In our eat-and-run, supersized portion laden culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be quite the task – and losing weight, even more challenging.
If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. We understand the feeling. But digging deeper and looking at the science, the truth is there is just no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss. In other words, what works for one person may not work for you, since our bodies respond differently to different foods, depending on genetics and other health factors.
So, don’t get discouraged if a diet that is effective for somebody else doesn’t have the desired results for you. And don’t beat yourself up if a diet proves too restrictive for you to stick with. Ultimately, a diet is only right for you if it’s one you can stick with over time… And to find the method of weight loss that’s a good fit for your life will likely take time and requires patience, commitment, and some experimentation with different foods and diets.
Too often, we see people treating dieting like a hop-on-hop-off bus… getting them from point A to point B, but with little sustainable habit building and/or learning happening along the way. After reaching their goals (point B), they hop off the bus, reverting back to the foods or behaviors that led them to gain weight in the first place. They may hop back on the bus and lose some weight again, but over the long-term, there is a yo-yo pattern. This is far from ideal for long term health and happiness – ultimately what so many (all?) of us are striving for.
To be successful at weight loss, you need to make sustainable changes. It’s less about what specific way of eating you follow (low-carb, low fat, Paleo etc.) but more about what works for you so you can stick with the changes you’ve made. So the next time you’re planning to hop back on the metaphorical weight-loss bus, consider where you’ve struggled in the past. Make sure to address those issues by making adjustments in some way this go-around to support your success. The great Albert Einstein may have said it best, putting this point into clear perspective:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again… expecting different results.”
While there’s admittedly no easy fix to losing weight, there are plenty of tried and true steps you can take to develop a healthier relationship with food, curb emotional triggers to overeating, and achieve lasting weight-loss success. Ultimately resulting in health promoting changes to your lifestyle and food choices; which, at the end of the day, really should be the outcome of any focused style of eating. With the goal of helping you establish a sustainable routine for yourself we’ve rounded up our favourite tips to help you get started:
- Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes. When temptation strikes, focus on the benefits you’ll reap from being healthier.
- Use tools to track your progress. Smartphone apps, fitness trackers, or simply keeping a journal can help you keep track of the food you eat, the calories you burn, and the weight you lose. Seeing the results in black and white can help you stay motivated.
- Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need.
- Get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep stimulates your appetite so you want more food than normal; at the same time, it stops you feeling satisfied, making you want to keep eating. Sleep deprivation can also affect your motivation, so aim for ~7-9 hours of quality sleep a night.
- Don’t forget that slow and steady wins the race. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. Aim to lose no more than 1% of your body weight per week so you’re losing fat rather than water and muscle.
We feel these points are very beneficial areas of focus to get you started. If you feel that you may benefit from the tailored guidance, support, and accountability of a coach we encourage you to contact us.
Led by a Certified Nutrition & Fitness Coach and a Registered Dietitian, our team helps clients transform their bodies through proper food intake while laying the foundation for a sustainable and lifelong approach to healthy eating and living. The MacroNutrition Coaching Team is committed to helping you establish optimal eating, activity, and healthy lifestyle practices one step at a time in a way that works with your life.
Our programs are covered by most extended health plans under Dietitian Services – we encourage you to look into yours to see if you qualify. Interested to learn more about what we offer before taking action? Review our FAQ page to answer many questions you may have.
You have nothing to lose – except unwanted weight – and so much to gain from working with this team.