Elena Ruiz
Areas of focus: Movement, sleep, stress management, and building consistent habits.
20 articles on WeightFAQ
- movement basics
- sleep and weight loss
- stress management
- behavioral therapy support
- telehealth weight loss
- medication effects on weight
About Elena Ruiz
Elena Ruiz is a WeightFAQ staff writer focused on movement, sleep, stress, and the behavioral side of weight loss. She has written about walking routines, NEAT and daily activity, insomnia and cortisol, and how anxiety, depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and antidepressant or birth-control side effects can complicate weight change. Her articles favor small, consistent habit shifts over overhauls, and she often covers telehealth and behavioral-therapy programs that support them. Elena writes for readers whose weight goals bump into sleep debt, medication effects, or a busy nervous system.
Articles by Elena Ruiz (20)
- Perimenopause and Weight: What Actually Changes and What Helps
Perimenopause is a 4 to 10 year hormonal window before the final period. Fat distribution shifts to the trunk and lean mass drops even without total weight gain. Here's what changes, and what actually helps.
- Birth Control and Weight: What Causes Gain and What Doesn't
Most birth control doesn't change weight. The pill, ring, patch, and IUDs are weight-neutral; Depo-Provera is the real outlier. The honest method-by-method picture.
- Antidepressants and Weight: Which Cause Gain, Which Don't
Antidepressants vary widely in weight effect. Mirtazapine and paroxetine drive gain; bupropion and fluoxetine usually don't. The honest drug-by-drug picture.
- Teen Weight Management: AAP Guideline, GLP-1s, and What Helps
The 2023 AAP guideline changed how adolescent obesity is treated. Family-based behavioral care, GLP-1s, and bariatric surgery — what the evidence shows.
- Anorexia Recovery and Weight Restoration: What Actually Helps
Weight restoration is the highest-leverage early step in anorexia recovery. Safe refeeding, FBT, CBT-AN, and where to get help.
- Schizophrenia, Antipsychotics, and Weight Loss: What Helps
Antipsychotics drive 5–12 kg of weight gain in year one. Metformin, an SGA switch, and GLP-1 evidence — what actually helps in SMI.
- Insomnia and Weight Loss: How Poor Sleep Drives Appetite
Short sleep raises hunger hormones and shifts food choices toward energy-dense foods. CBT-I is first-line. Here is the evidence and a 5-step plan.
- Bipolar Disorder and Weight Loss: Medications, Mood, and What Helps
Lithium, valproate, and antipsychotics drive bipolar weight gain. Here is the honest evidence and a 5-step plan.
- Anxiety and Weight Loss: The Two-Way Link and What Helps
Anxiety and weight feed each other. Here is the bi-directional link, a 5-step plan, and what medications and GLP-1s actually do.
- ADHD and Weight Loss: How Attention, Reward, and Eating Connect
ADHD raises obesity risk ~70%. Here is the dopamine-reward story, a 5-step plan, and what stimulants and GLP-1s actually do.
- Binge Eating Disorder and Weight Loss: How BED and Body Weight Affect Each Other
BED is the most common eating disorder. Here is how to spot it, why dieting can worsen it, and what CBT, Vyvanse, and GLP-1 evidence shows.
- Urinary Incontinence and Weight Loss: How Losing 5–10% Can Cut Leaks in Half
Obesity is a top driver of urinary leaks. Here is the PRIDE-trial dose-response, a 5-step protocol, and what pelvic-floor training adds.
- Depression and Weight Loss: The Two-Way Link and What Helps
Obesity and depression each raise the other's risk by about half. Here is what the evidence shows about weight loss, antidepressants, and GLP-1 medications.
- NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): The Hidden Way to Burn 200–800 More Calories a Day
NEAT — non-exercise activity thermogenesis — is the calorie burn from everything you do that is not formal exercise: walking, standing, fidgeting, household work. Most people can shift NEAT by 200 to 800 calories a day, which often matters more for weight loss than the gym. Here is what NEAT is, why it collapses in a diet, and how to raise it without burning out.
- Cortisol, Stress, and Weight Gain: What's Real and What's Myth
Chronic stress modestly raises weight risk through sleep, appetite, and visceral-fat distribution — but supplements and 'cortisol detoxes' don't fix it. The levers that do are sleep, training, and a steadier daily routine.
- How to Increase TDEE: 6 Proven Ways to Burn More Calories
How to increase TDEE without extreme workouts — six NEAT, strength, and protein moves that add 200–500 kcal/day to your daily burn within 2 to 4 weeks.
- Walking for Weight Loss
Walking is an accessible, joint-friendly way to increase daily energy expenditure and support weight loss; learn how many steps to aim for, pace, and how to progress.
- Telehealth Weight Loss: GLP-1 Access and $50-$150/Month Cost
Telehealth weight loss programs offer virtual clinician visits, coaching, and GLP-1 prescriptions — typically $50-$150 a month plus medication cost.
- Sleep, Stress, and Weight Management
Sleep quality and stress levels influence appetite and metabolism; learn how to support healthy routines.
- Behavioral Therapy and Coaching for Weight Loss
Behavioral therapy helps address habits and emotional drivers of eating; learn how it supports sustainable weight loss.