Could Insulin Resistance Be the Real Reason You Can’t Lose Weight?
- Brainz Magazine
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Written by Nelum Dharmapriya, Doctor & Health Coach
Dr Nelum Dharmapriya is a Brisbane-based GP with a special interest in metabolic health, menopause, and lifestyle medicine. She combines 30 years of clinical experience with a personal passion for helping women thrive in midlife and beyond.
For many women over 40, the familiar advice to "eat less and move more" no longer works. You may cut calories, work out faithfully, and still find that your waistline is expanding, your energy is crashing, and your sleep and mood are not what they used to be. I know exactly how that feels, because I have been there myself.
In my late forties, I was doing all the “right” things. I had been a GP for over twenty-five years, I exercised regularly, and I ate what I thought was a healthy diet. Yet my body told a different story. I was gaining weight around my middle, no matter how much I trained. I woke three or four times a night, often snoring so loudly that it drove my husband to despair. I was irritable, emotional, and not myself. Worst of all was the brain fog; I would walk away from my computer at work and then struggle to remember the names of conditions or medications. I had been practising medicine for decades, but I was suddenly terrified that I might forget how to be a doctor.
When the blood tests came back, they confirmed what I dreaded. I had prediabetes and metabolic markers that pointed towards heart disease. With a strong family history of diabetes, my mother was diagnosed at 52, and her siblings had all died from diabetes-related complications; I could see my future written out in front of me. And I didn’t like where it was going.
The turning point came when I discovered the concept of insulin resistance. Despite all my medical training, this was not something I had been taught in depth. Yet the more I read, the more it explained everything that was happening to me, and to so many of my patients.
What metabolism means
We often think of metabolism as how quickly we burn calories, but it is much more than that. Metabolism is how your body turns food into energy, repairs tissues, and clears waste. What we don’t always realise is that hormones play a critical role in keeping all of this running smoothly. While “balancing hormones” isn’t part of the textbook definition of metabolic health, in real life, it’s the foundation that allows your metabolism to function at its best.
When your hormones are in balance, you have steady energy, clear focus, restorative sleep, and a body that naturally maintains a healthy weight. But when things slip out of balance, because of diet, stress, poor sleep, or inactivity, the effects build slowly. You may notice stubborn belly fat, dips in energy, restless nights, or a foggy mind. Left unchecked, this state of dysfunction can progress to high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, and eventually diabetes or heart disease.
At the centre of all this is a single hormone with a powerful influence: insulin.
Insulin: The hidden key
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas to keep blood sugar within a safe range. After you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose, which enters your bloodstream. Here’s the surprising part: your entire bloodstream can only safely hold about one teaspoon of glucose at a time. To prevent dangerous spikes, insulin steps in, moving glucose into your muscles and liver. Once those storage tanks are full, the excess is converted into fat.
Some of that fat sits just under the skin (subcutaneous fat), but much of it settles around your organs. This is called visceral fat, and it’s especially harmful because it is strongly linked to diabetes, heart disease, and even certain cancers.
You might be wondering: Does this only happen if I eat sugar? The truth is, all carbohydrates break down into glucose, whether it’s a spoonful of sugar, a slice of bread, a bowl of rice, or even a glass of orange juice. For example:
Two slices of wholemeal bread can raise blood sugar as much as several teaspoons of sugar.
A “healthy” fruit smoothie may contain the equivalent of ten teaspoons of sugar once it’s broken down.
A handful of cooked white rice contains a staggering 10 teaspoons of sugar. Brown rice is not significantly better (8.5 teaspoons of sugar).
So while the forms may look different, your body sees them all as sugar.
The real issue begins when our diets are filled with these carb-heavy foods day after day. Insulin levels stay elevated, meal after meal. Over time, your cells stop responding properly to insulin’s signals. This is called insulin resistance. The body, desperate to keep blood sugar in check, produces even more insulin, and you are caught in a vicious cycle.
And this cycle is about much more than stubborn weight gain. Persistently high insulin is the hidden metabolic dysfunction behind nearly every chronic disease we face today. It drives:
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Fatty liver disease
Some cancers
Chronic pain and inflammation
Neurological problems, including memory decline
Mental health disorders
It even influences mood and mental health. Many women in midlife assume their fatigue, brain fog, mood swings, and growing belly fat are “just menopause,” when these are often the first warning signs of insulin resistance taking hold.
Why insulin blocks weight loss
One of the most frustrating parts of insulin resistance is how it locks you into fat storage mode. The body can run on both glucose and fat for energy, but when insulin levels are high, it switches off fat burning. That means you can be working out every day and cutting calories, yet your body still won’t let go of its fat stores.
This was exactly my situation. I was running, doing boxing classes, and sweating through HIIT sessions, but the belly fat would not budge. It wasn’t that my metabolism had slowed down. It was that insulin was quietly sabotaging my efforts, keeping me stuck in storage mode.
The truth is, this “lockdown” on fat burning is not a mistake. It’s a survival mechanism built into our biology. Insulin is meant to rise during periods of growth, like childhood, puberty, and pregnancy, because storing extra energy as fat helps the body grow, reproduce, and prepare for the future. Insulin also rises when the body senses danger. In times of stress or scarcity, those fat stores are held tightly so the brain has a reliable energy supply.
The problem is that in today’s world, insulin is raised not occasionally but constantly, thanks to the modern diet of sugar, starches, and processed foods. Instead of helping us survive, this once-protective system backfires, trapping us in fat storage mode even when survival is not at stake.
How food and lifestyle play a role
Different foods affect insulin in very different ways. Carbohydrates raise insulin the most, protein has a moderate effect, and fat raises it the least. This is why a pasta lunch or a sugary snack might leave you ravenous again a couple of hours later, your insulin spikes, your blood sugar falls, and your brain tells you to eat again.
But food is only one part of the story. Insulin can stay high if you are constantly snacking, not sleeping well, or carrying very little muscle. Chronic stress also pushes cortisol up, and cortisol in turn drives insulin higher. Certain medications, including steroids, can play a role too.
For women in midlife, these factors often collide. Stress may come from caring for teenagers at home while also supporting aging parents, all while trying to keep up at work. Sleep can be disrupted by night sweats, hot flashes, or a racing mind at 3 a.m. Hormonal shifts also make it easier to lose muscle and harder to recover from exercise. Add in the convenience of grabbing toast for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch, and something sweet to get through the afternoon slump, and you have the perfect storm: cortisol stays high, insulin stays high, and the body never gets a chance to switch back into fat-burning mode.
This is why so many women feel like their bodies have changed overnight. It’s not simply “aging” or “bad luck.” It’s the way food choices, stress, hormones, and lifestyle all interact with insulin—and the good news is, once you understand it, you can begin to change it.
My turning point
For me, the change came when I embraced a low-carb, whole-food approach. This was not easy at first. Growing up in Sri Lanka, my diet had always been centred on rice and starchy foods. Food was a central part of socialising with family and friends, and I wondered how I could possibly fit in if I changed what I ate.
But nothing else had worked. So I started slowly, cutting down on carbs and adding more protein. Almost immediately, I noticed I wasn’t hungry all the time. I could go five or six hours without thinking about food, which was a revelation. Within weeks, my clothes were looser and my waistband less tight. About a month in, my husband made an observation that shocked me: I had stopped snoring. After two decades of broken sleep, I was finally sleeping through the night.
The changes kept coming. I had more energy, my mind was clearer, my irritability faded, and for the first time in years, I felt like myself again. Three months later, my blood tests confirmed it: my prediabetes was reversed, my blood lipids improved, and my metabolic health was restored. I had changed the course of my future!
The good news
The most important thing I want women to know is that insulin resistance is not a life sentence. It is reversible. By changing what and how you eat, building muscle, prioritising sleep, and finding ways to manage stress, you can lower insulin and restore your body’s ability to burn fat. The shifts can be dramatic, sometimes within just a few weeks.
And this matters even more during perimenopause and menopause. As oestrogen and progesterone decline, the body becomes more prone to storing fat around the middle and more sensitive to insulin’s effects. What worked in your thirties no longer works in your forties and fifties, but with the right knowledge, you can adapt and thrive.
A new approach to health
This is why I founded Whole Food Revolution. As both a GP and a woman who has lived this journey, I believe true wellness comes from the combination of science, lifestyle, and mindset. Alongside life coach Ronit Baras, I work with women over 40 to help them break free from sugar cravings, stubborn weight gain, and hormonal chaos.
Through coaching, community, and education, we show women that their bodies are not broken. They simply need the right tools to reset and heal.
Your next step
If you are frustrated because you feel like you’re doing everything right but still not seeing results, it may be time to look beyond calories and exercise. Insulin resistance could be the real reason you are struggling to lose weight.
The good news is that you can turn this around. I did, and so can you.
I invite you to book a free discovery call with me to explore how you can reverse insulin resistance, restore your energy, and reclaim vibrant health in midlife and beyond.
And you don’t have to do it alone. Join our Whole Food Revolution Community, a thriving group of women just like you who are sharing, supporting, and celebrating every step of the journey. Because when you surround yourself with like-minded women who “get it,” the process feels lighter, and the wins feel bigger.
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we share practical tips, inspiring stories, and the latest science on nutrition, hormones, and lifestyle. It’s a simple way to stay connected, motivated, and informed, no matter where you are on your journey.
Because your health is not a luxury. It is your right.
Read more from Nelum Dharmapriya
Nelum Dharmapriya, Doctor & Health Coach
Dr Nelum Dharmapriya is a Brisbane-based GP with 30 years’ experience in women’s health, and metabolic wellbeing. Founder of Whole Food Revolution, she empowers women 40+ to reclaim energy and confidence through the 3 pillars of science, lifestyle, and mindset.
