1. Eating When You’re Not Hungry
I used to do this. I would get bored and eat or just eat for fun or entertainment without actually being hungry. I solved this problem for myself by giving myself a kitchen curfew. This not only limits the amount of food I eat daily to avoid overdoing it but allows for me to get good sleep at night since food isn’t sitting in my system when I am trying to sleep. Enter your e-mail below to get the Bedtime Strategy worksheet and complete it to figure out your kitchen curfew.
2. Overeating the Wrong Foods
Many people talk about portion sizes being the key to weight loss. I beg to differ. I love to eat so restricting myself to a “portion size” doesn’t help me. What did and continues to help me is choosing the right foods. Whole, plant-based foods are where it’s at for weight loss and the more raw foods the better. Raw foods are rich in water and fiber so it digests quickly and doesn’t store toxins in fat cells. Healthy fat sources like avocado, nuts, olive oil and coconut oil does need to be moderated somewhat but everyone’s body is different. How much fat you can handle will depend on your body. These fat sources is where I have to personally mind portion sizes and keep it to a minimum. I don’t avoid them completely because they provide essential nutrients my body needs.
3. Consuming Processed Sugar
I can totally relate to those who have a sweet tooth. I never thought I was one but I did catch myself emotionally eating on processed sugar. I was able to overcome it with fruit, awareness around the issue, and coaching.
There’s a difference between processed sugar and sugar from fruits in how the body metabolizes it. Plus fruits are nutrient dense while processed foods are typically nutrient void. With processed sugar, you will see weight pile on regardless of the frequency or intensity of workouts you’re doing as was my experience in 2008 when I first went vegan. I ate a lot of pasta and almond butter and jelly sandwiches. I didn’t like vegetables at the time so that was all I knew to eat. I got to my heaviest weight at 140 lbs. One more pound and I would have been in the overweight range according to Rush University Medical Center. The weight bothered me though because I was just uncomfortable wearing all of that extra fat and I was working so hard in the gym daily. That was my fist lesson that food is really 80% of the weight loss journey. Exercise is more like 15% and I will save the other 5% for some mindset stuff that can sabotage progress. I started doing more green smoothies to get more veggies in and putting salads together with stuff I liked. This helped to bring my weight back into a comfortable range for me.
4. Afraid to Lift Weights
Lifting weights is the best thing you can do to lose weight fast. Muscle burns fat and it keeps the calorie burn longer than just straight cardio. I personally love HIIT and circuit training. I do an hour every other day. I get rest days so I don’t overwork myself and can still find harmony with other life goals and daily responsibilities. Plus the variety keeps the muscles guessing, which means you’re least likely to plateau or stall in your weight loss.
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The biggest benefit of coaching, other than reaching your goals, is the awareness of how your body works, how to read food labels, what foods to eat, which to avoid and have support to move forward through obstacles and challenges that are sure to come up along the way.
My clients learn how certain foods may be affecting their bodies and I provide the resources to help them make necessary changes.
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