Secret Revealed: Why It Can Be Harder for Women to Lose Weight?

September 5, 2025

In this blog

What is GLP-1 and how does it work?

Week-by-Week breakdown

Tips and lessons from real users

The EARLY Perspective

Conclusion

About the Author

References

Ready to lose weight for good?

A friend of mine was eating salads for lunch, skipping dessert, hitting the gym four times a week, and still was unable to lose weight. A few weeks later, something worse happened. Her jeans felt tighter, not looser. She started to doubt herself and questioned again and again whether she was not trying hard enough. However, after she consulted an endocrinologist, she learned something that most women don’t know.
If you’re a woman who is beyond 30 and is trying to lose weight, especially with thyroid or hormonal imbalances, you’re not at fault. You might be trying your best, but still your weight won’t reduce because it’s no more about your willpower and efforts to gym or diet, but about your hormones, stress, and biology

The Hidden Hormonal Truth

Most people say that the perfect advice to lose weight is just to eat less, move more. But if you are also one of those who have tried this but seen that it has no results, then you are not alone. This is because this advice ignores the hormonal puzzle that is a woman’s body.
Most women’s hormones fluctuate on a regular basis– daily, monthly, and across life stages (puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause). These shifts in the hormones influence hunger, energy, fat storage, and even your mood! Let’s look at some of these hormones:

Estrogen and progesterone: When these two are in balance, everything feels sorted; however, when estrogen exceeds its production due to stress, birth control, or perimenopause and dominates, then our body becomes more prone to store fat, especially around our hips and thighs.
Insulin (the blood sugar hormone): This hormone can create a big mess if you’re eating too often or too many processed carbs. Insulin resistance in women sometimes common in PCOS and prediabetes, can make fat loss feel nearly impossible.
Cortisol (your stress hormone): This hormone tells your body to hold on to fat, especially belly fat, as a survival mechanism when your body is stressed. Long work hours, poor sleep, and emotional overwhelm can be prime causes of your weight increase. This is because an increased level of cortisol is read as a danger by your body, and fat storage is done.

Your Thyroid– Another Factor?

The thyroid is one of the glands in your neck. It has the role of regulating metabolism. It makes sure that everything in our body runs well, like digestion. If your Thyroid is underactive, you develop a condition called hypothyroidism, where your digestion, fat-burning ability, and energy slow down. This also has symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, constipation, and unexplained weight gain.
Many women never realize they even have any thyroid issue, and when some of them do get diagnosed, they take standard treatment (like levothyroxine), which in reality, doesn’t always optimize metabolism or resolve symptoms fully. You must watch out for thyroid issues because even mild thyroid dysfunction can make weight loss feel impossible.

You Are Not Alone!

We understand that there’s nothing more frustrating than doing everything right and feeling like your body is betraying you. The emotional stress of seeing no results, or worse, gaining weight, can be very painful!
Many women I’ve spoken to describe the same thing: they’re tired of being told they must be “cheating” on their diets. Fed up with doctors being rude and inconsiderate. Tired of being told, “Just try harder”. But the truth is that it’s not your fault; you just need to know the science better! Sometimes, your body is just asking for a different kind of support.

Natural Ways to Support Your Body

So, what can you do when your hormones, thyroid, or stress levels are making weight loss a tough time for you? Here are some gentle but science-backed strategies that support your body:

1. Balance Blood Sugar

Think of blood sugar as the foundation of hormone health.

You must start the day with protein + healthy fat (e.g., eggs with avocado, Greek yogurt with nuts).
You must avoid starting your morning with only carbs, like toast, fruit, or cereal, as they spike insulin and lead to crashes.
Do consider walking after meals, even 10-15 minutes will help you stabilize your glucose levels.

2. Eat for Hormone Health

You must include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cauliflower to help the body detox excess estrogen.
Also consider cycling your meals with your menstrual cycle, higher complex carbs during the luteal phase can reduce cravings and support progesterone.
Please don’t forget to add anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric, berries, olive oil, and fatty fish (like salmon) to lower cortisol and inflammation.

3. Prioritize Sleep

You will be amazed to know that women who get less than 6 hours of sleep per night have higher cortisol, higher ghrelin (hunger hormone), and lower leptin (satiety hormone). In other words, you crave more and feel less full. Aim for 7–8 hours, and don’t underestimate the power of regular sleep.

4. Stress Reduction

Chronic stress doesn’t kill mood but kills metabolism, and to prevent that, you can try:

Having short, mindful walks without your phone
Doing deep belly breathing before meals
Practicing journaling or therapy to release emotional weight, not just physical weight

Even 5-10 minutes of stress-releasing activities can shift your cortisol levels over time.

One Stop Solution to Everything…

At Early, we specialize in helping women to get to the root causes of stubborn weight, fatigue, mood swings, and hormonal chaos. No rough diets. No judgment. Just smart, personalized care and a team that actually listens to you.
You can start today at just 1799! You’ll talk to a real human (not a bot!) who’ll help you understand what’s going on in your body, and what you can do next.
The truth is, many women are stuck in a loop of dieting, overexercising, and self-judgment, when what they really need is nourishment, hormone support, stress relief, and validation. You don’t have to overhaul your life overnight or adopt some rigid plan. Start with curiosity. Ask what your body is trying to tell you. Explore your root causes, not just symptoms.
Please be kind to yourself. Healing is not linear. Weight is not the only measure of progress. And your worth has never depended on a number on a scale. Let’s rewrite the rules together. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it, and remind her (and yourself): You are not alone in this. And you don’t have to fight your body to feel good in it

About the Author

Dr. Geeta Chopra

Dr. Geeta Chopra is a former professor at Delhi University and advocate for the young and the most marginalized children. She spent almost four decades teaching, researching, and a policy advisor to GOI. She is also a lifelong sports person and fitness enthusiast who has deep dived into the world of fitness and the science behind it. She has authored six books, 25+ research papers and regularly writes thought pieces on topics that interest her.