In my recent blog post 10 Tips to Lose Weight Naturally I discussed safe natural solutions for your weight problems and your overall well-being. Now, I want to talk about some of the problems we, as Americans, face when trying to lose weight. We live in a society that makes it nearly impossible to lose weight. We see problems with obesity everywhere we go. When you really understand just how our American culture affects our weight, it’s easy to understand why. For the first time since 1993, life expectancy for Americans declined last year due to the worsening health problems in the United States; heart disease and stroke, diabetes, drug overdoses cited by the National Center for Health Statistics. In all, death rates rose for eight of the top 10 leading causes of death.
I am going to give you some information that will help you spot the barriers to weight loss that you experience in your everyday life so that you can overcome them. This is information to help bring awareness to some things that you know on some level – even if you aren’t paying attention.
Too Much Information
Advertising and marketing, misinformation, and disinformation are ways the media steps into the fray. Every day it seems like we have a new expert who’s got a miracle cure for weight loss. There is so much information out there, it’s nearly impossible to know who to listen to. Every company in the food or the diet industry has something to say. Often the campaigns contradict each other. And on top of that, the more often a food is advertised usually the worse it is for you. Have you ever seen an advertisement for kale or quinoa? I know I haven’t.
Simply put, there’s too much information out there. You are bombarded with information about food, nutritional data, health benefits and risks – often by special interest groups. It’s easy to get confused about what you should eat.
Wading through the Misinformation
Everything we hear is not right. I ask you to do your own diligence when it comes to which information works for you when it comes to making healthy food choices. I eat plant foods so it’s gotten a little easier for me because I’m not distracted with all of the media and messaging in the main stream. I also encourage my clients to eat more veggies and not rely on the media to educate you in what you need to do for your life because the truth is it’s not working.
Finding Your Balance
A busy lifestyle promotes fast food and eating on the run because you feel like you don’t have time to cook. The result is prolonged stress. This increases a hormone that slows the metabolism, can affect blood sugar levels, and increases cravings for fatty, salty, or sugary foods. All of these things result in a general lack of balance in life.
Why Diets Don’t Work
This is another barrier to weight loss. When you understand why most diets don’t work you can scale the wall that held you back. I’m sure you have tried to diet and had it fail in one way or another, whether it was because you gained all the weight back or because you just didn’t lose anything. In general, there are three reasons diets don’t work.
- They’re not sustainable. Diets can be alienating, stressful, depressing and restrictive. You cringe at just hearing the word diet. You naturally want to fight back against all the restrictions you place on your life because of the diet you’re on.
- They’re not bio-individual. They don’t take your lifestyle or who you are into consideration. This is why the same diet doesn’t work for everyone. Fad diets come and go because they are not universal and not customized to fit each person.
- There is a high cost. And finally, most diets come with a hefty price tag attached to them. They require you to buy expensive specialty foods or prepared meals. They’re focused on bringing in money for the company that sponsors them rather than actually educating you about what to eat and how much to eat.
Overcoming Barriers
The more you know and understand about dieting and healthy eating, the more likely you are to overcome barriers associated with our culture and all of these so-called diet plans that just don’t work.
A diet is temporary and almost always based on calorie counting. This is about a lifestyle, not diet. It’s a decision for you to once and for all take responsibility for your health and wellbeing and never look back. I am advocating that you make a permanent lifestyle change. It’s really important that you be realistic with yourself and the way you make changes in what you eat. And if you need some help getting started reach out to me right here on the Diane Randall Consults website, you know that there are things you can do to take better care of yourself, but often you don’t do anything because you say you don’t have the time.
The key to success is having support and there are a lot of ways to get support these days. I can help you. There are support groups both online and off. There are meetup groups where you can meet like-minded people who have the same interests as you.
Getting support is all about ensuring your success. When you understand the connection between what you eat, why you eat, and how you feel, you will be in control and on your way to enjoying a happier, healthier, more energetic life free of cravings and emotional eating. To learn more, listen to the full podcast and learn 10 tips to release weight naturally, click here.
I hope you learned something of value and find these tips helpful. Leave a comment to tell me about your thoughts and plans around overcoming your barriers.