What are weight loss challenges? What are some of the tips or tricks to getting around them? I feel like the first question is harder than the second. Weight loss can be quite easy once you know how. At its most basic level its burn more energy or consume less energy. If it’s just math thought why is losing such a challenge for so many….? There are many nuances to weight loss or more specifically why we eat so much. It like a bank account, if you have no money, and someone say it’s easy just make more money and spend less. That is the no duh response but how if your paycheck is what it is and your bills are what they are…. You need strategies and maybe even an adviser. I’ll do my best to give you the cliff note version but if you want more specific help, please call the office for an appointment. First, most people are consuming too much food it is in part a lack of exercise, but it really is more about the food than the exercise, you cannot outrun your mouth. So easy then just eat less…well if it was that easy, we would so why don’t we.
3 Weight Loss Challenges
Culprit number 1-We ear even when we are not hungry! Now this isn’t always bad but for the most part it is. We have designed our lives around food. When was the last time you went to a social engagement that didn’t involve food or alcohol. Even playing a game or watching TV involves snacking, heck most people go to the gym and then get a snack because then need ‘energy’ to work out. I’m not saying if you go to a birthday don’t have birthday cake but be aware of when you are eating are eating because you are hungry, bored, or because everyone else is…?
Culprit number 2-Food has become too convenient, too processed, too easy to digest and does not leave you feel satiated. Worse, its designed that way on purpose! Food industry is a business and businesses need to make money. So, they have scientist designed to make food pretty, tasty, easy to eat and leave you wanting more. Have you ever had a snickers bar and said wow I am full. Or have you ever had a hamburger from a fast-food restaurant and noticed you barely must chew the meat it is bite and swallow, only to be hungry a few hours later. The food we eat makes changes in body chemical and hormonal that do literally make you feel like you need to eat again (email me if you want me to go deeper into this). But that is the point and remember than when putting something in your mouth. 1-Are you hungry? 2-Is the food you are picking likely to make you feel worse? If you are eating and you find that you feel hungry every coupled hour, you are eating the wrong food, or you have eaten the wrong food for so long you are hormonally out of balance.
Culprit number 3-NEAT-huh? Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (affectionately called the fidget factor). There are some people, I happen to be one of them, that just don’t stop moving, even when seated they move, tap a foot, shift in their seat, get up and move around for no reason. This is done unconsciously so it really is not something you can add into your life, if you try to its then called “exercise”. So how is me telling you this helpful? Well unfortunately whenever we start a new exercise program or diet, we will unconsciously try to conserve calories. The body doesn’t like to lose it likes to hold onto fat in case we need it were there to be famine. So be aware of that you should factor that in when trying to make changes. Even if you do not add exercise in but plan to start a new diet plan, calculate the number of steps you normally take in a day and make sure you maintain that or even try to increase by 1000. Or consciously add more movement into your day like intentionally parking further away from a store entrance or taking stairs instead of the elevator. You need to do this because now you know your body will secretly try to sabotage you by reducing your fidget factor to save energy.
So, what do you do with all this info? Well, you almost need to make a new you, but in a positive way. Find some hobbies that don’t involve food. This might mean hanging out at different places with different people. Think about your day and when and why you are eating and when you do eat what food choices could you make that are healthier. Plan it out so you don’t wait until you are hangry then eat whatever is in close proximity. It might seem like a lot of change and work at first but that is how you achieve goals but putting off what you want now for what you want most and you cannot attack a problem with the same habits and mindset that got you there!
“Losing weight is hard, being fat is hard, choose your hard”
