Part 1 (1-4) last week, focused on what you consume and how that can affect your weight. Part 2 discusses behavior.
5) You have issues with sleep. People underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep. When we are at rest, a quality rest, our bodies have time to recover from the insults of the day. Our growth hormone kicks in, our muscles repair, kids grow, and adrenal glands have time to take a break from the stress of life. All of these things affect our ability to lose weight. This is just the start of what good, effective sleep can do for us. Start with trying to shut down about 10 p.m. and wake at 6 a.m. (or whatever schedule you need) but try to have a consistent wake/sleep cycle every day. Look for this topic in upcoming posts.
6) You are working out TOO hard. You may be doing too much. If you are feeling very stressed in your everyday life and then go beat yourself up at the gym too, your body is going to hold onto everything it’s got to conserve energy (fat). If this sounds like you, try moderate exercise until your stress level is in check such as walking, relaxing yoga, or riding bike. Stay active but don’t beat yourself up (physical or mentally) if you don’t hurt after every workout or sweat through your Lululemons. Also, you may need to change the TYPE of workout you are doing. Don’t rely on cardio only exercises for weight loss; weight lifting is also extremely important. In fact, some people benefit from different exercises in different ways. I can help you determine which type of exercise is best for you for your ultimate goal. It’s all in the genes people. Contact me for this one time genetic test that will change forever how you approach exercise.
7) All or nothing thinking. Yep, that’s me. My personality is a little hard-core when it comes to myself – there is no room for error and this often leads to self-defeating behaviors. While changing some of this thinking has helped, it is a daily struggle to not be so hard on ourselves. A lot of it comes to hormone and neurotransmitter (brain chemical) balancing. A lot of this thinking and subsequent behavior can be attributed to these things; it’s not that we are weak. I am able to help you with this. If you struggle with cravings, depression, or sleep issues, we can get to the bottom of this with a simple urine or saliva test and put a plan into action.
8) Consistency is key. Nobody is perfect – falling off the wagon and having a treat or not working out for 2 days is not going to be the end of the world. But some of us (see #7) will let these minor missteps sabotage our efforts. Moderation and consistency is key; just keep on keeping on and results will be there.
9) Denial. We think we are making big changes when we really aren’t. For example, maybe we think eating rice crackers is great because we were eating other crackers full of gluten. If you are trying to eat a gluten-free diet, the change to rice crackers fits that goal, but eating a box of rice crackers does nothing for the waist line and actually could make it worse. Or, how about this one? “I work out 6 days a week for an hour to 1-1/2 hours. I can eat pretty much anything and I’ll lose weight.” If you are working out this much and eating out all the time and eating food prepared from a box, little improvements will be seen in the weight loss arena. You get the idea – be real about what you are really doing. Take a look at your behaviors, any symptoms you may have no matter how seemingly benign, and book a consultation with me to help you sort it all out.
Stayed tuned next week for the conclusion of Weight Loss Struggles – It could come down to biochemical and physiological reasons.
Contact me at tiffany@pernuwell.com