Weight Loss is Not Just About Eating Less and Exercising More
In theory, there’s some logical validity. By and large, that is an outdated approach and hardly leads to successful and long-term weight loss. Counting calories for some may be helpful, especially when looking at ways to keep account of exactly what you’ve eaten in any given period of time. However, counting calories alone seldom delivers desirable results. Most people find counting calories tedious and hard to maintain.
“Exercise More” is an Outdated Weight Loss Approach
It is true that the more physical activity you have, the more calories you will use or burn. That’s one thing most doctors will recommend: increasing your physical activity. What they may not tell you is how much time to spend and how often you should exercise for weight loss.
Many people are told to exercise 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes, 5 days a week. While this is good for overall general health, that exercise regimen in many cases will not result in significant weight loss. Exercise and physical activity are important for many reasons, such as keeping joints flexible, helping strengthen muscles for good coordination and joint protection, improving bone density, supporting a healthy heart and blood vessels, reducing stress, improving mood, and enhancing sleep.
All of these benefits are essential for health and well-being. However, exercise alone may not always result in shrinking waistlines and lower numbers on the scale. Exercise has a far greater benefit in maintaining a healthy weight and should be tailored individually to get the best results.
Weight Gain vs. Inability to Lose Weight
Weight gain is different from the inability to lose weight. They may sound like the same thing, but they are, in fact, quite different. It’s important to determine which one is your biggest challenge.
Take the example of Barbara, a 30-something-year-old mother of two school-age kids. Over the past two years, she has steadily gained weight, putting on 13 pounds since the beginning of the year. She feels stressed with work and home life and now weighs 223 pounds.
On the other hand, Jennifer’s weight has remained stable over the past year, give or take a couple of pounds. No matter what she does, she cannot shed the weight. She has been working out for almost three months and still hasn’t lost a pound. Her frustration is through the roof, and her doctor has not addressed this problem.
Barbara and Jennifer both have unwanted weight but are dealing with two entirely different pathways of dysfunction. Understanding this distinction is a crucial piece of the weight loss puzzle.
Genetics and Weight Loss: DNA Is Not the Final Word
Genetics play a role in obesity, but DNA does not always have the final say. You may believe that all your weight problems stem from your gene pool, but that is only partially true.
Family history is linked to health conditions and can be predictive, depending on the condition. There is an obesity gene—a part of the DNA that puts someone at risk of carrying extra weight. However, how we live and what we do can determine whether that gene is turned on or switched off.
Emotional Eating: It’s Not All in Your Mind
The drive for food, especially comforting food and soothing eating patterns, also known as Emotional Eating (EE), is not all in your mind. Emotional Eating has strong ties to chemicals naturally produced in the brain. These brain chemicals engage in two-way signaling between the brain and the gut.
Strong urges can disrupt even the best intentions during times of stress and unsettled emotions. One helpful approach is to starve the emotion, not the person.
