How to Lose Weight this Time
We’ve been here before: Pants are snug. It’s uncomfortable to wear a tight top. Walking is uncomfortable. We are uncomfortable in our skin.
Sound familiar?
Yeah. You are not alone. According to the Cleveland Clinic, experts believe between 85-90% of dieters gain back the weight they worked incredibly hard to lose. Endocrinologist and obesity specialist, Dr. Marcio Griebeler believes this could be due to a weight “set point” that evolves over time as a combination of genetics, hormones, behavior and environment.
According to this article from the Cleveland Clinic, one’s metabolism burns energy at a rate that will maintain a person’s weight set point. Unfortunately, metabolism may not always differentiate between a healthy weight and an unhealthy weight.
Many of us have heard the above news before. And, it is possible that this theory has helped to normalize overweight and obesity in our society.
Let’s not point fingers. Let’s instead focus on what we can control. Genetics - done deal. Hormones - can be tricky, and managed. Behavior and environment - now, we are talking.
Years of dieting can negatively affect our metabolism by lowering it to a point that makes losing weight even on very calorie-restrictive diets difficult. And, according to Dr. Griebeler, it doesn’t matter if it’s keto, paleo, low-carb, low-fat - it just does not matter. AND all is not for not!
It turns out that focusing on healthy behaviors is the most important factor we can concentrate on for weight loss. Research says that 40% of our success losing weight and keeping it off can be attributed to our own behaviors. And. We can learn new behaviors. We all want to believe if we eat mounds of low-fat food, we will lose weight because it was low-fat! Somewhere along the line, we gave up on “what is healthy” or “what is enough” and moved towards “I want it”, “I need it”, “It’s cheap and easy”, and let’s be honest, “I love it when I’m in it and then feel awful”.
What to Eat
A Healthy Diet: emphasis on Healthy. What does that mean exactly? “Healthy”. Can I eat brown rice? Can I eat sweet potatoes? Can I eat low-fat cookies I made with monk fruit instead of sugar? We have long known that filling our plate with vegetables is a healthy choice. Start here. One little adjustment at a time. Are you eating mostly vegetables?
You want cookies? Chips? Bars? Yeah. me, too. The fact is these are empty calories that literally do nothing for you. Nothing.
Choose a healthy diet of whole foods that will serve you and let everything else go.
How much to Eat
Second, how much are you eating? Be honest. Measure, weigh, critically examine and by all means track every single thing that goes into your head through your mouth. The results will likely surprise you. Once you recover from disbelief, make positive changes.
When to Eat
This sounds like a no-brainer, right? Be honest, again. How often are you putting something in your mouth “because….” and the answer to that is not hunger? Think about this one for a minute.
Exercise
Many of us believe we must walk or run to lose weight. Then when the weight is gone, we must be ok to go back to sitting around. To quote Home Simpson, “Dohhhhhhhhhhh”. Just like building healthy habits around the foods we choose to consume, healthy habits built around daily exercise are equally important. Cardio, strength and resistance training, as well as flexibility exercises are critical to overall health, mobility, positive mood and disease risk-reduction.
Stress
Managing stress has become one of the most critical components to a healthy diet. Why? Because research shows when we are stressed, we do not always make the best choices for our health. Besides the fact that stress raises the level of the stress hormone, cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol increase insulin levels and lower blood sugar levels. And here comes the parade of craving cues. Instead of caving into emotional eating, explore meditation, yoga, journaling, talking to your spouse or close friend.
Sleep
Do you know what jacks up cortisol levels, affects our ability to make decisions and also affects mood? Lack of sleep increases cortisol. (See above for those affects.) Research also shows that people who do not get enough sleep make poor decisions when it comes to eating. Additionally, when our mood is low or artificially high due to lack of sleep, we turn to poor food choices.
These are simple guidelines. You may not feel ready to tackle all of them at once and that is ok. Our behaviors have been with us most of our lives, creating new ones will not happen over night. What can you do today? Choose one thing to work on and when you get the hang of it, add another component. Create and follow healthy food habits. Cultivate an exercise routine that you enjoy and can stick to every week. Explore your stress reduction outlets. Hit the sack early and sleep an average of 8 hours/night.
Finally, hire a health coach to support and guide you on this journey because it’s hard! Yes, you can do hard things. The question is, are you going to? A health coach will help you get started, guide you along the way with resources backed in science, and skillfully ease you into a healthier lifestyle chosen and designed by you, for you.