Hard Truths From a Dietitian
Are you ready for some brutal honesty today?
As a dietitian working with clients on weight loss for over 7 years now I have heard and seen some pretty out there strategies or claims on how to lose weight. Now with social media I just see those claims getting more wild by the minute. So as a dietitian I feel responsible. Responsible for dispelling these myths and helping you steer clear of these diet strategies that are frankly damaging to both your mental and physical health. I love being able to tell me clients they get to eat bread again. That they don’t have to wake up at 4 am anymore to do those HIIT workouts they hate. Or that they don’t have to make 5 different meals for their family every night because they can actually eat like a normal person.
BUT I also feel responsible for dishing out some tough love sometimes. Which means I need to share some hard truths. Things you may not want to hear or be ready to hear, but are something you need to hear and recognize especially if you have been trying to lose weight for what feels like forever.
Let’s rip the Band-Aid off with the toughest one to hear first…
Your body may not be ready to lose weight
What the heck does this mean?! Let me explain. If you’re someone who has been dieting for years or trying to lose weight for as long as you can remember chances are you’ve been undereating or undernourishing for quite some time. This is a significant stressor on the body and will ultimately down regulate your metabolism. When your body is stressed or has been on a dieting rollercoaster, the last thing it wants to do is let go of precious stored resources, body fat. In some cases this might mean it is not the best time to focus on losing weight. You need to spend some time working on consistently fueling and nourishing your body, supporting your metabolism, healing your hormones and making your body feel safe before pursuing your weight loss goals.
Second, your goal weight might not be realistic.
This is not to be a discouraging comment, but you don’t have to be the same size you were in high school. Our bodies are meant to change. When I ask a woman I’m working with about their goal weight and how they landed on that number their response is either along the lines of “well that’s how much I weighed when I was younger” or “it just feels like a good number”. It is easy to get fixated on an arbitrary number and it may not actually be the healthiest weight for you.
Instead of setting sights on a specific number goal that may not actually be realistic for you in this stage of life, focus on the feeling. Imagine yourself at your goal weight, what does that feel like? Are you able to hike again? Go skiing without being concerned about falling? Confidently wear a bathing suit on a family beach day? Have the energy to play at the park with your kids without getting winded? Because I bet if you paused for a moment to think about it, the number on the scale is less important than being able to live your life to the fullest.
You may have to do things you don't enjoy to see the changes you want to see.
I work with many women who have weight loss resistance. Who have tried time after time after time to lose weight but the scale won’t seem to budge. I’ve also worked with women who just struggle to stay consistent with things or are resistant to change, because I get it change is hard! But the reality is, you will most likely have to do things you don’t love doing in order to see the body composition changes you desire.
Lastly, that 21-day shred isn’t going to get you long-term results
It’s easy to be tempted by the big promises of 21-day shreds, detoxes or 30-day diets, believe me I’ve done my fair share of those. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that you want to keep the weight off that you lose, that you want to actually feel good when you lose the weight, that you want to be healthy and you want to still be able to eat like a normal person and enjoy good food with your family. If that is the case, these short-term fixes are not the answer. You might feel great initially or lose weight quickly, but ultimately they are not supportive of healthy hormones or metabolism. In fact, they may be doing more harm than good.
Many of these quick fixes are very low calorie, low carb or include very intense workouts. All of which can again be a stressor on the body and increase your cortisol levels. If this is sustained or repeated often those elevated cortisol levels will negatively impact your thyroid, blood sugar and gut health, ultimately making it harder and harder to lose weight or keep it off each time you do it. You know how a diet “worked” the first time you did it but after the third or 4th time it didn't seem to make a dent, this might be why. So if you want long-term results you need to take an approach that you will also be able to sustain for long-term weight loss.
As hard as it might be to believe at times, your body wants to keep you safe and healthy. It doesn’t understand the societal pressures or our personal desires to look a certain way. It just knows the chemical processes it needs to do to keep this complex machine functioning. And that means that weight loss sometimes needs to go on the back burner or needs to be done in a way to supports these processes.
If you’re struggling with feeling like no matter what you do the scale won’t budge or that you just can’t get out of your own way to see long-term change, you’re not alone. And if you want to find answers as to why and get the support you need to break free from the diet cycle apply for 1:1 coaching to learn how.