Have you ever decided that enough is enough and you’re finally going to go on a diet and do something about your weight?
Maybe you saw a photograph of yourself. Maybe you want to look nice for a special event. Or maybe, you’re just sick of feeling overweight and unhealthy?
After hitting your snap point, you decide that the best place to start is to cut back your food. But after a few weeks, you haven’t lost anything. In fact, the scales indicate that you’ve actually gained weight! How can that be if you’ve been eating a lot less than you usually did?
Less food doesn’t equal less weight
We see many people in this situation and it’s a very painful place to be in. You feel you’ve been working hard, and even sacrificing many things (e.g. the foods you love to eat the most), yet you’re still not getting results.
But we know exactly what’s happening. You’re just not eating enough food.
What usually happens when people hit a snap point is that they go from one extreme to another — eating whatever they like and whatever makes them feel good (which is usually high in calories), to eating diet food (usually cutting carbs and/or meals).
But this all or nothing thinking is a recipe for disaster.
Eating less…but consuming more
Most people aren’t aware of how important food is when it comes to losing weight. That’s why it’s common for people to cut back to only 2 or 3 meals a day. However, these meals are often highly processed, high in calories and don’t leave you feeling satisfied.
-
- Breakfast – bowl of toasted muesli with a tub of full fat yoghurt
- Snack – muffin with large cappuccino (because they were so hungry and couldn’t wait until dinner to eat again)
- Dinner – plate of pasta with a cream-based sauce,
While these 3 meals don’t constitute a large amount of food, the number of calories consumed over the day is high. In addition, there is very little nutritional value in this food, and due to the fact that it’s highly processed, it won’t keep you feeling full for very long. Someone eating like this is likely to feel very hungry throughout the day.
Hunger leads to bingeing
The one thing we know is that if your body doesn’t get enough food, it will do anything to make up for it down the track. This usually plays out in several ways:
- At 3pm, you notice the familiar mid-afternoon slump and your cravings for sugary foods are intense
- After dinner, you end up bingeing on whatever you can find in the cupboard or fridge because you’re so hungry
- You might make it through Monday to Friday depriving yourself on food, but by the weekend you can’t control yourself anymore and end up eating whatever you can find.
What’s happening here is that your body is trying to make up for the food that it has missed out on, because your body will always try to make up for the deficit.
Think of it like this — you’re going to drive from Melbourne to Sydney. You know that it usually costs around $300 in fuel to make the trip. However, you’re going to try to get there on just $50 of fuel. What happens? You don’t make it, and you have to top up the tank with the fuel that you thought you didn’t need anyway even if it’s a low quality or not the right fuel.
What you eat now will determine what you eat later
Having someone else do the work of preparing your meals means you’ll never learn how to cook healthy meals for yourself, or the art of weekly meal prep. One of the key factors in long-term, sustainable weight loss is having the right foods ready and available, and being able to prepare them for yourself. We teach all our clients how to set up their environment for success, including the importance of having nutritious, tasty meals at their fingertips.
You see, when it comes to eating, proximity rules. That means that when you’re hungry, you’ll reach for the closest thing. If you have learned the art of weekly food prep, and how to make meals that will help you lose weight, while nourishing the body, you’ll always have the right food on hand. Relying on ready-made meals means you’ll never learn this important skill.
It takes a one size fits all approach
If you have a diet mindset and want to lose weight you will most likely restrict your food in an attempt to cut calories and lose weight. Even if you eat a ‘healthy’ meal with your family you’ll probably only eat half of what you need to, because you’re trying to lose weight.
While you might be eating ‘healthy food’, what you don’t realise is that only eating a small amount will lead to you looking for more food later on, when your body screams out that it’s starving.
The truth is what you eat now determines what you eat later. If you eat small portions and deprive yourself now, in a bid to cut calories and lose weight, then later on, you’ll go searching for more food and will most likely make up for the deficit with high-calorie foods. But if you eat enough food now, you will avoid the need to make up for that deficit.
Proximity rules
The other factor that you may not be aware of, is that proximity rules. That means that when you’re hungry, you’ll reach for the closest and easiest thing you can find, in order to satisfy your hunger. That may mean getting a cheeseburger from the drive-thru, a chocolate bar from the petrol station, or a muffin from the café.
It’s for this very reason that we encourage weekly food prep — to ensure that you have always got a continual supply of healthy food, ready to go for when you are hungry. To find out what meal prep is and how to do it, read our blog Family-friendly meal prep secrets. It’s also wise to set up your home environment (in particular, your kitchen), to support your weight loss. To learn how to do this, read our blog How to set up your environment for weight loss success.
What should you do if you’re not losing weight?
To lose weight, you have to eat more food. The best food is that which contains optimal nutrition, and which will keep you feeling satisfied. For a complete list of the best foods for weight loss, read our blog The 14 best foods to lose weight.
Eating enough food means eating until you’re full and then stopping. Unfortunately, most people stop before they’re full because they’re worried about gaining weight. What they don’t realise is that they’ll end up binge eating later on, because they didn’t eat enough at their last meal
If you’re not used to eating lots of food, start by eating small, nutritious meals more often. You need to eat until you’re full (not stuffed). If you’re still hungry after your meal, have another serve and don’t feel guilty about it. It’s far better to eat more at your meals than deprive yourself and binge later on. If you’re eating healthy meals but gaining weight, then chances are your meals are too small, and you’re supplementing your meals with other high-calorie choices.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with eating foods that are not considered to be ‘healthy’. That’s because there are no good or bad foods. Rather there are foods that serve different purposes. To fully understand this concept, read our blog What are good foods for weight loss and what are bad foods?
For example, there’s nothing wrong with eating dessert with the family because you want to enjoy it and have a special time with those you love. We actually encourage you to do this, because by allowing yourself the foods you love, you’re less likely to engage in emotional eating.
However, eating a whole tub of ice-cream on the couch after dinner, is another matter. This type of eating isn’t enjoying food. It’s trying to make up for the food-deficit you created, by not eating enough.
Instead of focusing on cutting back your food, focus on eating more of the foods that will get you results. Because if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll never get the results you’re looking for. Our blog Nothing changes if nothing changes: How to lose weight for good, explains why you need to do the opposite of what you’ve always done, in order to lose weight. Because if you don’t, you’ll always be frustrated because you’re not losing weight.
Need help with your eating?
We know that if you’ve always been a dieter, it can be very hard to simply start eating more food. Your head will play games with you and you will question everything you think you know about weight loss and dieting. And getting over the guilt around eating food — whether it’s larger amounts or the foods you love — can be tough. But that’s where we can help.
We’ve developed the Diet Antidote Transformation System (DATS™️) — the Not-diet diet for people who are sick of diets and want more than a good body. We can help you overcome your confusion and fear around food, so you can finally feel free with your eating, and get on the path to permanent weight loss.
Through our program we will give you specific, personalised action steps and provide you with the right amount of structure and accountability, to help you learn to eat enough food — that will help you get results.
DATSTM will give you the knowledge, systems, tools and skills to help you deal with any situation, so you can keep moving forward and making progress, even on your worst days.
Right now, our Program is open, both face-to-face or online. If you’re ready to join us, find out how it works and then, click the link below to see if you qualify.
Our online and face-to-face Diet Antidote Transformation System is for those people who are ready to change. However, if you’re not ready to commit to our DATS program, get a head start with our entry-level myPersonalised eCoaching program, our state-of-the-art 6-week program designed to help you bridge the gap between diets, exercise and long-term results. Customised for you to reach your personal goals, build healthy habits around mindset, discipline, nutrition and exercise that stick, and transform your life. You get 12-months’ worth of content compressed into 6 weeks, complete with worksheets, personalised action steps and resources. You also have lifetime access so you can learn at your own pace, and revisit any lessons you need to.
