Why is it so hard to lose weight when all you have to do is eat right and move around a bit more?
If only it were that simple!
In the main it’s only people who’ve never had a weight problem who think that.
Although some people could definitely benefit from learning more about how to feed their body well, most people struggling with their weight already know how to do it better than they are doing.
Focusing entirely on what you should and shouldn’t be eating, and that you should be moving around more is keeping your eye fixed on the really superficial stuff. Which means you miss the important stuff – the stuff that will actually make a big difference when you sort it out.
The main reason you’re overweight is that you’re getting your nutrition wrong in some way:
- You keep eating more than you need
- You keep eating the wrong foods, even though you know they’re making you fat
- You repeatedly do restrictive diets, even though you know they don’t work
You might be doing all three! This is all surface stuff, which has its cause a bit deeper.
Why Is It So Hard To Lose Weight?
It’s because you don’t address WHY you are getting it all wrong with your nutrition.
You don’t address the cause of your behaviour around food. Until you do you will keep struggling.
Only about 5% of overweight people successfully lose their weight and keep it off. They manage this because they’re not entirely focused on fixing the superficial problem. They dig a bit deeper to find the cause of their superficial problem and deal with it.
Why are you getting it wrong with your nutrition? You might not even know, a lot of people don’t.
The quick fix diet industry relies on people not realising that there is more to it than the superficial.
Some really interesting stuff comes out with my weight loss clients. Typically they’ve tried every diet under the sun and have been struggling with their weight for years – totally focused on superficial stuff, and trying to tackle it with dieting.
My job is to find out their ‘why‘. Why can’t you do this ‘simple’ thing of feeding yourself right? Why is it so hard to lose weight for you? And how can we make this easy?
Once we find out what it is we can deal with it. Once it’s dealt with the ‘simple’ thing of feeding yourself does actually become doable and enjoyable! When you create a good relationship with food eating becomes a joy.
Here are the top 3 ‘whys’ I’ve come across with my clients:
‘Food’ Addiction
I use the word ‘food’ lightly here because what I mean is an addiction to ‘drug food’ – sugar and refined white carbs.
A bit more about food addiction here – why am I addicted to food?
Not Liking Yourself
You’ve got this going on if you find it tough to go to a mirror right now, look yourself in the eye and say “I think you’re great!”
Do that right now!
If you find that tough (a lot of people do), this is holding you back from losing your weight. Why would you go to so much effort for someone you don’t like? You won’t.
Wanting To Hide
Some people actually have a deep rooted fear of being slim because they’re afraid of being noticed, maybe afraid of being attractive and receiving sexy attention. Their weight is their protection.
This isn’t the kind of stuff that gets aired at your weekly weigh in session. It remains under the surface preventing you losing your weight, by keeping your behaviour (and the superficial stuff that results from that) in place.
Is now a good time to look at your why is it so hard to lose weight?
Have a great week!
Dr Julie