Weight! You’ve Got It All Wrong!
I love my garden!
For the past 20 years, I have worked to inspire others to start and maintain a dedication to healthy living. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s a passion of mine that makes what I do very rewarding. Since I started in this business, much has changed. If you’re like me, you’ve probably jumped on the fat-free bandwagon, the oat bandwagon, low-carb, high-carb and any other “health” fad that came across weight loss radar. Like millions of people, if news was reporting that fat-free could save your life, by God fat-free was for me! However, in the last 5 or so years, I have come to understand that health and wellness information is like anything else we read, there are a hundred sides to every story. This means that it’s ultimately up to us to read, research and find out what is best for us and our body. What’s good for your sister, might not be the same for you.
In 20 years, the one constant I have found that is that weight loss is elusive for many because of nutrition. Yeah, yeah, exercise is certainly part of the equation but if push comes to shove and I have to pick, I would say that poor nutrition, or better said, confused nutrition is the reason that so many people struggle with weight. C’mon, how many times have you started an exercise program only to find that within 6 weeks the weight you’d lost was marginal and soon after tiring of the “diet” the weight came back, and then some?
I recently started training a new client. He’s very out of shape and for a young man, has lost control of nutrition. Additionally, like many other Americans, his job prevents him from keeping a regular exercise schedule alive. He’s pushing 50 and has been told by his doctor that changes need to be made or he’ll be on meds within 2 years. He came to me for exercise assistance and though we discussed the options for exercise, when it came to nutrition he said, “Well if I’m exercising, it really doesn’t matter, right?” WRONG! He believed that he would be burning off calories so that anything he ate wouldn’t matter. There’s two things here, first, people don’t often exercise hard enough or regular enough to create a consistent deficit = sustainable weight loss. That’s a common misconception. Second, no matter how much you exercise, the fuel that you put in to your body DOES matter. It’s no different than saying it doesn’t matter if you pour a gallon of paint in to the gas tank of your car. Um, yeah, it might make a difference. Same with food, you put junk in, low quality food and that’s what you get, feeling “icky” and low energy.
When I shared with my client that food was the majority of the weight loss puzzle he said, ” I wouldn’t know where to start, further, I have a very busy job.” I understand that all too well. So I encouraged him to first write down for a couple of weeks what he’s putting in his mouth. I think we can all agree that very often we’ll pay little attention to the quality of food we’re eating as long as we’re satisfied, right? Once he has an idea on his eating habits, where, why, what, THEN he can begin to address small changes here and there that don’t seem catastrophic to his current lifestyle. The truth is that many people aren’t willing to be inconvenienced by healthy changes, so the changes have to be small enough that they don’t seem that life altering. Make sense?
We are country that’s in a mess when talking about diet and exercise, there’s no doubt. But there is so much garbage, and promises of “easy” weight loss, that so many simply give-up because the task to lose weight and get healthy is daunting. For starters, ask yourself, “What do I want to change and why?” If you can answer that question with a response that will keep you focused, you can start making small changes. Start with something as basic as drinking more water. If you’re a diet soda drinker, strive to eliminate soda gradually from your diet. If you eat a lot of meat, try cooking some meals without meat (the internet is full of great recipes). If you’re a snacker, what is the quality of snacks you’re eating? If it’s chips, opt for a handful of almonds, or some rice crackers (not cakes, crackers) and a small bit of hummus. A bowl of fruit. We have gotten so far away from the foods we’re meant to eat and instead ended up in the land of processed foods and it’s killing us. Start paying more attention to ingredients in your foods, sodium amounts, additives and quantity of food, we eat waaaaay too much food. If you’re a sugar person, how can you start today, by reducing the amount of sugar in your diet? Do you eat plenty of vegetables each day? If not, how can you begin to incorporate more. These are a lot of questions, but start with just one thing, when you feel you’ve mastered it, move on to another change and so on and so on.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you cannot expect to change unhealthy habits in a week, a month or even a year. I personally still strive to improve my diet and knowledge of nutrition every single day. I am a firm believer in “food and mood,” when I eat well, I feel well. There is so much confusion about weight loss and nutrition it can make your head spin. Take it slow, listen to your body after you eat, what is it telling you? Your body is an amazing machine, trust that it has the ability to tell you what it needs and then be kind enough to respond positively.
There’s nothing more valuable than learning about healthy habits that can positively impact your life. Trial and error is part of the process, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know what opportunities are out there just waiting for you!
Here’s to a healthier you!
Nicki
Some of my favorite books: An End to Overeating by Dr. David Kessler
101 Optimal Life Foods by David Grotto, RD, LDN
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Second Nature, A Gardners Education by Michael Pollan
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in the “Weight” Basket
This past week I met with a client that I have been working with for a couple of months. He came in and shared his disappointment at gaining 7 pounds despite his level of hard work. What do you say to someone who is looking to feel successful through weight loss only? How do you encourage someone to get past “the weight” and focus on all of the other accomplishments that have been made over the 2 months? Education.
When starting to lose weight or embarking on a weight loss program you’ve got to remember some very important things folks, you cannot expect a body that’s been mistreated for years to turn around in weeks, it doesn’t work that way. Further, after years of inactivity and poor nutrition, every one has a different point at which their body finally trusts the positive changes and begins to respond, i.e. metabolic weight loss. In other words, building muscle and improving overall performance takes time. The most important thing you can do is be consistent. If you start exercising like a mad-dog and eating only carrots and celery, sure, you might lose weight right away, but where will you be in 3 or 4 weeks? Back where you started, why? Because who can subsist on carrots and celery and hours of exercise? Very few people.
Look, when you’re looking to lose weight it’s got to be because you want to GET HEALTHY! Remember my friends, weight loss is simply a by-product of changing your lifestyle. People have it backwards, they put all of their eggs in to the weight loss basket when in reality they should be distributing their eggs in the nutrition basket, exercise basket, stress-relief basket and finally weight loss basket. If you put all of your eggs in one basket, you’ll never find the balance or the secret to long-term success.
From a practical perspective, what is the reason most people want to lose weight? Too feel better, right? So consider changing your priorities around and let lifestyle changes take the driver’s seat. You see if you focus on the things that change positively, consistency is more likely to follow. If you’re just looking at the weight loss piece, and it’s not forthcoming (in the unrealistic way many believe it will) you’ll quit and go back to bad habits. Yet bad habits are exactly what you’re trying to get rid of if you really want to lose weight. Are you with me?
So, bottom line, you want to lose weight, start making the changes necessary to make that happen but rather than focus on the numbers on the scale, focus on the everyday improvement you can notice right away. If health isn’t an issue, that go ahead and stop eating for a week, you’ll lose weight. But if your real goal is to feel better and change the quality of your life, there is no argument, lifestyle changes are the most important strategy. Just make them appropriate, realistic and measurable. Keep a journal, celebrate your progress and you may find that all of those lifestyle changes over time have not only greatly improved the quality of your life, you’ve lost some weight too!
The Truth Lies in Experience
Jimmy Moore ...Before and After
I have been in the health and fitness industry for over 25 years. And the one thing I have found is there are thosein the industry that spend their life trying to educate you honestly on realizing a healthy body, while others tell you what you want to hear, rarely delivering.
In addition to understanding the black and white of the health and fitness world, I have had an opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people, one of those is Jimmy Moore. You may have heard of Livin’ La Vida Low Carb and if you have, it all started with Jimmy Moore who has lost 180 pounds and has kept it off for more than 5 years now! Between you and me, those are the kind of people you want to listen to. And in his new book, 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb:How the Healthy Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew, Jimmy shares his journey, some amazing insight and most of all honesty about the process and his desire to change the weight of the world.
As a fitness professional, it is my job to communicate honestly and without false promises. I’m a realist and although some of my thoughts are boring, the fact is that like Jimmy, I lost weight (50 pounds) and have kept it off for close to 30 years. I tell it the way it is, and so does Jimmy. I love that about him, you can hear his Southern warmth in all of his words, honest and passionate. But even more, Jimmy doesn’t just spout off his philosophy without backing it up, he does his homework. And whether you agree with his philosophy and findings or not, you will be impressed by the research information in his book. It’s all thought provoking.
There are few things that I am willing to endorse based on my years of experience, but Jimmy’s book is an interesting, warm, straight to the point read. If you’ve been struggling with weight, remember, your inspiration comes from many sources. I encourage you to check out Jimmy’s book, read about his journey and learn how incorporating a healthy low-carb (or as I fondly refer to, low carbage) nutrition program can change your life as it has changed Jimmy’s.
Change Comes From Wanting It
I started training a new client and as new clients often do, he asked me about nutrition. He started off his question by saying, “I know what you’re going to say, but what do you think about diet soda?” I smiled and asked, “Well, what do you think I’m going to say?” He responded, “Well, you’re going to say it’s bad for me, right?”
The truth is that most people know what is healthy to put in to their body, while others, not so much. When people are looking to lose weight or change their lifestyle, almost ALL of the people I have worked with know what they need to do but the truth is that, they simply aren’t willing to make the changes.Why? Because they’re over the top, unreasonable.
I believe the reason weight loss efforts are often unsuccessful is due in part to not wanting to change. After all, due to the diet mentality many people have, they feel that healthy living must be an all or nothing proposition, not true. Diets don’t work because they ARE all or nothing. Healthy living works because it’s real life. It’s good days with not so good days. But one bad day doesn’t deem you a failure, unfortunately, diets have instilled that belief, hence the short lived weight loss efforts.
So here’s my quarters worth. If you really want to lose weight, really want to make some changes, WANT the changes you’re making. For example, if someone told me I could never again eat pizza, I don’t know if I could do that, seriously. But if I knew that a couple of times a month, I can have some pizza, that’s cool. If changes are practical and will ultimately provide a return, you’re going to want to do it. But if you’re setting yourself up to make some over the top changes, you’re really not going to want to because you’ll feel deprived and know that ultimately you’ll fail. How is that enticing?
Bottom line, make changes that make sense for you so the changes are what you WANT to do. The more changes you make, the better you’ll feel, providing they’re reasonable. If you make realistic changes, you’ll stay consistent. My 80/20 rule is best. 80 percent of the time, eat well and exercise, 20 percent is life. You can make changes, just make sure they are changes that you’re willing to make, for the long term. That’s the secret to success!
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The Evolution of Thanksgiving
I hope you all had a great, great Thanksgiving. I had a great Thanksgiving, mostly because 3 of my 4 children were home, it’s the greatest.
As the food preparation ensued for the Thanksgiving feast, I heard people say, “Well, better eat all I can today, because Thanksgiving only comes along once a year!” Hearing that more than once got me to thinking. Given the obesity issues in our country, it seems that Thanksgiving is no longer a once a year occurrence but an every day one. How so? Well, people regularly eat large portions, high calorie, high sodium foods that aren’t necessarily healthy, but sure taste good. There actually was a time, where food in abundance (as on Thanksgiving) was truly an annual event. Unfortunately, in our fast-food world, the abundance of food is not only a common occurrence, it’s certainly isn’t met with appreciation rather a right.
Perhaps that’s the reason obesity is so prevalent, food is not appreciated or met with gratitude but simply expected- in mass quantities. It’s all about pleasing the palette vs. strengthening the body and giving the body what it needs. If you look back on history, the first Thanksgiving was all about the gratitude of the food that was available. Today, we take food for granted and eat without thinking about it, and shovel away.
I believe if we thought more about the ceremony and meaning of Thanksgiving vs. viewing it as an opportunity to pig out, we might look at the food we eat differently. Imagine, getting back to basics with food, only eating what can be hunted, caught, gathered from the ground or plucked from a tree or vine. If we had to “work” for food vs. drive-thru, our attitudes and selections might be different.
Unfortunately, it seems that for many,
Thanksgiving is more about how much a human can consume in a day vs. the gratitude and appreciation for actually having food to eat. Not to be a killjoy, but rather than making the holidays about food, try to make it more about the reason for the celebration. Going through the holidays with the mindset of eating with appreciation vs. pigging out because it’s the holidays, may just save you from having to once again, use January 1st as your day of redemption.
Happy Thanksgiving!
When the Going Gets Tough….Keep Moving Forward!
I have a couple of friends that purchased my book in order to change their life to a more healthy one. It’s been fun reading their blog and following their progress as well as their challenges. This past week Lisa wrote a
You Want to Change Healthcare? Care for Your Health!
People have spent so much time focusing on weight loss,
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