Stop Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Goals

Food directly effects your body's production of stress hormones that control appetite and satiety. However, worrying about food consumption habits is not a modern phenomenon. In fact, the Greek physician Hippocrates understood that the underlying principles of wellness were food and exercise. This led to an understanding among ancient Greeks that each person is responsible for keeping their body in good health. Despite your best efforts to use self-control and manage your eating habits, it is easy to experience setbacks that can sabotage your weight loss goals.

Whether you have a problem with overeating or cheating between meals, understanding your triggers is essential to managing your dietary intake:

• STRICT LOW FAT DIET - When you take out the fat, you are left with food that lacks flavor. Food labels that promise low fat should also include the additives and sugar used to make up for the loss of taste appeal. Moreover, healthy fats can help your body burn fat.
• MINDFUL EATING - Even though your goal is to eat less, you still have to be mindful and satisfy your hunger. You may need to change both how you eat as well as what you eat to lose weight and keep it off.
• EATING CALORIE DENSE FOOD - Calorie density is less well known than calorie counting as a weight management method but choosing foods based on this measure is simple. A low-calorie dense menu plan limits your choices to healthy and nutrient-rich whole foods like meats and produce.
• LOW LEPTIN HORMONE - Sleep deprivation causes changes to hormone production that regulate your hunger and appetite. The leptin hormone encourages your body to expend energy and suppresses appetite. The appetite hormone ghrelin goes up when you're short on sleep.
• ON & OFF AGAIN DIETING - Instead of dieting, focus on implementing small changes to not just lose weight but to keep it off for life. Bottom line is long-term lifestyle changes are needed to maintain your target weight.
• OBSESSED WITH SCALES - The number that you see between your feet when you step on the scales can be misleading. Focus on eating and living healthy as a permanent lifestyle change and not as a temporary intervention for weighing one's self.

The metabolic set point varies from person to person and is determined by a lifetime of exposure to food and the individual's genetic makeup. One of the problems with dieting is that food is not just fuel. In the U.S., we eat less than the recommended amounts of vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, and healthy oils. If you drop below your metabolic set point, the body adjusts by burning fewer calories and producing more hunger hormones to make food taste even bettter.

Take Control of Your Long-Term Weight Management

One of the most powerful feelings you can experience is conquering a self-sabotaging event using mindfulness rather than willpower and self-control. You are also less likely to sabotage yourself in the future. Dietary change is not the only component of a diet plan that leads to long-term weight management. Increased physical activity, mindful eating, following your hunger cues and managing stress without relying on comfort foods all make a difference in maintaining a weight-reduced state.

Contact the MRC nearest you for a free consultation to discuss the burning mystery of diets and why some dieters fail while others enjoy long-term success.