For anyone wanting to lose weight. This is a must read.

Hi, I’m Mattea, Non Diet Accredited Practising Dietitian and Master of Public Health.

I wanted to talk about weight loss because weight loss is a goal for many people however I continue to see clients who have tried for so long to lose weight without success. Maybe you’re a long way into your journey of trying to loose weight; having lost and regained several times or maybe you’re new to it…. Wherever you are, there’s something here for you.

Firstly, I want to say that it is completely ok and understandable to have weight loss as your personal goal. I am not anti weight loss, I am anti pursuit of weight loss. What I personally don’t support is intentional weight loss on a FAD restrictive diet. Your weight does not define your health and therefore you can achieve your health goals without focus on the number on the scale.

Lets start by looking at why people gain weight:

The reasons people might gain weight include but are not limited to; genetics, high calorie intake (over eating) combined with low energy output (movement), low calorie intake (undereating Eg 800-1200 calories for some time), dieting on and off, certain medications, hormonal issues including thyroid issues and PCOS, muscle gain, coeliac disease diagnosis, IVF, depression, anxiety, stress, poor sleep, mindset and the world around us: for example easy access to high calorie food , food advertising, lack of access to supermarkets (fresh food) and safe places to be physically active.

Weight gain in itself is complex and you can see there are a myriad of controllable and uncontrollable reasons people gain weight. Be kind to yourself if you have gained weight. Life is complex and so is the human body.

Reasons people want to lose weight:

We live in a society in which being “thin” is the ideal and those in larger bodies are often looked at and treated differently. It is therefore understandable why many people wish to lose weight. Access to clothing, airline seating, appropriate facilities and equal treatment for people in larger bodies does not exist which makes it harder to live a happy and comfortable life. The desire to be thin comes from the idea that being thinner is healthier, that once weight is lost, you’ll be happy or get the job you want or be treated fairly. The treatment of people in larger bodies is unfair but something that will take time and awareness to change. Not all people in larger bodies are unhealthy, eat poorly or don’t exercise. Other reasons you might desire weight loss; you might want to feel more comfortable, increase fitness, loose body fat, avoid health conditions, increase longevity, decrease pressure on joints, improve energy, improve gut health and be able to be active with children and grandchildren.

The problem with weight loss and the number on the scale:

The number on the scale doesn’t tell me how you’re living your life (food, movement and lifestyle habits which are most important) nor does it tell us your body composition (Fat Vs Muscle). Relying on the number on the scale can also dictate how you eat (and not in a positive way). For example if you haven’t lost weight you might binge out of frustration or if you have lost weight you might binge to celebrate.

Weight loss is also not sustainable for 95% of people especially if its via a FAD or restrictive diet that has rules and cuts out whole food groups (Keto, Shakes, Weigth Watchers and many more).

“In a meta-analysis of 29 long-term weight loss studies, more than half of the lost weight was regained within two years, and by five years more than 80% of lost weight was regained” , Hall et all 2018.

So lets look at why weight is very often regained:

1.Our environment

We live in a world in which high calorie, high sugar, high fat food is easily accesible and cheap. People eat out more often and cook less at home. Movement has decreased due to busy lifestyles and less time, more sedentary jobs and home life, electronics and cars for transportation.

2. Physiological/ biological responses to weight loss

The belief is that if someone cuts a small amount of calories from their diet they can progressively lose weight and if they dont continue to lose the weight its simply because they havent adhered to the changes, have no willpower or motivation. This however, is just not true. It is not your fault if your weight loss platued. There is much more going on inside your body that is often not disucssed.

When you start to lose weight, two things happen inside your body:

Energy expenditure (the amount your body burns) declines with weight loss (slowed metabolism).
Adaptations in the body result in an increase in appetite and decrease in satiety (how full you feel). Appetite increases by about 100 calories above the baseline level prior to weight loss.

In simple terms, when you start loosing weight, your body starts to burn less and your appetite increases.

Both of these factors affect continued weight loss and make it harder for long-term weight maintenance. Its not your fault. You’re fighting a battle against your body.

3. You’re following a diet that is not maintainable.

FAD diets such as KETO, Fasting, Juice Cleanses/Detoxes. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Lite and Easy, Shakes, Cookie Diet, Calorie Counting, Fasting are restrictive and have rules that are hard to stick to. It is not you and your lack of willpower that fails, it is the diet. Diets are often too low in calories, restrict whole food groups and put foods into good and bad categories. They force you to follow an all or nothing approach- either on the diet or off it. When you break the diet you feel guilt and then binging occurs.

So what do we do?

It’s ok to want to lose weight, it’s is your body, your right, your desire and we all have the right to have a personal goal or desire for ourselves but here are some things I would consider:

Ask yourself why you want to lose weight? Often it has nothing to do with the number. You might want more energy or to increase your fitness or to improve your cholesterol. All of these things can be achieved without focusing on the number on the scale. Once you make the food and movement changes to achieve these goals, your weight will naturally settle where it’s supposed to.

Ditch the scale; the number doesn’t determine your health. There are normal daily/weekly/monthly variations in weight and seeing it change up or down is probably making your eating worse.
Measure bloods regularly with your GP. Making sure that your bloods are all in range is a good measure of health.
Commit to not dieting and learn to eat intuitively and based on your own hunger and fullness. This one takes some time and may need help from a non diet dietitian.
Unlearn good and bad foods- this is making you eat more. Restriction and forbidden foods results in higher cravings and desires for those foods. Once you see them as bad and eat a small portion of them you resort to binging on them. Neutralising “bad foods” removes the power and desire decreases. Seeing carbs and fruit as bad and therefore avoiding them will cause sugar cravings and binge eating at 3 or 5 pm. Mindset matters.
Eat enough of the core food groups- protein, veg, carbs, dairy and fruit- the balance is important. Low carbs in your diet will result in sugar cravings and binge eating at 3 or 5pm. Check if you’re meeting your requirements with a non diet dietitian.
Find movement you enjoy and work on an amount you can maintain weekly. Start small. 3 small sessions per week consistently is better than 7 for a week then stopping. See an Exercise Physiologist for a detailed plan.
Learn to love, accept and appreciate your current body whatever size you are. Start to include some self care time and look at your body regularly. Notice all the things you do like about it and appreciate all the things it does for you. Clean out your wardrobe and make sure you have clothing that makes you feel confident. Work with a mindset coach on changing the belief about yourself from the inside.
Focus on improving what you eat and including movement you enjoy. Set a day for planning your meals, focus on 3 meals per day, include snacks and allow some play foods (non core food group foods) without restriction.
Long term change requires long term intervention- see a professional regularly and consistently (Make a commitment this year to see someone regularly (Dietitian, GP etc)- book sessions in monthly for a whole year and make a commitment to it). Set a minimum commitment of one year. No matter whether you have done well each month or struggled, stick to going to your sessions.

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Got any questions? Concerns? Want to talk about your goals? Reach out to me at hello@adelaidenutrition.com.au to chat.

References

https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/obesity/conditioninfo/cause

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/