For decades the diet industry’s messaging has been: Eat less, lose weight. But if that’s true, why do so many diets fail?
If weight release is the goal, cutting calories may not be the answer!
Not all calories are created equally. If we consume 2,000 calories of white bread, French fries, fast foods, and sugary drinks, we will not have the same experience with health and wellness as someone eating 2,000 calories of proteins, essential fats, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
In cases of extreme calorie restriction, the body stops building muscle and begins storing fat. The human body is biologically wired to do this when we don’t get enough to eat. It’s a defense mechanism meant to save our life. We cannot get around our own biology! To reverse this defense, we must eat MORE calories to get the metabolism going. Then the body can begin building muscles and burning our food as fuel instead of storing it as fat.
Eating less can sometimes lead to a release of excess weight, but in my personal and professional experience, it’s rarely sustainable.
Why?
Carrying excess weight is never caused simply by “eating too much.”
If we are overeating, we have excellent fucking reasons to overeat that are rooted in the SCIENCE of either biology or psychology.
Some biological reasons for overeating:
- Not eating breakfast
- Skipping meals.
- Not getting enough of one or more macronutrients:
- water
- healthy fats
- protein
- carbohydrates
- Eating empty-calorie foods.
- Physical addiction to processed foods.
- Allergies or sensitivities to frequently used foods.
Some psychological reasons for overeating:
- Stress.
- Self-criticism.
- Self-doubt, and low self-esteem.
- Inability to process emotions.
- Low or no pleasure in life.
- Lack of spiritual connection.
- Lack of social connection.
- Lack of purpose.
- Depressed energy.
If weight release is the goal, we want to play with all of these variables before we decide if we need to reduce or increase calories. The key to weight release is different for each of us. One woman may need to reduce stress, while another may need to increase nutrients. One person may need to find an outlet for her creativity, another may need to change employment, or release an unhealthy relationship in order to reach a stable, healthy weight.
Most of us will also want to release any foods that we observe to be causing symptoms. So, maybe you keep eating the same 2,000 calorie diet, but you eliminate all the wheat (or dairy, or any food suspected of affecting you personally), and suddenly the excess weight releases without effort.
If weight release is the goal, and we are hungry all the time, frustrated due to lack of progress, and still trying to reduce calories, it’s time to LET GO of the “Eat Less, Weigh Less” propaganda to which we have been indoctrinated!
Let’s play with new ways of thinking about weight release, new ways of thinking about weight, and new ways to be kinder to ourselves and our bodies.
Grow On!
Instead of trying to eat less, try this:
Don’t skip breakfast!
Play with adding protein and fat calories to breakfast and lunch.
Play with releasing foods that come in packages.
Play with eating more whole food.
Play with letting go of wheat, or dairy.
Play with eating salad every day.
Listen to your body when you eat. What is it telling you?
Header image: Salmon & Eggs from fifteenspatulas.com