How many diets have you tried? How many weight loss challenges or gym memberships have gone wasted? Do you ever feel like it’s harder for you than others to lose weight? Maybe you lose the weight, only to put it all back on after your diet or challenge has finished. There are many reasons why this could be happening, but the top 5 reasons may give you a different perspective on weight loss.
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Stress is your enemy
I’ve said it so many times, but I’ll say it again – stress will be your number one enemy when it comes to losing weight. Stress plays havoc on our adrenal glands which are in control of our fight or flight response. When we’re chronically stressed it disrupts the normal functioning of our adrenal glands, which in turn contributes to weight gain – especially around our mid-section.
Stress can also lead to sleep deprivation. Only one night of sleep deprivation is enough to cause major imbalances to our hormone levels. We all know what our hormones can do to our weight!
What can we do? Every day, find 10 minutes at least to just lay flat and breathe. No mobile phones, no distractions. Just lay flat and be still for 10 minutes. This will signal to your body to relax and calm your adrenal glands. Ensure you’re getting some down time every day and going to bed at a decent hour.
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Are you worried too much about fat and not about sugar?
Fat is not the bad guy you’ve been led to believe it is. This doesn’t mean I’m giving you the green light to go and gorge yourself on fast food; fast food is a big no-no if you’re trying to lose weight. Rather, educating yourself on the different types of fat and which ones to avoid is your best plan of attack.
The benefits of healthy fats to weight loss include:
- They help you to feel full for longer – meaning less bingeing and unhealthy snacks.
- Eating healthy fats will help you to burn fat!
- Fat is needed to create hormones and thus prevents hormone imbalances
- They improve your mood – making you more likely to want to exercise
Where can you find healthy fats? Nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, flaxseed oil, fatty fish like salmon and mackerel all provide extremely healthy sources of fat. Eat more of these and less fast food, bakery treats, pastries and deep fried food.
Now, let’s have a quick talk about sugar. So many people avoid fat at all costs, but they don’t have an issue with having a can of coke or a bowl of ice-cream. This is going to hold you back every time. If you think you’re not a big sugar eater – try creating a food diary for a week or two. Look back and see if you’re consuming any of the following:
- Muesli bars, fruit bars or packaged snacks
- More than 2 serves of fruit per day
- Fruit juices (both home-made or store bought)
- Breakfast cereals (I am yet to see an exception to this)
- Sugar added to coffee, tea, cereals, or anything else. Just see how much you are adding everyday
- Soft drinks, energy drinks, flavoured milks etc.
- Sweets and treats
How many of these are in your food diary? Compare it to how many cups of fresh vegetables you are consuming daily, how many cups of water you’re drinking, how much lean animal and vegetarian sources of protein. Your diet may be “low in fat” or “low in sugar” but is it really healthy? A healthy diet is more than just how little of one food item you’re eating.
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Lifestyle change, don’t diet – are you actually eating healthy?
Most diets and challenges last about 6 to 12 weeks, right? But what happens after the diet has finished? You may continue to eat ‘healthy’ for a week, maybe two, but slowly you may slip back into those same habits which caused your weight gain in the first place. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a magic pill. If you want a healthy body, you need to make a lifelong commitment to healthy eating and lifestyle.
Healthy eating doesn’t mean complete abstinence from fun foods. Quite the contrary, actually. Complete abstinence will only lead to bingeing. Instead, treat yourself once or twice a week with a small treat. There are always healthier versions of treats available which you can use in your favour. Home-made is always going to result in less nasties such as preservatives and additives and probably less sugar and unhealthy fats.
Don’t give up! Healthy eating can sometimes be hard for some who have no idea what to cook. Healthy eating doesn’t need to be boring either. Do some research, check out some healthy websites with recipe ideas and meal plans and train yourself to be healthy. It takes practice but you will get there, trust me!
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Don’t over exercise
Yep, too much exercise can actually make you gain weight. Strange, but true. It works on the same wavelength as the section earlier on stress. Excessive exercise actually engages your adrenal glands and makes them work overtime. This leads to loads of cortisol and the body believing it is under attack from a predator (like our ancestors who would run away from sabre tooth tigers). It’s a bit of a defence mechanism and our body thinks it’s doing us a favour.
Remember, you need to rest. Sleep and rejuvenation are extremely important for weight loss, I really cannot stress this enough. Have a couple of rest days every week and don’t have workouts that last hours and hours. Half an hour to an hour per day is great.
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Starving yourself
This is a mistake so many people make. Skipping meals, eating teeny tiny meals and even meal replacing – these are all nightmares for weight loss. Meal replacements can work in losing weight, yes, however studies show that more often than not, people put the weight back on eventually.
When we lower our calorie intake too much or skip meals, we are signalling to our thyroid that we are in starvation mode. This will cause our thyroid to make a hormone which will actually lower our metabolism. Guess what? This will make it harder for us to lose weight and even cause weight gain in some people.
This aside, you are depriving your body of vital nutrients required for weight loss, and everyday healthy bodily functions. There is no way that starving, meal replacing or severely lowering your calories is healthy or helpful in weight loss.