If Only
If only I could lose weight. If only I could keep it off after I’ve lost it. If only I could be more fit and healthy.
If you’ve ever struggled with weight and weight loss, you’ve probably had these thoughts. Some people want to lose weight for a wedding, class reunion, or other big event. Others struggle to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain the loss throughout our lives. Whether it’s:
- Genetics
- Metabolism
- Hormones
- Lifestyle
or some combination of them, losing weight sometimes feels like a losing battle.
More Than Just Calories
Scientific understanding of obesity, weight loss, and health is constantly evolving. The most recent science helps us understand the role hormones play in weight. This hormonal impact goes beyond hormones related to gender like estrogen and testosterone. Although imbalances in them can impact weight, we now know that hormones in our gut like ghrelin and leptin, play a huge role in weight. One of ghrelin’s functions is to increase your appetite while leptin decreases it.
One study found that your mindset can influence how much ghrelin the body produces. This study showed that the level of ghrelin produced when some study participants thought they were having an indulgent milkshake containing 620 calories declined, which increases hunger signals. Those who thought they were drinking a more sensible shake containing 140 calories had a more even ghrelin level and felt satiated.
Practical Tips
We certainly don’t think that weight loss is a case of mind over matter or willpower. It’s far too complicated for that, but there are some tangible things you can do to shift your mindset and help you reach your goal.
First, and perhaps most important, is to practice self-compassion. Would you talk to someone else the way you’re talking to yourself? Be kind to you!
Success is built on habits. Managing your weight happens one day, one meal, one snack at a time. When making sustainable choices, you can:
- Focus on the health benefits of weight loss instead of numbers
- Figure out why you want to make a change and write it down
- Be mindful about food choices by listening to what your body needs
- Slow down and lower your stress so you can make intentional choices
- Create attainable weight-related goals like increasing water and protein intake
- Identify triggers that cause you to choose foods that don’t make you feel good
- Remember all food is neutral – neither morally good nor bad
- Don’t engage in an extremely restrictive diet
- Measure success by how you feel – better movement and less pain, for example
- Don’t weigh yourself every day
- Consider using a meal delivery service to alleviate some of the stress around food prep
- Talk to someone – a therapist or friend – to help keep a positive perspective about your weight
- Create a weight management plan you can really live with
- Don’t get derailed by one overindulgent meal or day
- Don’t create a timeline in which you have to lose a certain number of pounds by a certain date
HEBE Aesthetics and Vitality
HEBE Aesthetics and Vitality in the Atlanta, GA area, offers supervised medical weight loss programs. We want to make sure you’re creating good health and that it’s sustainable. Contact us today so we can help you.
Disclaimer: The information contained here was not written by a medical doctor and is intended for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for medical advice.
