movements (NEAT). A faster metabolism naturally burns more calories, making it easier to achieve a deficit. Factors like muscle mass (more muscle burns more calories at rest), age, sex, and genetics significantly influence your metabolic rate.
It's also crucial to distinguish between:
• Overweight: Having excess body weight for a particular height.
• Obesity: A more severe form of excess weight, with a BMI of 30 or higher.

What Causes Overweight? Exploring the Key Factors Influencing Your Weight

Weight gain is usually a complex issue with many contributing factors that ultimately disrupt the delicate balance of net calorific deficit:

  1. Dietary Habits
  2. Lack of Physical Activity
  3. Chronic Stress
  4. Sleep Deprivation
  5. Genetics
  6. Certain Medical conditions
  7. Side effect of certain Medicines

Dietary Habits

Consuming more calories than you burn (positive calorific balance), especially from processed foods, sugary drinks, and unhealthy fats, is a major contributor. The quality of food also impacts hormonal responses, including the release of GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1), a gut hormone that promotes satiety and can influence metabolism.

Lack of Physical Activity

A sedentary lifestyle directly hinders net calorific deficit and negatively impacts metabolic rate and GLP-1 signaling.

Genetics

Your genes can influence your baseline metabolism and how your body stores fat.

Underlying Medical Conditions

Conditions like hypothyroidism (slower metabolism), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and Cushing's syndrome can contribute to weight gain.

Certain Medications

such as antidepressants and steroids, can affect metabolism, increase appetite and potentially interfere with GLP-1 function.

Stress and Emotional Factors

Chronic stress can lead to hormonal imbalances (like increased cortisol) that affect metabolism and drive emotional eating.

Sleep Deprivation

Lack of sleep can disrupt hormones that regulate appetite and metabolism, often leading to increased calorie intake and reduced calorie burning.

Ayurvedic Perspective

In Ayurveda, being overweight is often linked to an imbalance of Kapha dosha, the bio-energy associated with structure, heaviness, and stability. This imbalance directly impacts Agni (digestive fire) and leads to the accumulation of Ama (undigested metabolic waste), resulting in increased body weight (Meda Vriddhi), sluggishness, and excess fat. Factors like a sedentary lifestyle, consuming heavy, oily, and sweet foods, lack of exercise, and emotional attachments are considered key in aggravating Kapha and weakening Agni , thus disrupting the body's natural energy balance.

Risk Factors and Complications Associated with Overweight

Being overweight increases the risk of developing a range of serious health problems, many of which are linked to metabolic dysfunction and impaired GLP-1 signaling:
• Type 2 diabetes (linked to metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance, often associated with reduced GLP-1 sensitivity)
• Heart disease and stroke (impacted by fat accumulation and metabolic changes)
• High blood pressure
• Certain types of cancer
• Sleep apnea
• Osteoarthritis (increased stress on joints)
• Fatty liver disease (related to fat storage)
• Gallstones
• Infertility (can be linked to hormonal imbalances and metabolic issues)

Diagnosis and Treatment of Overweight

Best Practices to Manage Symptoms

Effective weight management requires a focus on creating a sustainable net calorific deficit through a combination of diet and exercise, while strategically optimizing metabolism:

  1. Dietary Modifications: Focusing on a balanced diet rich in whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein to manage calorie intake.
  2. Regular Physical Activity: Aiming for both cardiovascular exercise to burn calories and strength training to build muscle mass and boost metabolism.
  3. Stress Management: Incorporating stress-reduction techniques like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness to prevent stress-induced metabolic changes and emotional eating.
  4. Adequate Sleep: Getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night to support healthy hormone balance and metabolism.

When to Seek Medical Attention?

It's important to consult a healthcare professional if you are concerned about your weight, especially if you have other health conditions or are experiencing weight-related symptoms.

How is Overweight or Obesity Diagnosed?

Diagnosis of overweight typically involves:
• Calculating BMI
• Measuring waist circumference
• Assessing overall health and risk factors, including metabolic markers.

Conventional Treatment and Limitations

Conventional approaches to weight management often provide generalized advice on calorie restriction and increased exercise. However, they frequently overlook individual metabolic differences, hormonal imbalances, the impact of chronic stress on metabolism, and the crucial role of body composition (muscle mass vs. fat). This one-size-fits-all approach often leads to frustration, unsustainable results, and doesn't address the underlying reasons for weight gain.
At gCODE, our approach to weight management is starkly different – it's personalized and holistic, with a keen focus on optimizing your individual metabolism. We combine the precision of microbial science with the individualized wisdom of Ayurveda to diagnose the root cause and create a plan that's right for your unique body and metabolic needs.

• Personalized Assessment: We go beyond basic BMI to understand your individual metabolic rate, body composition (muscle mass!), hormonal balance, stress response, lifestyle, and dietary habits. We also meticulously assess your Prakriti (constitution) and identify any Dosha imbalances, particularly Kapha affecting Agni (metabolism), that may be hindering your weight management efforts.
• Ayurvedic Medicines: We may recommend specific Ayurvedic herbs and formulations known to gently support metabolism, improve fat metabolism, and manage stress-related weight gain.
• Dietary Recommendations: We provide highly tailored dietary guidelines based on your Prakriti, metabolic profile, and identified imbalances, emphasizing foods that naturally boost your metabolism, and promote healthy digestion and satiety.
• Lifestyle Modifications: We guide you in establishing a balanced daily routine (Dinacharya) that optimizes your metabolism, incorporates the right type and intensity of exercise to build muscle mass, and implements effective stress management techniques (Yoga, Pranayama) to support hormonal balance and prevent emotional eating.

Access the best gut expert doctors from the comfort of your home and recover under their continued guidance.

Reclaim Your Health: Finding a Balanced Path to Sustainable Weight Management with Personalized gCODE Solutions

Finding your right weight is a journey, and generic advice often falls short. At gCODE, we empower you with the in-depth understanding of your body, expert care, and truly personalized solutions to achieve a healthy weight, optimize your metabolism, improve your overall well-being, and live a more vibrant life. Our goal is to help you thrive.

Footer Image Desktop Mobile Footer Image Consult Our Doctor