There are many things that can affect our weight, for example lack of sleep means the hormones that control hunger can become unbalanced, with those lacking sufficient good quality sleep producing more of the hunger hormone ghrelin and less of the appetite supressing hormone leptin. There is also some evidence that eating a diet rich in whole grains or rich in protein supresses ghrelin as opposed to a high fat diet.

Digestive problems can also adversely affect weight. If motility is slow, we may absorb more calories, so eating foods rich in fibre will encourage faster movement of food through the digestive system. It is also important to chew our food thoroughly, as digestion begins in the mouth and unchewed food arriving in the stomach will not be broken down properly. Therefore, we may not absorb the nutrients efficiently, leaving us hungry.

Stress is often a major factor in weight gain and can make eating a healthy diet a challenge. When we are stressed, we are more likely to make unwise food choices, possibly reaching for sugary carbohydrates for comfort. The problem with this is that it spikes our blood sugar levels which temporarily make us feel happier. However, blood sugar that has risen due to refined sugar and carbohydrates quickly falls, often resulting in us feeling down again and guilty for our indiscretion and thus begins a vicious circle. If this continues for many years, it can lead to insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Good nutrition is vital if we are to lose weight in a healthy way. Starving our body of nutrients is likely to make us crave unhealthy food and will negatively affect our health; not a route to sustainable weight loss. Vitamins and minerals all play vital roles in the body and without them, the body cannot function properly, and we will become ill.

Portion sizes are probably one of the biggest issues with many of us. Consider that a portion of a plate sized pizza is one quarter! How many of us eat the whole thing? The truth is that we have got used to larger and larger portions over the last few years and they have now become the norm for many people.

Exercising our body is necessary to keep bones strong and joints healthy and it is also good for our mental health. This does not have to amount to hours spent in the gym, just simply moving around, going for a walk, taking the stairs instead of the lift, walking instead of taking the car when possible or going for a swim are all ways that even the busiest people can exercise.

So, what can we do to give ourselves the best chance of losing weight?

Ensure that we get seven to eight hours of good quality sleep each night, avoiding the use of mobiles and tablets for at least an hour before bedtime. Looking at bright screens reduces the sleep hormone, melatonin, meaning that we will be more awake when we should be going to sleep. Getting plenty of daylight, especially early morning light helps to establish a good pattern for sleep.

Take steps to ensure that we give our digestive system the best chance of working optimally. Chewing food well, sitting at a table to eat so that we are upright and not slouching. Foods such as live yoghurt and sauerkraut are good for establishing good bacteria in the gut, which can be helpful for weight loss, along with the avoidance of sugar and refined carbohydrates, as this can encourage yeast overgrowth, the cause of many digestive problems.

There are many ways of relieving stress and anxiety. Sometimes simply spending time doing something we enjoy is enough, but if not, we could try swimming, exercise, meditation, massage, hypnotherapy or the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Seeking the help of a reputable therapist may be helpful if symptoms are severe.

Avoiding any diets that deprive us of vital food groups will help to ensure we have a balanced diet. We need protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. Protein should be sourced from lean meat, fish, poultry, beans, lentils, soya and tofu and nuts (not peanuts).

Carbohydrate should be found from foods such as: wholegrain bread, brown rice, brown pasta, boiled potatos with skins on and oats.

Fat is necessary for a healthy body, but it is important to concentrate on good fats such as: omega 3 fats from oily fish, avocado and olive oil. Even good fats are high in calories, so it is important to be mindful of this when planning meals.

Vitamins and minerals are abundant in fruit and vegetables, although they are also present in wholegrain foods. The phrase ‘eat the rainbow’ could not be more appropriate to ensure that we are getting a balanced mix of these.

Fibre is also vital and can be found in wholegrains, beans, pulses, nuts, fruit and vegetables.

Ensuring that we eat breakfast is vital for weight loss. Missing out on nutrition at this stage of the day will mean we are more likely to snack later as the body attempts to catch up on lost calories. Breakfast should consist of complex carbohydrate and good quality protein.

Along with good nutrition, observe portion sizes. There is much information available online regarding portion size for a variety of everyday foods.

Exercise whenever the opportunity arises. This is especially important if we work in an office and have a sedentary lifestyle.

As we can see, weight loss is much more complex than simply cutting calories, which is perhaps why many diets fail, because if we do not address the connected issues, we are only fulfilling one part of the puzzle.

The book, The Weight Loss Puzzle by Jacqueline Rayment looks at this in more detail and is full of advice and tips on how to achieve sustainable weight loss. There is also a section with quick, healthy recipes.

The post Why do I find it difficult to lose weight? appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

You see willpower is a limited resource. Research shows that anything we do that taps our self-control or requires a lot of thinking or effort depletes our willpower, leaves us in a state of vulnerability, and susceptible to making poor choices.

The seat of willpower is located in the anterior cingulate cortex part of the brain. This part of the brain also governs all kinds of other decision-making, like choosing which email to read first or what route to take to work, and is used for emotional regulation too such as how to deal with your child who is having a tantrum, or sitting in frustrating traffic. Willpower works just like a muscle and it can quickly get depleted by all these different tasks. Some research has shown that after as little as 15 minutes of use, it’s basically shot.

It’s unsurprising then, given that the average person makes around 221 food decisions per day, despite our best intentions, we may find ourselves falling into what Susan Peirce Thompson PH.D calls the Willpower Gap – ‘the space between our ideal state of how we’d like to be eating and working out, and the choices that we’re actually making day in and day out.’

We may start the day intending to have a salad for lunch, but by the time we get out of a frustrating morning meeting, a sandwich, coffee and doughnut sounds much better. The part of the brain toggling back and forth between salad and doughnut is one that is easily hijacked by cravings and rationalisations. When we decide in the moment, we are driven by addiction and reward. Given that sugar and refined flour can cause a rush of dopamine in the brain that feels rewarding we are much more likely to make unhealthy food choices when willpower is low.

The good news is that willpower is replenished through sleep and ‘me time’ and like a muscle gets stronger the more we use it.

So what can we do to keep our willpower high?
Firstly we need to rely on it as little as possible. Planning and preparation reduce the number of choices and decisions we have to make in the moment and so reduces willpower depletion.

If we are trying to change how we eat, for example, we need to plan for this and only make one change at a time, letting it become a habit before introducing another. For example, for the first month we could decide to have fruit as a snack and some vegetables every day. Then the next month we could cut down on caffeine, by introducing alternative drinks. The following month we could cut out sugar, and the month after that we could go to the gym.

For each goal we need to get to a point where our choices don’t take willpower anymore, and this takes time. The good news is that since the more we use willpower the stronger it gets, and achieving each goal gets easier.

If we were to make one change every month for a year, by the end of that year we would be eating very differently, feeling very different and we’d probably be living in a much lighter, smaller sized body than we were 12 months ago.

With strategic planning, support and the right information, being able to say “Wow, I’m eating the right thing every day, day in and day out, without thinking about it” is actually a perfectly achievable goal!

To find out more about how I help my clients achieve their health goals without over relying on willpower please visit livewellandprosper.uk/health-coaching or give me a call on 07545 227272

Join Helen’s 4 month online group weight loss programme starting in January. For a free initial consultation to see if this is the right programme for you call her on 07545 227272

Helen Prosper
Integrative Nutritional Health Coach

The post Why does willpower so often let us down? appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.