For many people, losing weight seems nearly impossible. It can feel like the universe is conspiring against you to be at your goal weight.
When weight doesn’t come off the way we expect it to, particularly after we’ve made some real modifications to our diet and lifestyle - it’s important to step back and do some deeper investigation.
Many of us hold the outdated strategy that in order to lose weight we need to eat less and exercise more. Whilst that makes perfect sense in theory, in reality, for many this is ineffective and unsustainable long term.
When we look at weight loss through the lens of dynamic eating psychology and mind body nutrition we can address the missing ingredients in nutrition, and the missing ingredients in psychology that I believe we need to know to advance our understanding and our success when it comes to weight and its loss.
So what are some other common causes of weight loss resistance outside of excess calories:
- Eating a poor quality diet
- Lack of high-quality fat in the diet
- Lack of high-quality protein in the diet
- An overall imbalanced macronutrient profile
- Chronic dieting and food restriction
- Heavy metal toxicity
- Inflammation – from numerous causes
- Insulin resistance
- Excess cortisol (stress response)
- Poor digestion
- Hormonal factors
- Imbalanced gut microbiome
- Skewed and imbalanced meal timing
- Not enough sleep
- Lack of awareness while eating
- Eating too fast
- Emotional Factors
- Excess intense exercise
- Prior emotional trauma
This list goes on and on, and there are even more factors that quite frankly, would surprise you. What this says though, is that the world of weight loss is not quite as straight forward as a simple calorie/energy equation. If it was, we would have all done it, had wonderful success and there would be no need for a “weight loss industry”.
The reality is we need to take a mind body nutrition approach. This means we need to factor in both the internal and external influences that can affect weight loss. We need to look at it not just from a nutritional standpoint, we also need to open our minds, open our hearts, stop the attack, stop the judgment, and listen with an honest curiosity.
Are there people who simply need some nutritional adjustments? Yes.
Are there people who eat all the right foods and do all the right exercise and still can’t lose weight? Yes.
Are there people whose excess weight is due to some combination of any of these factors above? Yes.
Are there people who think they need to lose some amount of weight and actually don’t have any weight to lose? Absolutely yes.
We’re creatures of body, mind, heart and soul, which means that we may have to address our weight challenges in any or all of these realms.
Extra weight, is not the enemy, nor should we fight it.
It’s the wisdom of life speaking through the body. Because each of us is on a unique journey through life, then it stands to reason that there are many reasons why we carry extra weight.
So where do we start when it comes to weight loss resistance? Where do we start when it feels like we are eating all the right food and doing all the exercise and we are still not losing weight?
We start with reviewing your macro nutrient balance to ensure you aren’t deficient in any macro nutrients, that you aren’t skipping meals in a bid to cut calories. We also do look at exercise – this is an interesting realm as for some people, they think that doing extreme amounts of physical activity will get them to that yearned for body, however it can often have the opposite effect and take you in the other direction. You need to find the right balance of movement in terms of energy output combined with choosing movement you love (not hate but push yourself to do) that will support weight loss.
Then we move on to the psychological factors that impact our inability to lose weight, of which there may be many. The way you use food to cope in certain situations, the way you are holding on to past trauma that can exist as a low level stress response in your body, the fact that you grew up in a dieting household which has influenced the way you view food and body, your lack of self worth or self confidence that makes you not feel deserving of the body you want. There are so many reasons why your emotional realm may be causing your weight loss resistance that has little to do with food itself. This is where the work lies and where the magic happens. Addressing the emotional realm in conjunction with nutritional support will give you the best opportunity for success in weight loss.
So if you feel like you are doing all the right things but still can’t lose weight, then maybe that’s your body’s way of saying you need to look deeper. Our bodies are very very clever bio computers – they speak to us, we just need to get better at listening to them.
If this is something you need help with, please book a free no-obligation 15 minute consult on the book me tab of my website. I would love to help.