Why Eating Less Makes It WAY Harder to Lose Weight

You probably know people who eat more than you do and never seem to gain any weight. And every time you try to eat less, you just feel hungry and grumpy.

The truth is that you don’t have to restrict your diet to lose weight. You just have to help your body do the right things with that food. You need to improve your metabolism, for one, but not necessarily eat less. Eating less actually slows down your metabolism and makes it much harder to lose weight. It makes your brain think you’re starving, so it starts to ramp up hunger signals and stores even more fat.

Block Removal

Each of us has physical and mental "blocks" keeping us from our optimal health.

As you remove your blocks, you may naturally start eating less. If, for example, you discover that one of your blocks is being afraid of not getting enough food, then when you let go of that block, you may not feel the need to eat as much at each meal. You will eat when you are hungry. You won't need to starve yourself, and you will feel satisfied with each meal, both mentally and physically satisfied.

Is It Possible To Not Want "Unhealthy" Foods?

I remember growing up, when we would go out for ice cream, my dad would often not order anything. It wasn't that he was trying to be healthy; he just genuinely didn't want anything. Sometimes he would order a smoothie, but many times he wouldn't get anything. And that always blew my mind. I never understood how someone could simply not want ice cream.

And my dad was no health nut. If I made a salad for dinner, he would kindly eat some, but then he'd go make some cinnamon toast for himself.

I, on the other hand, believed in "good food" versus "bad food." I regularly told myself I shouldn't be eating treats. So anytime we had an outing, or a wedding reception, or a birthday party where there were treats available, I could not stop thinking about that treat until I got some. It made it hard to genuinely enjoy the people I was with or other activities.

In a sense, I was mentally starving myself from treats, so I desperately wanted them anytime they were available.

My dad lived by no apparent health rules. He didn't restrict his eating at all. He never told himself he couldn't have treats, and because of that, even when treats were freely available, he didn't crave them. He didn't feel like he had to have as much as possible or take advantage of free food. The thought of food didn't completely overwhelm his mind at social events, parties, work, buffets, or outings.

Addressing Eating Triggers

I know it can be so discouraging when you're trying to be healthy, and yet it seems everything around you is bent on tearing you down. There are constant advertisements for pizza, sweets, sodas, etc. There are parties and social events. In our culture, food is a big part of our celebrations. We are completely surrounded by foods, ideas, and habits that are not healthy for us. We simply cannot avoid all of the things that might trigger us to eat.

What we CAN control is our relationship with food.

This is done by:

1. Identifying eating triggers
2. Identifying thoughts, experiences, and feelings surrounding those triggers
3. Making peace with food and triggers.

Weight is Just a Symptom

Weight is only an outward symptom of something going on inside. If you can figure out what those issues are and address them from the inside out, your body will naturally start to let go of the excess weight.

I don’t see weight as something shameful or blameworthy. You are not to blame! It may take longer than you hope to fall into a healthy weight, but it doesn’t matter! I want you to find peace and fulfillment along the way, as you find and address those blocks that are keeping you from your optimal health. You should slowly start to see improvements in every area of your life, not just around your waist.

The reality is that as long as we are focusing on the symptom—as long as we are just trying to lose weight as quickly as possible—the longer we are going to struggle to lose that weight and actually keep it off. The sooner we can address the roots of the issue, the sooner we will start to see real, lasting changes.