Three Powerful Shifts for Lifelong Weight Loss Success
I’m on a mission to end the dieting madness. The over $70 Billion diet industry is a monster to conquer because it preys on your weakness – your desperation – your delusions and your dreams. This money making machine lies, cheats and steals and it’s all 100% legal.
According to a 2019 USA Today article Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig are the leaders in the diet space. Both rely on highly processed food sales as part of their very successful business model. Jenny Craig is outright all based on processed foods, yet their marketing claims:
“Our chefs create dishes made with the same quality ingredients you find at home.”
~ Jenny Craig
Really?
Source: foodbabe.com
Just as frustrating is the brainwashing that’s been cultivated and perpetuated – not only by the diet industry, but also the media, government, schools, healthcare and the food industry (aka BIG FOOD).
You’re essentially taught to view foods as points, numbers, macros, calories, pre-packaged meals, good and bad foods, etc…
This really messes with your connection with food and your own body – at the cellular, cognitive, intuitive and hormonal levels.
Shockingly, in my vast history of dieting, I never did Jenny Craig, but I did do WW multiple times starting in my 20s with their Weight Watchers at Work program. I was probably vegan or vegetarian/pescatarian back then (in the late 80s) and this is when I “learned” that “fat was bad”.
Why? Because it was higher in points! Bring on the spray butter, no fat Mayo, Snackwells and Fat Free Potato Chips:
Yep – I ate these nasty non-foods just because I could according to my points allowance. (I also ate bags and bags of baby carrots because they were zero points.)
Now I’m just shaking my head at the thought of it.
OK – Enough of focusing on the problem. Let’s move forward with real, honest solutions: The 3 shifts to obtain true health – where you achieve and maintain weight balance forever:
Shift #1: Your cells need real food in the right balance. Our 32 trillion cells recognize what nature provides – NOT what factories contrive.
Anything chemical and highly refined has the likelihood of creating inflammation and imbalances at the cellular level which effects our mitochondria (energy), metabolism, immune system, our gut, detox, nervous system, hormones – everything!
Inflammation tends to lead to disease and weight gain.
These non-foods (most made with flour, sugar and inflammatory oils) are also highly palatable and crave-able – sending appetite and satiety hormones off balance so that you constantly want more and more.
The food industry spends BILLIONS of dollars formulating flavor profiles that make you want only their products.
If you’ve had a product that you just couldn’t imagine giving up, that’s BIG FOOD’s investment working perfectly – just as they banked on. (For me, this used to be Coffee-mate Hazelnut Creamer, McDonald’s French Fries and Diet Coke. I ONLY wanted these brands – and I wanted them all the time.)
The way out of this trap? EAT REAL FOOD…As Michael Pollan famously quoted:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
~ Michael Pollan
Which brings me to shift #2: Don’t overeat.
You absolutely can gain weight overeating vegetables.
I’ve done it. (hello, baby carrots!)
You have to create a caloric deficit in order for the body to release stored energy (aka fat). Most of us ladies over 40 can’t slash calories or burn them off with overtraining either.
This approach which may have “worked” in your twenties, now creates more stress > which raises cortisol> which raises insulin > and down-regulates metabolic rate = weight loss resistance. It’s all about balance.
You need to find the overall caloric “sweet spot” for your metabolism and then, within that range, you need to determine the optimal balance of macronutrients and micronutrients. This includes a variety of real food proteins, fats and carbohydrates – in the combination that works best for you. (Insiders/Subscribers, you’ll get my handy food quadrant cheat sheet that explains this clearly – Not an insider? Sign up here.)
This real food framework could be approached in many ways, but I narrow it down to 2 optimal approaches that work for most people:
- Plant-Balanced Keto: Low glycemic carbohydrates – moderate protein – higher fat – comprised of real foods that your body tolerates well (dairy and other “healthy” real foods may not work for you so pay attention to symptoms and progress). Most of your carbohydrates come from non-starchy veggies for micronutrients, fiber, water and fullness. You can even include small amounts of lower glycemic fruit/starch on occasion. <this is my personal approach that works wonders for me.
- Moderate Carbohydrate/Balanced Macronutrient: Ideal for more insulin sensitive folk. Again all real food foundation with 2-4 servings of real food carbohydrates per day (veggies, fruit, beans, grains), with more moderate fat (1-2 servings per meal) and still plenty of protein and non-starchy veggies. As long as you feel good and insulin, cortisol and appetite hormones are balanced – and you’re not over-consuming calories, this approach works for many too!
The tricky thing is: overeating can be really easy to do – especially if it’s been a habit – and ESPECIALLY if you’ve been a lifelong dieter – allowing the diet to override your body’s innate intelligence and signals…
You know the cycle: restricting during the “diet ON” period and then overcompensating when you’re “OFF” said diet.
I’ve shared that it takes practice – over and over again to teach your body to not overeat. Eventually your physiology adapts. Your tastebuds, hunger and satiety hormones, stomach stretch receptors and mind start to accept – and actually prefer – your new choices and portions.
You’ll see! Your subconscious eating patterns start to reset and create new pathways. It’s glorious! You couldn’t PAY me to eat the fat free products I used to be addicted to now – NO WAY!
Another BIG challenge with overeating: If you’ve developed a habit of using food (or alcohol) to ease, avoid or distract yourself from uncomfortable or painful feelings. This is the actual real work for most of us! The food change is easy in comparison to the emotional, habitual pattern change. But it is 100% doable if you do it consistently.
Which leads us to the final shift which is making whatever approach you choose a lifelong thing. You have to commit to whatever approach you choose, or else it just won’t last.
It’s OK to adjust things within your plan. It’s even OK to treat yourself intentionally once in a while. (hello, Bordeaux!)
Be smart and choose the long game – not the short quick fix. Otherwise, you have a 99% chance of regaining the weight. Old habits will creep back in. You’ll be back on the hamster wheel yo-yo diet cycle once again.
The diet industry treats you like a number. A sale. It views your weight problem as a simple calculation. I’m not even blaming them, but they are trying to get to you – very cleverly, stealthily, cunningly.
You – Me – We – have to take full responsibility for our choices, because the diet industry, BIG FOOD, etc… are literally banking on us falling for their tricks and tactics.
You deserve health and well-being. You deserve to be at your perfect weight for the rest of your life. You can get back into balance. These three shifts above are very simple, right? (They may not be easy, but they’re not complicated). You’ll be amazed how great you feel and how your body responds when you feed it what it truly deeply needs – and you can 100% do this without “feeding” the greedy diet industry and BIG FOOD ever again.
