What makes weight loss hard
1) Fighting your internal dialog
Your brain will try to trick you. It will convince you to, “go ahead and have that one slice of pizza”, or “one day won’t kill you”. It will tell you that you can’t eat such a small portion size, that you don’t have to track this one snack. It will justify having that candy bar, that you deserve an extra cheat day because you’ve done so well. YOUR BRAIN WILL FIGHT YOU. So you have to remember that you are fighting years and years of ingrained thought patterns and you are trying to break free of a cycle that you’ve been in for life. There is a reason that you started this journey, and you have to remind yourself of that reason whenever your brain tries to trick you. Be honest with yourself about what you’re eating, track it all and don’t trust your brain or that internal voice that got you to where you are right now. Fighting your own internal dialog is the hardest part of losing weight.
2) Portion control
Anytime I wanted to lose weight, I would go shopping and buy that low calorie bread that I like, or some zuchini and squash, so I could make a lower calorie pasta dish. I’d stock up on low calorie ice cream, zero calorie drinks and 100 cal snack packs of cookies and chips. I still love and use low calorie food swaps and they are good for losing weight now, but… I really had to ask myself if I was going to be eating low cal bread and 100calorie snack packs even after the weight was gone. Was I really going to be making zuchini pasta for the rest of my life? Probably not… So over the years I’ve learned to use the low calorie food swaps, and to also eat my “normal” everyday type food, but to just eat less of it. You can eat the food you love, you just might need to eat it less often, you might need to eat smaller portion sizes and it doesn’t hurt to find other healthy dishes and snacks to sprinkle into your life that you also enjoy.
at a friends graduation in 2018
3) Relearning everything you thought you knew
Recognizing that my eating habits, my cravings and my relationship with food was not “healthy”, required me to admit that I could not trust my judgement when it came to food. What I thought was a normal portion size, was most likely not a normal portion size. If I thought I was feeling hungry… I probably was not that hungry. Admitting I had a problem with food and that I needed to relearn how to listen to my body and what it needed, was a hard thing to do. But it was the first step to realizing that I could not trust my judgement, that I maybe needed help, that I needed to trust in the science, the numbers, the math, more than in how I was feeling.
Nov 2023
4) As you lose weight, you have to lower your calories more
Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) changes the smaller you get. Larger bodies require more calories to survive and function. This is why someone who is 300+ lbs can still lose weight eating 2,200 calories a day. So know that you may need to increase your calorie deficit after you’ve already seen some weight loss, or just get comfortable knowing that the closer you get to your goal weight, the slower the weight will come off.
5) Having patience
Tracking calories is the only way to guarantee and know that what you’re doing will work beyond shadow of a doubt (the math won’t steer you wrong). But it is still not a perfect system. You can’t accurately track how many calories you’ve burned (the exercise machines and even your apple watch are estimating your caloric burn) and even what you’re consuming and digesting is slightly up in the air. There are so many variables with weight loss and how your body is responding to things…most times you just have to try your best, count the calories and wait. Progress can be really slow, you may not notice physical changes for MONTHS. So track your progress in a multitude of ways (pictures, videos, the scale, your physical fitness, strength, etc).
6) Having faith in your ability to do this
Losing weight is doable. You can do this, you don’t need any pills or special foods. You just need to believe in yourself and put in the work. Resist the cravings, find other ways to handle your emotions, get moving, stay active, track your foods and believe in your ability to change your life. Just take one step at a time.
