Why am I not losing weight?

I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve been asked this question a lot by clients and to be honest there can be so many reasons why. In this blog, I’m going to look at just a couple of reasons.

If you are “of a certain age” chances are attitudes towards food were very different when you were a child.

In my house growing up we were always told to finish what was on our plate, regardless of how hungry we were. Doing this, day in, day out sets the belief in your mind that you must finish everything that’s in front of you, otherwise it’s wasteful. This then carries into adulthood, and when presented with a plate of food, that belief kicks in and you feel obliged to eat everything because you don’t want to waste the food. This can be particularly strong when you’re at a restaurant or order a takeaway, you maybe force yourself to eat everything as “you’ve paid for it”. I used to think the same, but now have the attitude that you’ve paid for it whether you’re eating out or you’re cooking at home. Also, you could always bring anything you haven’t eaten home with you. Lots of restaurants have take home cartons and are not offended if you ask. At home, any left-over food, can simply be covered and eaten the next day. So, whether you’re eating at home or you’re going out, it's not a waste if you don’t eat everything on your plate.

(Did you know that portion sizes have increased over the years? For instance, an average muffin weighed about 3 ounces in the 1950s; today, one is likely to be closer to 6.5 ounces—more than double the size).

Another reason is that we are so distracted and simply don’t listen to our bodies when eating. Life can seem to be so busy, juggling and fitting so much into the day, and you can find that eating can sometimes even be an inconvenience. We then eat on the run, and are more tempted to buy fast foods, meal deals (because when you buy a sandwich, you automatically get the crisps too, right?) or snacks (even the ones marketed as “healthy”) to hold you over until lunchtime or dinnertime. Typically, these types of foods are going to have a higher calorie content and can lead to more snacking later in the day. Sound familiar?

(Did you know that typically, you consume more calories if you’re distracted?)

In an ideal world, we would eat 3 times a day, sitting down and really focussing on what we are eating. Not sitting in front of the TV or scrolling endlessly through our phones. Just eating. Chewing our food properly, to give our digestive system a chance to break it down and absorb it. Chewing our food properly, also helps to slow the eating process down, allowing the full/ comfortable signal to be sent instead of just eating mindlessly, until the plate is clear. By ignoring and not tuning in to that full signal, it’s a bit like your kitchen bin. You put waste into the bin every day until it’s full. Imagine not emptying the bin and you just keep squashing/ forcing food into every inch of space until it overflows all over the floor.

If we applied the same principle to overeating, we know that excess eating turns to fat, where does that fat go? For some it’s straight to the tummy, others it’s a muffin top, maybe it adds to legs, arms or the bottom. But, it does go somewhere.

This is all well and good, but this is the way I think, my beliefs, this can’t be changed, right?

WRONG!

Hypnotherapy is extremely powerful with addressing eating beliefs and habits. For example, the popular Virtual Gastric Band showed a 95% success rate during clinical trials!

In my practice, I regularly see clients who want to challenge their eating habits; be that to lose weight, to choose better foods, to (night-time) snack less, or address their emotions around eating, eg, boredom or emotional eating. I absolutely love the feedback from them, including the added benefits of increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and positive self-talk!

#doitforyou