Healthy Weight Comes Down to Calories
This past week a friend of mine shared with me that she has started taking diet pills, “just to help” expedite her weight loss goal. There was no question they had been working as she had already lost some weight, but the news really disappointed me. I’ve known this person for a long time and she has always believed that a healthy weight can only be achieved through regular exercise and eating well. She’s always brushed off diets and when her friends were jumping on some weight loss bandwagon, she would say, ” Don’t these people realize that the weight will come back? I’m not doing that any more.” So what was it that caused her to suddenly abandon her solid knowledge of weight loss and start taking a diet pill? “I’m only taking it for a few weeks,” she said. Although she joked about it, she had noticed her patience level was compromised and she was constantly thirsty (diuretic effect of weight loss pills) and a bit jumpy.
I asked her, “So what is the big difference? What is it about the pills that makes more sense than eating right regularly?” She said,”Well, I’m eating less because I’m not as hungry.” Ahhh, she’s eating less. Exactly. So basically, she needs something to force her to eat less. I said to her,”You can do this diet pill thing, but you realize that when you go off of it, it’s like losing a crutch. First of all the withdrawal probably won’t be fun and you’ll be back to what you were doing before. Use this as a learning experience. See how much food you’re cutting out, how many calories and write it down. LEARN from this that in truth, the ONLY secret to weight loss is cutting calories but ultimately, you’re going to have to do it naturally, without the aid of diet pills.”
I’m hopeful that she will realize that her weight loss is the result of simply cutting calories, there is no “magic” in the pill other than suppressing her appetite. I guess you could call that magic. But the side-effects are hardly worth it and the long-term results, not there. It comes down to what we know but don’t really like to hear, it’s making the decision to make changes that are controlled naturally, not by a drug, not by a pill or “diet” but by making the conscious choice to change. Spend time to find out what triggers eating too much and change it. Find out why you tend to overeat, then address it and change it. The only way that someone will experience long-term change is through long-term desire, period. It’s like taking illegal drugs to escape from it all, at some point you have to be responsible for your own happiness and fulfillment. Ultimately, it is you that is in charge of making things happen and reaching the goals you set. I hope she figures that out sooner rather than later.
In health,
Making Changes for All the Right Reasons!
This picture brings back a lot of memories. I was about 17 years old and about 50 pounds overweight. I was miserable but hadn’t yet made the connection between my weight, my lifestyle and how I felt. It would be another year before I would finally have an “a-ha” moment and realize that I can’t keep doing what I’m doing and expect to age gracefully and most important, healthfully.
At the end of my senior year in high school, I had promised myself to get “moving” and start eating better. At the time, Weight Watchers was all about portion control and a nice variety of fruits and vegetables. It was because of that, I was able to lose the 50 pounds in a little over a year. That was almost 30 years ago which actually started my path in to the fitness arena. I know that taking the time to do it right, not pushing crazy starvation methods in place helped me so much in understanding what I like to call, “Food and mood.”
This past week, I was in Toronto lecturing to personal trainers at Can-Fit Pro. One of my lectures was, “Inspiring Clients to Move Beyond Diets and Into Good Health.” It is really my favorite lecture to present as so many in the audience can relate to it, whether personally or through a client they’re working with.
Going from diets to healthy living includes 5 key components, commitment, planning, clear goals, journaling and lastly, BELIEF! The belief that you actually CAN make the changes to a healthier lifestyle if you’re willing to follow the 4 other components. If you are not committed you will not succeed. If you cannot plan ahead, meals, grocery shopping, exercise, etc. you will not succeed. If you are not willing or able to set clear goals, you will not succeed. Lastly, if you’re not willing to journal (some believe the most important ingredient to long-term success) you will not succeed. You see, good things come from hard work and commitment and well, getting healthy is not easy until you’ve been doing it for awhile and like anything else, it’s gets easier as you go along. The more you do it, yes, the easier it gets. If you really want to change your life, you’re going to have to do some work. Not a “Debbie Downer” simply fact and I know, I’ve been doing it with others for years and I know personally, what it took for me to once and for all lose weight and keep it off!
I believe in my clients and I believe in their ability to succeed, but they have to believe in themselves as well. If they believe, they will certainly achieve. It is no different for you, do you believe?
Here’s to your health,
Nicki
Learning about Healthy Eating Never Ends!
Teri Gentes, A Certified Nutritional Consultant and Recipe Author of Gourmet Natural Foods Nutrition
As long as I’ve been focused on eating better and moving more, I always believe there’s room for improvement. As I head in to the last year of my 40’s, now more than ever I want to be the best I can and the way to make that happen, is to learn what things I can improve upon.
When I look back 20 years ago, I too was sucked in to the whole “low-fat, high carb” diet. I read everything that came along on the subject and believed that I knew it all and that my nutrition was set. Little did I know that not only was eating that way not conducive for me feeling great, I was eating a lot of processed foods. You see, many choices that we make that seem healthy, are not always the best choice. But through brilliant marketing and deceptive labeling, it makes it awfully tough to know just what your eating and how it actually affects the way we feel and our overall health.
In the early 90’s it was all about Oat Bran, touted as the new miracle food! In the late 90’s, The Atkins Diet resurfaced and we had a whole new generation following the Atkins philosophy. Unfortunately, it was rarely about the health, more about the weight loss. Here’s what I mean, whether it’s low-fat, high oat, or low-carb, if you’re eating junk which stays in the parameters of the diet, you may be losing weight, but what are you putting in to your body? And that’s where the lack of education comes in. A good example is 100-calorie packs. It’s basically processed bags of food that people are led to believe are more healthy. The truth is that folks may be getting less calories, but like a diet drink, what they save on the front end they end up making up in the back end, so it’s commonly a wash. I’m not making this up, I see this with my clients all the time.
So, like you, I get frustrated with the information that comes out about nutrition and the confusion that comes a long with it. High Carb? Low Carb? High Protein? Low Protein? Low- Fat? Low Calorie? Fat-Free? Preservative free? And on and on the questions go.
In my search to learn more, I have just started working with a lovely lady, Teri Gentes, someone you should know. Teri has taken me to a new level in my quest to understand more about food and what constitutes a good choice vs. a misinformed choice. I love learning as I believe the more I know, the more I can positively grow. There are plenty of things she’s shared with me that many of us know, eat more veggies and fresh fruit, avoid processed, chemical filled foods, etc. But I’m also learning so much that I didn’t know. Although healthy eating can be very, very detailed, ultimately it’s about making choices that can make you stronger, healthier and happier. I’ve always believed there is a direct correlation between food and mood and as I make my way through this educational process, I believe it now more than ever.
I try and do my best with giving straight forward advice in my columns and blogs about healthy eating, and with that are some amazing resources out there that can help explain things in a way that’s easy to understand and implement bit by bit. Like anything, you can’t go and clean out your cabinets and expect that in a day you are going to completely alter your eating and it’s going to stick, it won’t.
Making small changes is the best way to alter and positively change your diet. It can be as basic as adding in a new vegetable each week. Working to move away from boxed foods and focus more on whole, natural state foods. Trust me, when I got in to this business I thought I had healthy eating all figured out. Not even close! So as I learn, I will share with you. Following are just a few resources for you. I’d love to know your thoughts about food deception and the confusion when seeking a healthy eating plan that you can stick with for life. After all, that’s what healthy eating is all about saving and enhancing your life!
Here’s to your health!
Nicki
Nicki Anderson’s Single Step Weight Loss Solution
An End to Overeating by Dr. David A. Kessler
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
Jamie Oliver – Food Revolution
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
You Want to Change Healthcare? Care for Your Health!
People have spent so much time focusing on weight loss,
The Biggest Loser Not Such a Big Loser After All.
In my 25 plus years in the fitness industry, the most common comment I hear from clients that seek me out for weight loss guidance is, “Well, I did ’such and such’ diet and that really worked for me. I lost 50 pounds.” But in truth, the diet DIDN’T work, because if it did, the client wouldn’t be seeking me out to lose weight, right?
Let me ask you a question. If someone told you that they had the secret help you lose all the weight you wanted, would you be interested? Now, what if they provided
Time to Start Thinking Differently About Weight Loss
This past week I had a consultation with a woman who has battled weight her whole life. After talking to me she said she’d sign up right away except she needs to talk to her husband. After she spoke to her husband, he wanted to meet with me and hear what I had to say that was different from the hundred other weight loss programs she had been on. My first thought was, “Wow, how’s that for support?” but then I realized that weight and acceptance is a big issue for women (and some men), they lament all the time, “Am I thin enough? Am I pretty enough? Do I look good to you?” etc. We can thank the media for creating insecurities in women, most of which are unwarranted. Bottom line, although Susan (name changed), has been suffocated with diet failures, her husband has been along for every painful ride.
Dieting is not just a one person issue, it affects not only the “dieter” but those surrounding the dieter. Chronic dieting affects families, friendships, spouses, sisters, mothers and daughters, etc. It can be relationship damaging, not only with others but with oneself, I see it all the time. Unfortunately, people don’t realize how toxic chronic dieting is until they sit down and talk to me. So what is different with what I do? I really don’t care about weight, yeah, I really don’t. Not that I don’t think people don’t need to lose unhealthy weight when they come in to see me, but it’s been their focus for years and to no avail. So why keep doing the same thing when the results are not forthcoming? Yet diet after diet, failure after failure, dieters keep coming back for more. So, when they come to me, I don’t focus on weight, period.
Well then, what is my strategy to help people lose weight? To be honest, I really don’t help them do that, what I help them do is change their perspective, their focus, their effort on to lifestyle change. You see, you will never, can never lose weight until you get past the weight and connect with the things that will positively affect it, right? You see, people have it wrong, they try to lose weight first and implement changes later, wrong-o! You must identify which unhealthy habits are currently a part of your life, figure out how, why, and when you’re going to change them. Words of advice? Take it slow. It took years to get where you are, allow the same patience as you change.
Another major mistake is folks try to change their life overnight, not possible if you want to make long term changes. Unfortunately, diets are sold like any other scam, they make promises of making your life perfect, loaded with everything you could dream of and then suck you in to buying it. If you’ll note at the bottom of any of these advertisements, diets or get rich quick schemes, you will see in very small print, *these results are not typical. People don’t read the fine print because they want to believe that this time is it, this time will do it. If it sounds too good to be true, it is, trust me. Even people like Oprah Winfrey and Ricky Lake are not exempt from being sucked in for all the wrong reasons.
So today, why not make the choice to focus on lifestyle, what practical changes you can make. Next, make a list of things that need changing and pick one to focus on for 30 days. Once you’re able to make the change and you realize it makes sense for you, then you can move on. You are then setting yourself up for success versus failure, it works trust me.
The hardest part of all of this? Believing you can change and getting rid of the weight focus. Look, weight loss has become a part of our culture, “everybody’s doing it!” but it is not good, it simply sets people up to fail time and time again. Weight loss is not what will make you successful, lifestyle changes will and that is a whole new way of thinking, so you’ll need some adjustment time.
Why not stop your diet tomorrow? Why continue to push yourself to achieve something that is unrealistic? Opt to set yourself up for success by allowing room for change, allowing time for change and allowing yourself to seek out great things for yourself that are possible. Talk about enhancing relationships, when you feel great so do those that love you.
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