It is so easy for the fitness and health nuts to say losing weight is easy. All you have to do is eat less and exercise more. I spent many weeks and months doing that very thing, only to have it blow up in my face as soon as I stopped. Sometimes I couldn’t even get myself started because I was thinking of the impending deprivation. So I started asking myself a better question. How can I get this extra weight off without starving or depriving myself?
Hear me and hear me well when I tell you that there is nothing wrong with you. You did not do fail at the diet, it failed you. It worked against your very nature and THAT is why you found yourself eating and overeating, often gaining weight after a diet.
After 20+ years of yo-yo dieting and trying and failing at “eating in moderation”, I discovered some very important keys to being able to eat what you want without losing control, how to sneak healthy habits into your lifestyle without spending hours planning, how to enjoy regular movement and the biggie-how to effectively break free from patterns of self-sabotage, procrastination and emotional overeating.
You don’t have to count calories to lose weight
Your body has the ultimate say in what you should eat, when and how much. How do you know when to eat? Some signals includes: a growling stomach, decreased concentration, sudden thoughts about food. How do you know when to stop? If you are paying attention, you will notice a comfortable fullness, yet lightness in your stomach. These signals are the most reliable because they take into account all factors, not just energy expenditure when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.
Willpower is not your problem, fighting against your instincts is the problem
Our body is designed to protect us from starvation and times of famine. Any time we deprive ourselves of the amount of food we need OR a type of food we are craving, our body thinks we are in times of lack, and start protecting us by holding on to excess fat and forcing us to crave high sugar and fat to prepare for the lack that awaits us. Your primal instincts will beat willpower ever time. It is not that you are lazy or lack discipline.
No Pain, No Gain Does not work
When it comes to exercise, doing the hardest exercise to burn calories can backfire for two reasons: it can cause increased hunger, effectively negating any calories burned from the activity and if it is not an activity we enjoy, it can be viewed as punishment, leading to short-term results. The solution? Forget exercising to lose weight. Envision how you feel afterwards and get excited about being able to feel good. Find the activities you enjoy doing and go do those, because the best exercise is the exercise that gets done on a regular basis.
Weighing yourself every day or every week is making things worse
We think it’s a good way to keep score, but if we don’t see what we think we should on the scale, it’s usually seen as a reason to begin the negative self-talk. “What’s wrong with me? Why isn’t this working? This isn’t working.” When we think like that how do we feel? Lousy. When we feel lousy what do we do? Eat. Or in the case of exercise, we quit. See? I told you.
Your body cannot be molded by doing specific exercises
Don’t believe the hype! I naturally build muscle quickly and easily. My bestie does not. We can do the same exact exercise and I will get toned and she will remain long and lean. Getting comfortable in your own skin and appreciating-not hating-the attributes that make you uniquely you will help you achieve lasting results far greater than trying to beat your body into submission.
You have to stay away from certain foods in order to lose weight
You can lose weight by eating what you want. Going back to the principle of famine. If the body thinks that we are in times of scarcity, it will force you to crave certain foods. By giving yourself unconditional permission to eat what you crave and savor it, you give your body the signal that food is plentiful and there is no lack to worry about. It also takes the power away from the food, because you know that you can have it whenever you want.
When you lose the weight, life will be perfect
They paint the picture of frowning overweight people who are sm