A Non Diet Approach To Weight Loss

Have you been trying to lose weight? Have you lost weight only to watch the number on the scale creep back up again? You are not alone. You are among 160 million other people in this country looking for answers and I am here to tell you it is not a diet that you need.

Why diets don’t work?

A diet is a restriction. You are following what someone else is telling you to eat. The foods on the diet may not be your preferences or the meal and snack schedule may not suit your lifestyle. You force yourself to adhere to the rules but for how long? The weight is lost and the person returns to eating the way he/she was eating before the diet with no change in the types of foods or amounts of foods  consumed and, lo and behold, the pounds return, often more weight than lost.

Yo-yo dieting continues the cycle. The person will follow the same or new diet to shed those pounds and create a yo-yo weight cycle. The problem here is that the dieter is not making long term changes in food behaviors or lifestyle to sustain weight loss and weight maintenance.

Following a diet can lead to deprivation, cravings, binging. A diet may identify forbidden foods which, once you allow yourself to have, lead you to feel like you have failed. Diets cause our internal cues to atrophy.

Diets may increase stress and fatigue. The very act of dieting affects metabolism and may reduce calorie needs making the body more likely to store fat.

Severe calorie restriction slows metabolism. Weight loss also increases production of appetite hormones to increase calorie intake and restore lost weight. The brain cannot differentiate between a self-imposed calorie deficit and starvation and goes into a self-preservation mode sending signals to the body systems to eat and store energy.

Dieting actually sets us up to regain the weight. Appetite hormones make you hungrier and more inclined to eat or increase the struggle not to eat. Losing lean body mass along with body fat slows the metabolism meaning fewer calories burned. Without adjusting for it, fewer calories burned from the lower body weight or slower metabolism, the weight loss will not be sustainable.

The diet mentality does not lead to long term success. The chronic dieter relies on virtuosity, willpower and friendships as tools to success. When things don’t work out, the dieter blames lack of willpower instead of changing the behaviors that prevent weight loss. What we eat is based on our food preferences, what’s available, what is convenient, and our lifestyle. Why should someone else tell us what to eat and what not to eat?

How can you lose weight and keep it off?

Permanent weight loss is achieved when lasting lifestyle change occurs. Small changes in your food intake or physical activity can make a big difference.

Together, we look at your challenges to weight loss or healthy weight maintenance.

We will consider your:

  • Food preferences and Food Behaviors
  • Medical History
  • Work/School schedules
  • Social Life and Family
  • Sleep habits and Stress
  • Leisure time
  • Food Selection/Cooking Abilities

With coaching, you will choose to change behaviors and food choices that will lead to weight loss. For some, it is not necessarily what you eat but how much that makes the difference. Others may find out that timing of meals and snacks, emotional eating at night or low physical activity negatively impacts your weight.

I will provide effective tools tailored to your individual needs, and continuing support to make small and significant changes. The small changes you choose, practiced over time, lead to permanent weight loss.

The only question left to answer is ARE YOU READY TO LOSE THE WEIGHT FOR THE LAST TIME?