At it’s foundations, weight loss is all about eating less food than you consume, so that, overtime, you begin to use your stored fuel (aka bodyfat) for energy. If only it were that simple, we would all be ripped and super-model-like!In this weight loss journey, you’ll quickly realise the old adage is true “you can’t out train a bad diet”. What this means is that it’s almost impossible to continually up your exercise and burn more energy as a means to getting weight loss.
You need to take less energy in. With this come a myriad of human complications arising from youth, hormones, habits and knowledge.
That is why the first thing I do with clients who want weight loss is to ask them this most important question: Why do we eat food?
It’s a great question, right?
This blog will share with you three little-known reasons why we eat, and the answer will give you insights into human psychology and weight loss that is so simple to apply, it’ll help you immensely on your journey.
In this weight loss journey, you’ll quickly realise the old adage is true “you can’t out train a bad diet”. What this means is that it’s almost impossible to continually up your exercise and burn more energy as a means to getting weight loss.
You need to take less energy in. With this come a myriad of human complications arising from youth, hormones, habits and knowledge.
That is why the first thing I do with clients who want weight loss is to ask them this most important question: Why do we eat food?
It’s a great question, right?
The answer gives you insights into human psychology and weight loss that is so simple to apply, it’ll help you immensely on your journey.
1. HEALTH
Let’s start with the easiest one – health. I think by this stage, we all understand that nutrition plays a key role in health. You eat healthy, you’ll have more energy, less pain and live better.
Healthy food, then, provides more than just energy. It gives you all of the building blocks for a healthy life, include energy. These include proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and water. That means weight loss need to factor in energy demands, plus healthy living – something that is often forgotten in many diets.
Take the standardised American diet for example. Adopted by the Europeans too, this is the foundation diet for all government food policy in the western world. Just last week, Americans have finally changed their ways after 70+ years of food lobbying and injustry profit.
Under the Trump administration, RFK Jnr., has (mostly) ignored industry, and refocused this foundational food policy away from industry to health. Gone is the focus on carbohydrates, and processed foods. Protein has been restored to its rightful place alongside fats and whole dairy (the lobby groups got in there somehow!).
This policy will take time to filter down to us, but we can still eat healthy before the government change their ways. The basics of good nutrition boil down to ABCD’s.
The ABCD’s of good nutrition are: Adequate Protein, Balanced Fats, Controlled Carbohydrates and Diversity of Food.
Without getting too deep into how we change our food habits, understand that one of three reasons why humans consume food is for health and the building blocks of health are the ABCD’s of food, which form the brand new food pyramid in the USA. The second reason is, perhaps, less important, but far more influential on our eating patterns.
2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE
Take a classic case of a teenage breakup as described by Hollywood. The old story goes that when a boy breaks up with a girl, the girl goes home and stuffs herself with Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream watching endless series of Gilmore girls, the OC and housewives of New York (anyone stemming from my generation anyhow, whereas today’s girls might have a different show). This is what we term ‘emotional eating’, and it can be applied to any stressor in life, not just break ups.
Eating your weeks’ worth of calories in a sitting is not something that’s reserved for teenage girls, boys, men and women often find themselves eating when stressed. We can also eat copious amounts of foods when we’re happy, angry or feeling any other emotion in an extreme range.
And no matter how much we want to be ‘good’, to stay on track with our nutrition, to achieve our weight loss, no amount of willpower overpowers the strength of a strong emotion. Which emotion triggers you is an individual thing, created as a coping mechanism when you were young.
All is not lost though. We are not resigned to be slaves to our emotions. It’s just not a good idea to start a strict eating plan, when you haven’t addressed the emotional balance first.
Even though eating for health is physically more important to our longevity, eating for emotional balance often takes priority in the moment.
Address emotional balance first, and then you’re more likely to succeed with your weight loss goals. Before you go and start, first consider the final reason we eat food.
3. SOCIAL
Imagine a scenario where you are doing fantastic with your new plan. You’re one month in, 10 lbs down and rocking the new lifestyle. Your stresses are balance, you’re feeling great and you’re loving your new life. Then your mam invites you to Sunday dinner.
If you know an Irish mammy, you’ll know that this means one thing – a feast for the ages. Roast beef and gravy. Creamy cauliflower topped with cheese and oceans of butter melting over three varieties of spuds. Delicious. Then there’s the homemade apple tart, and scoops of ice-cream topped with luscious cream for dessert. It’s one luxurious reminder of childhood after another. And with that deliciousness is an obvious mountain of calories destroying your new-found nutrition and your goals get thrown out the door.
Family and friends can be the ruin of anybody’s new lifestyle. That is because social eating is a core aspect of life. Sunday roasts, christenings, Christmas all have food at their epicentre. Birthdays and funerals the same. In fact, it is hard to find a social or cultural tradition without food attached to it, making it extremely difficult to adhere to your plans and achieve your goals.
The solution is simple – never see your family again.
Lol, only joking.
The solution is not simple. Every occasion you have, you’ll have to walk the tightrope balancing the needs of the occasion with your goals. This is normal. However, I don’t think this is where you need to start.
Rather, you may find my solution, built on twenty years of coaching weight loss, to be more manageable.
Start by acknowledging why you eat a certain meal – health, social or emotional balance.
Make sure your healthy meals are actually healthy – 100%. Taking it that you eat three meals per day. It is likely that every meal Monday-Friday and four out of six meals at the weekend are dedicated to health or emotional balance, with two meals for social. I could be wrong here, and that’s find – adjust your numbers as needs be. That converts to nineteen out of twenty meals are for health and emotional balance.
Find out how many of these meals are for emotional balance.
Address your emotional balance through lifestyle before you start adjusting diet – breathe, exercise, journal, have the hard conversations, clear out your drawers…do the things that bring calm to you.
When you are ready – remember the ABCD’s of eating in the new food pyramid. Eat natural foods – adequate protein, balanced fats, controlled carbs and a diversity of food.
Finally….enjoy your food.
When you’re out with friends – be out and have fun. When you need food to balance your emotions, acknowledge that then eat healthy again afterwards.
Keep a focus on your goals, and enjoy the process. Remember, the game is long and it’s only with yourself.
Thank you for reading this blog. If you found it to be helpful, please spread the love and share it with a friend.
If you’d like the way I approach your goals, maybe you’d like some coaching to get you kickstarted too. Drop me a message on whatsapp or email me.
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