Did you know that roughly 80% of dieters fail to lose weight and actually keep it off?
Yup, you read that right. It may seem like a big fat bummer (no pun intended), but what’s even sadder to me is this…
75% of women surveyed in the US admit to having unhealthy thoughts and behaviors about food and/or their bodies.
In my opinion, these two statistics are directly linked.
As a society, we’re struggling to lose weight, create healthy habits, and feel confident in our own skin. Then, with every diet attempt that fails, we lose even more self-confidence.
Eventually, after years of trying different diets, many women give up and just accept their unhealthy relationship with food and their body image as part of life…they resign to struggling with these issues forever.
But that doesn’t have to be your story! To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, you need to think critically about what’s going on the world and why so many people are getting burnt by dieting…
If our food and body image issues are tied to the fact that we try over and over again to lose weight with no long-term success, then the most important question to answer is this — Why do so many diets fail??
Personally, I suspect that the massive diet industry is to blame for this epidemic of dieting failures and unhealthy relationships with food and body image.
We’re constantly being marketed to…Facebook ads, Instagram influencers, TV commercials…There’s a non-stop stream of information about what new diet, supplement, or workout routine we need to buy next to reach our goals.
If more women received unbiased information about nutrition and exercise coupled with the behavior change tactics needed to actually implement that knowledge, I think we’d see the rates of success skyrocket!
That’s why I’m on a mission to teach others how to create long-term change and help women stop dieting, reach their goal weight, and maintain it for good.
Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/unexpected-clues-emerge-about-why-diets-fail/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422202514.htm
Top 4 Myths About Losing Weight — BUSTED!
If you’re ready to stop wasting time, energy, and money on diets that don’t work and finally create a long-term lifestyle of health, keep reading…
Today we’re examining 4 of the biggest myths about losing weight.
1. Calorie counting is the most effective way to lose weight.
While it’s true that being in a “caloric deficit” will make you lose weight, that’s not the full story…
There’s a lot of other factors at play in your body besides just calories in vs. calories out.
Focusing too much on calorie reduction can lead to a lot of unhealthy eating behaviors, like say, only eating low calorie foods…
Some of the most important nutrients for your body and brain come in the form of high calorie healthy fats — like olive oil, avocado, nuts, and seeds.
Skipping out on these healthy fats can have a negative impact on your hormones so it’s important to get your fair share of them daily.
Additionally, staying in a caloric deficit long-term slows the metabolism over time, leading to a continued need to cut calories more and more.
Again, I’m not arguing that you don’t need to be eating less calories than you burn — that’s just a fact.
But in order to achieve long-term weight loss (and not re-gaining the weight), it’s better to focus on increasing your metabolism rather than decreasing calories.
Increasing your metabolism may not be the “quick-fix” way to lose weight, but it is the sustainable way.
You can only decrease your calories so much, and who really wants to live that way anyway?!
For more information on the negative impact of calorie counting (and what you should try doing instead) check out this blog post: The 3 Keys to Fat Loss Without Counting Calories
Sources:
https://www.health.com/weight-loss/metabolism-myths
https://daveasprey.com/women-fat-loss/
https://draxe.com/nutrition/healthy-fats/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19710198/
2. You have to spend more money to get in shape.
Most people would agree that cooking more meals at home and eating mostly real, whole foods makes losing weight much easier.
Unfortunately, for many people, making this switch results in a higher grocery bill…
A lot of women also kick-off their health journey by signing up for a new membership with a gym or fitness studio — which can also be super pricey!
Then, to top it off, they might spend even more on things like protein powder, green juices, MCT oil, or whatever other exciting new healthy products they’ve been ~influenced~ to buy.
When all of these new expenses hit your account at once, you’re left thinking, “Sure, I wanna be skinny but DANG, how the heck am I supposed to afford all this?”.
But here’s the thing — you don’t need all that, especially not at first.
When it comes to eating healthy, there is SOOO much room for savings.
If you can avoid the temptation to search for a “quick-fix” and stick with the basics, you can have a very healthy diet without spending a boat-load of cash!
Here’s just a few money-saving ideas…
- Follow a free at-home workout routine on Youtube instead of paying for a fitness membership.
- Buy fruits and veggies that aren’t pre-chopped — they’ll usually be cheaper.
- Shop at a farmer’s market to save even more on fruits and veggies.
- Skip buying packaged snacks and stick with snacking on raw nuts, fruits and veggies.
- Find recipes online for healthy homemade sauces/dressings instead of buying them in store.
- Buy things like meat, frozen fruits and veggies, beans, grains, nuts and seeds in bulk and store them in the freezer or fridge for later use.
There’s plenty of ways to create a healthier lifestyle that doesn’t cost a ton of money, don’t believe the myth that eating right and exercising has to be expensive.
3. Intermittent fasting and Keto work for everyone.
When it comes to weight loss, everyone wants you to believe that their way is the best way.
Everywhere we turn, some new health guru is telling us what we have to do to get healthy…
The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that’ll be the “magic ticket” to weightloss success for everyone.
And YES, that includes the Keto diet and intermittent fasting (IF).
Although there are benefits to these approaches, we don’t know how healthy they are when utilized long-term…especially for women.
In fact, some are strongly advocating against these approaches for women because the research that has been done is predominately on men and post-menopausal women.
Women of “child-bearing age” have hormones that are very delicate and highly sensitive to changes in food, energy expenditure, and stress levels.
That’s why blanket statements about diet and weight-loss frameworks like IF and Keto can be misleading. Of course those strategies work well for some people….if they never worked we wouldn’t know about them.
But just because it worked for your friend, your cousin, or some YouTuber that you think is #bodygoals doesn’t mean it’ll work just as well for you.
If you want to test out Keto or IF to see if they work for you, I’m all for it. Just make sure you do plenty of research to ensure you’re doing it the healthy way and keep track of ALL your results, not just your weight loss results.
Watch for changes in your energy, sleep, mood, skin, period, appetite, and any other changes you may notice… If any of these are impacted in a negative way it may be a sign that your body is not thriving on this new plan.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3900181/
https://www.floliving.com/diets-and-hormones/
4. Doing MORE is always BETTER.
So many of us fall into the trap of thinking that if something is good for us, then more will be even better.
When it comes to your body (and your very delicate hormones and metabolism) that is so not the case!
For example, doing high intensity workouts every now and then can be great for you. You’ll get your heart-rate up, burn some calories, and leave with an awesome endorphin rush.
But does that mean you should start grinding it out on the Peleton for an hour a day?? HECK NO.
Overdoing it on high-intensity cardio exercise can lead to chronically elevated stress hormones which can increase your risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases.
Plus, chronically elevated stress hormones can negatively affect your appetite, slow down the metabolism, and signal the body to store more fat.
So too much of a good thing, can actually be a very bad thing.
Unfortunately, that fact is very counter to the messaging we often see…
We’re told we need to eat more and more of the same healthy foods, do more and more of the same intense workouts, and take more and more of the same weight loss supplements.
…all because someone out there is making BANK when we use their products and services religiously!
We need to be smarter about our health by creating more room for flexibility.
Switching up the foods you eat, workouts you do, and supplements you take can have tremendous benefits.
Don’t fall prey to the marketing messaging that more and more of a good thing is always better.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cortisol-symptoms
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/search/research-news/13070/
One More Thing…
If you’ve tried over and over again to get fit but all your past attempts just left you feeling stuck and hopeless, you’re not alone.
I know what it’s like to go all-in on a Monday, only to fall off the wagon by Friday afternoon…then start the cycle all over again… and never be consistent enough to make any real change.
That was my life for years.
I finally figured out how to create habits that are sustainable, and most importantly, enjoyable, and find a healthy relationship with food, eating and my body.
If you’ve been struggling to create consistency and the results you’re looking for in your own health, click here to read more about my journey and how I can help you find the same healthy balance that I have.
With the right combination of a science-based food and exercise plan and habit-based behavior change, you can reach your health goals for good — no matter how many times you tried before.
September 9, 2021
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