It's that time of year again when we reflect on how we haven't met our own expectations. For many people, every year begins with a New Years Resolution to get in better shape, and lose some weight.
If you've done the same routine of dieting over and over again and expect different results, that's the definition of insanity!
The fact is that despite following a diet, and exercising, 95% of dieters fail to keep the weight off for more than a few months to a couple of years. It's because the actual premise of dieting is flawed, rather than the dieter!
That means simply, dieting is the cause of the weight gain, not your lack of discipline and slothfulness! You are NOT guilty as charged! But the diet industry is happy to offer you the newest, best solution that will guarantee your easy, fast weight loss. The only problem is, it doesn't work!
Despite the "lose weight fast" schemes, losing weight is a complex issue. There isn't a "one-size-fits-all" solution. However, one thing that affects the majority of dieters is STRESS. And mostly your doctor and other diet plans completely ignore the effect of stress, or at best pay lip service to its effect on your weight and your ability to lose weight and keep it off.
How does stress affect your weight? It's been estimated that over 80% of weight gain is due to "emotional eating". That means that when you are unhappy, frustrated, angry, or a feeling a different upsetting emotion, you reach for food for comfort. There's even a term for it: "Comfort Food". If emotional eating is a problem for you, why would you expect that going on a diet is going to solve you weight issue? It won't!
That's just one way that stress has an effect on your weight.
Chronic stress, or serial stress (what I call death from a thousand paper cuts) has another huge effect on your weight. Release of cortisol is your body's normal response to manage quickly dissipating stress. That's the kind of stress you experience from averting a collision by pulling out of the way from a speeding car. Once the danger is gone, so is your stress. However, so many people are suffering from unremitting stress: from relationship problems, divorce, financial difficulties or loss of work, illness, and the long list of other stressors. This chronic stress actually changes your body physiologically, and makes it harder if not impossible to lose weight!
Many people do not realize that going on a diet is a chronic stressor as well! Your body has a finely tuned system, like a self-adjusting thermostat that works very well to keep your body at a set point. "Eat less and exercise more" is the recipe to actually slow down your metabolism, and insure that you will GAIN weight! When you eat less, your body's thermostat slows your metabolism to prevent you from starving. And at the same time, it makes you feel lethargic to keep those fat cells in storage mode! Similarly, over-exercising sends a message of stress to your body, and in order to maintain your weight set point, your brain sends you a signal to eat more! It's beyond your conscious control! So you see the "myth-information" of eat less and exercise more actually sabotages your ability to lose weight!
Yes, you can get yourself into better shape and lose weight next year, but it won't be by following the same flawed plan of diet and exercise! I bet that made you feel less stressed already! Stress relief must be high on your list. But the best way to deal with stress is to make yourself more resilient, and stop stressing the small stuff. You may be surprised to learn that you could be one of those people who actually has to eat more (of the right things) in order to lose weight! Diet information is confusing and contradictory at best. Be mindful, and pay attention to how you feel, because your body will tell you when what you are doing "feels right".
Make this New Years Resolution to successfully manage your stress, which will help your weight and fitness goals. Because your weight is not just about what you're eating, it's what's eating you!
Best selling author and coach, Lianda Ludwig, M.S. specializes in using cutting edge technology and proven methods to create your successful heartfelt-mindset to relieve stress, eliminate food cravings and the deprived feeling of a dieter, so you can happily and successfully follow your plan to lose weight, improve your well-being and sustain it. You can get her free report, "5 Dirty Little Secrets the Diet Industry Doesn't Want You to Know", on her website http://www.makeitsomindset.com/
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