You’ve waved goodbye to cookies, chips, and everything else that comes in a shiny wrapper, but the scale refuses to budge. It can be disheartening when cutting out processed foods doesn’t translate into immediate weight loss.

While eliminating junk food is an essential first step, weight loss often requires more nuanced adjustments. Studies, including a 2019 publication in Cell Metabolism, reveal that processed foods can lead to increased calorie consumption — about 500 extra calories daily compared to whole, unprocessed diets. While cutting out junk food is a commendable step, achieving sustainable weight loss requires a holistic approach.

But sometimes, ditching junk food isn’t enough. Here are five key reasons why your weight loss journey may be stalling, and how you can get back on track.

1. Your Sleep Schedule Is Sabotaging Your Goals

The connection between sleep and weight is often overlooked but crucial. Both too much sleep (over 9 hours) and too little (under 5 hours) can disrupt your body’s production of appetite-regulating hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin. This hormonal imbalance can increase cravings and overeating, particularly for high-calorie foods.

Additionally, poor sleep can leave you feeling fatigued, making it harder to stick to exercise routines.

How to Fix It: Aim for 7–8 hours of quality sleep per night. Establish a consistent bedtime routine and minimize screen time before bed to improve sleep hygiene.

2. Liquid Calories Are Sneaking Into Your Diet

You may have switched to a "healthier" drink lineup, but beverages like fruit juices, sugary coffee drinks, and wine can contain hidden calories that derail progress. Even organic fruit juices, often marketed as healthful, are loaded with sugar and lack the fiber found in whole fruits.

How to Fix It: Stick to water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, or sparkling water. To manage hunger, drink two cups of water 30 minutes before meals—a strategy backed by research in the Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine. Treat calorie-laden drinks as occasional indulgences rather than daily staples.

3. Meal Timing Is Working Against You

When and how often you eat can significantly influence weight loss. Skipping meals can lead to overeating later, while constant grazing throughout the day can result in unnoticed calorie overload.

Studies show that front-loading your calories, with a substantial breakfast and lighter evening meals, promotes greater weight loss. Research published in the journal Obesity found that individuals consuming larger breakfasts lost twice the weight compared to those who favored bigger dinners.

How to Fix It: Stick to eating every 3.5 to 4 hours during a 10–12-hour daytime window. This approach stabilizes blood sugar and encourages fat reserves to be used for energy between meals.

4. You’re Overcompensating for Exercise

Exercise is a cornerstone of weight loss, but it’s easy to overestimate the calories burned and indulge in post-workout treats. That post-spin class protein shake or granola bar may negate your calorie deficit if not balanced within your daily intake.

How to Fix It: Plan snacks strategically. If your workout falls within two hours of a meal, skip the extra snack and refuel during your regular meal. If you need a snack, opt for small, protein-rich options like Greek yogurt or a handful of nuts.

5. Water Intake Is Falling Short

Water plays an underrated role in weight loss. Staying hydrated helps control hunger and reduces the temptation to reach for sugary drinks. Dehydration, on the other hand, can be mistaken for hunger, leading to unnecessary snacking.

How to Fix It: Drink 2–6 cups of water daily to satisfy thirst without adding calories. Carry a reusable water bottle as a visual reminder to stay hydrated throughout the day.

What Other Factors Can Hinder Weight Loss

Sitting for long hours, whether at a desk or on the couch, can slow your metabolism and disconnect your body’s natural hunger cues. Incorporating even short bursts of activity, like three 10-minute walks daily, can reignite your metabolism.

Stress often leads to comfort eating, favoring calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods. Mindfulness practices, such as meditation or journaling, can help address the emotional triggers behind overeating.

Medical conditions, genetics, or hormonal imbalances can also impede weight loss. If your efforts yield no results, consult a healthcare professional for tests or guidance tailored to your needs.

Weight loss isn’t linear, and small, consistent adjustments are more effective than drastic overhauls. By identifying and tackling these hidden barriers, you can set yourself up for lasting success on your health journey.

Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain. Cell Metabolism. 2019

Effect of excessive water intake on body weight, body mass index, body fat, and appetite of overweight female participants. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2014

Smoking has long been recognized as one of the most preventable causes of disease and early death worldwide. It plays a major role in heart attacks, strokes and several chronic illnesses. While public health messaging often focuses on how much a person smokes, new research suggests that when someone starts smoking may be just as important for long-term health.

A large nationwide study published in Scientific Reports analyzed health data from over nine million adults in South Korea. The findings were striking. People who began smoking before the age of 20 faced a significantly higher risk of stroke, heart attack and early death compared to those who started later, even if their total lifetime smoking exposure was similar.

Smoking Before 20: Why the age matters

Traditionally, doctors and researchers estimate smoking-related harm using pack-years, which combines the number of cigarettes smoked per day with the number of years a person has smoked. While this remains useful, the new study highlights an important gap. Two people with the same pack-years may not have the same health risks if one started smoking much earlier in life.

The researchers found that early starters had a much higher risk of stroke and heart attack than those who took up smoking after the age of 20. This suggests that the body may be especially vulnerable to tobacco damage during adolescence and early adulthood, making age of initiation an independent risk factor.

Smoking and stroke: what we already know

The link between smoking and stroke is well established. Long-term studies, including the famous Framingham Heart Study, have consistently shown that smokers are far more likely to experience a stroke than non-smokers. The risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and affects people across age groups.

Smoking damages blood vessels, speeds up plaque build-up in arteries, raises blood pressure and makes blood more likely to clot. All of these changes increase the chances of both ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes. Younger adults who smoke are not protected simply because of their age, and in many cases, their relative risk is even higher.

Key findings from the Korean cohort

The study followed participants for nearly nine years using data from a mandatory national health screening programme. Researchers looked at stroke, heart attack, combined cardiovascular events and overall death rates.

Those who started smoking before 20 had about a 78 percent higher risk of stroke compared to non-smokers, especially when they also had high smoking exposure. Early starters also showed a much greater risk of heart attacks and combined cardiovascular events. Importantly, they had a higher risk of death from all causes, not just heart-related conditions. These patterns were consistent across men and women and across different metabolic health profiles.

Why early smoking causes greater harm

There are several reasons why smoking at a younger age may be more damaging. During adolescence, the heart, blood vessels and brain are still developing, which may make them more sensitive to toxins in tobacco smoke. Starting early is also linked to stronger nicotine dependence, making quitting harder and often leading to longer periods of smoking.

Early exposure may also trigger lasting inflammatory and metabolic changes in the body. These changes can increase stroke risk later in life, even when total cigarette exposure appears similar on paper.

What this means for public health

The findings send a clear message. Preventing smoking during adolescence could significantly reduce the future burden of stroke and heart disease. School-based education, strong warning messages and policies that limit youth access to tobacco remain critical.

Delaying smoking initiation, even by a few years, may have lifelong benefits. With cardiovascular diseases already among the leading causes of death globally, protecting young people from tobacco use is not just about avoiding addiction. It is about safeguarding their long-term health.

A simple tennis ball might be able to tell you whether you have dementia or not. While it sounds strange, experts explain that the strength of your hands is a major clue for how well your mind is aging.

In a recent video, Neurologist Dr. Baibing Chen explains that your grip strength is a "window" into your cognitive health. To squeeze your hand, your brain must coordinate nerves, muscles, and blood flow all at once. When this system weakens, it often suggests that the brain’s "resilience" or ability to bounce back is also lower.

While weak hands don't cause dementia, they can be an early warning sign. In some conditions, like vascular dementia, physical changes like slowing down or dropping things often happen before memory loss even begins.

How To Do The Tennis Ball Test At Home?

You don't need expensive equipment to check your strength. You can use a standard tennis ball or a stress ball to track your progress:

Get Ready: Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor and your arm stretched out in front of you.

Squeeze: Grip the ball as hard as you possibly can.

Hold: Try to keep that strong squeeze for 15 to 30 seconds.

Repeat: Do this three times with each hand and note if you feel tired or if your strength fades quickly.

What the Numbers Mean

Researchers have found that people in the bottom 20% of grip strength have a much higher risk of developing memory problems.

For example, a massive study of nearly 200,000 adults showed that as grip strength drops, the risk of dementia goes up by about 12% to 20%.

Specifically, if a man’s grip strength is below 22 kg or a woman’s is below 14 kg, doctors consider that a "red flag" for future cognitive decline. These numbers are helpful because they show changes in the body years before memory loss actually starts.

What If You Fail The Tennis Ball Dementia Test?

It is very important to remember that a weak grip is not a guarantee of dementia. Many factors, such as arthritis, old injuries, or general lack of exercise, can cause your hands to feel weak.

The goal of this test is not to scare you, but to encourage you to be proactive. If you feel like your hands are getting "tired" faster during daily chores or you are dropping items more often, mention it to your doctor. They can help determine if it is just a muscle issue or something that needs more investigation.

How Is Dementia Diagnosed?

Dementia is one of the most common cognitive conditions in the world. According to the World Health Organization, there were 57 million people living with dementia in 2021, many of whom never had any treatment for it.

Early detection of dementia is an important part of the treatment. While it may not completely cure the disease, it can slow down the progress to help people retain as much of their abilities as possible.

Finding out if someone has Alzheimer’s is not as simple as taking one single test. Doctors act like detectives, gathering many different clues to figure out what is happening in the brain. To make an accurate diagnosis, healthcare providers use a combination of different tools and tests:

Brain Scans

Doctors may use imaging tests like MRI, CT, or PET scans to look at the physical structure of the brain and check for any unusual changes.

Cognitive Tests

There may be cognitive tests that check your recall skills. These are mental puzzles or questions that check your memory, problem-solving skills, and how well you can perform daily tasks.

Lab Work

This can also include blood tests or checking "spinal fluid" to look for specific markers that show up in people with certain types of dementia.

Physical Exams

A neurologist may also check your balance, your senses, and your reflexes to see how well your nerves are working.

Claire Danes recently revealed that she was shocked to learn that she was pregnant with her third child at 44. In an interview with Amy Poehler in an episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the Beast In Me actress revealed that she burst into tears at her OB/GYN’s office, explaining that she didn’t know it was possible to be pregnant after 40.

Danes shared that she initially felt a strange sense of embarrassment about the pregnancy. Because she and her husband, Hugh Dancy, weren’t planning for a third, Danes felt like she had stepped outside of normal "parameters."

The debate surrounding pregnancies after 40 has always persisted. Many people like Claire believe that it is impossible to get pregnant after your biological clock runs out. However, in reality, things do not work like that. Dr Rohan Palshetkar, Consultant IVF specialist, at Bloom IVF explains a few factors one should know about.

Can You Get Pregnant After 40?

Yes, Dr Rohan explains that it is completely possible and safe with the current technological advancements. “Earlier we did have fetal medicine specialists, high resolution ultrasounds, better monitoring techniques and safter IVF options”

Screening tests are much more detailed, IVF options are more robust and egg freezing is also an empowering tool for women who wish to have pregnancies later in life, Dr Rohan explained.

However, he also pointed out that post 35 risks of having diabetes and hypertension increases, so consistent monitoring helps a lot.

What Are Some Risks Of Pregnancies After 40?

The chance of having a high-risk pregnancy increases for women above 40, according to the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG). They explain that since women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, those eggs age right along with the body. As time goes on, the number of eggs decreases, and their quality can change.

While many women have healthy pregnancies in their 40s, here are some specific risks you should know about.

Chromosome Issues

Older eggs are more likely to have certain genetic changes. This means there is a higher chance for the baby to be born with a health condition like Down syndrome instead.

Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Women in their forties face a much higher statistical chance of losing a pregnancy. It is very important to stay in close contact with your doctor to monitor your baby's health.

Low Birth Weight

There is a greater risk that the baby will be born weighing less than what is considered healthy. Small babies often need extra medical care and stay in the hospital longer.

Blood Clots

Being pregnant naturally increases your risk of developing dangerous blood clots. However, this specific medical danger becomes even more likely for mothers who are over the age of thirty-five or forty.

Gestational Diabetes

This is a specific type of high blood sugar that some women develop only while they are pregnant. It requires careful diet management or medication to keep you and baby safe.

Preeclampsia

This is a very serious condition involving high blood pressure that can happen during pregnancy. It can be dangerous for the mother and the baby if it is not treated quickly.

Labor Challenges

Delivery can be more difficult for older mothers, often leading to longer labor times. Because of these complications, doctors are much more likely to recommend a surgical C-section birth instead.

How Doctors Support Pregnancies After 40

Being "high-risk" doesn’t mean something will go wrong; it just means your medical team will watch you more closely. Modern medicine has great tools to keep you and your baby safe, such as,

• Prenatal Screening
• Extra Ultrasounds
• Frequent Check-ups