Have you tried any diet but every time you always gained all the lost weight back and maybe.. even more? and… do you also end up blaming it on your thyroid?
Please keep reading so I can better explain you..
The problem is not always related to the thyroid… but to the “DIET” itself!
Yes, you read that right!
That’s why I’m telling you that it’s time to stop looking for yet another diet!
90% of diets are destined to fail, and do you know why? I’ll answer you as a (neuro)scientist as well as a nutritionist.
When we are on diet, our brain can react in different ways. On the one hand, we may initially feel immediately charged and super-motivated and determined to achieve our weight loss goals. It always happens like that.
However, soon after the first few days, this feeling of euphoria starts to fade, unfortunately. Mentally and emotionally, we have always associated (and therefore unconsciously perceive) the concept of “dieting” as an act of deprivation, stress, and anxiety, especially if we decide to follow a very restrictive diet… perhaps with the idea of achieving results as quickly as possible!
The problem is that these feelings can lead to a series of negative reactions in our brain. For example, deprivation can lead to episodes of uncontrollable eating, ending up eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, which could then be followed by negative feelings such as guilt and/or shame.
In addition, calorie restriction can influence our metabolism, causing our body to burn fewer calories, which makes it harder to lose weight in the long term.
You need to know that our mind is predisposed to seek for pleasure and avoid pain.
When we avoid certain foods or drastically reduce calories, we may experience a reduction in the pleasure associated with eating, which can lead to an increase in cravings for “forbidden” foods.
Furthermore, desire to avoid the frustration associated with calorie restriction can lead to a “rebound effect“, where we eat even more after the diet period…just to seek again for that sense of “pleasure” at an emotional and mental levels.
In general, the way we emotionally react to dieting itself can influence our ability to stick to it in the long term. If we feel stressed, anxious, and perceive dieting as a sacrifice, it is highly likely that that diet will fail in the long term.
That’s why it’s important to opt for a sustainable, evidence and science-based approach that takes into account our psychological needs and helps us create healthy eating habits in the long term.
Many of the currently trendy diets can be too restrictive and are not sustainable at all, so they cannot be maintained for a prolonged period. It can be challenging to stick to a dietary regimen that requires completely eliminating certain foods or drastically reducing calories for an extended period. This approach can lead to feelings of frustration, deprivation, stress, and anxiety, which in turn can lead to episodes of uncontrolled eating.
In addition, the other mistake is wanting to lose weight too quickly.
Although it may be tempting to try to lose weight quickly and drastically, this type of approach is usually not sustainable. When you lose weight too quickly, you might mainly reduce the muscle mass instead of body fat, which ultimately slows down metabolism and can make it harder to maintain the weight loss.
In fact, many diets can promise quick results but are not based on solid scientific evidence. Some diets, especially DIY ones, can also be harmful to your health and wellbeing because they may be too restrictive and deprive your body of essential nutrients.
Finally, don’t always forget to consider the emotional and psychological aspect of eating..
Food is nourishment and actually is comfort or gratification for our body and mind, and if these needs are not met, it may be difficult to follow a diet in the long term, don’t you think?
So what’s the solution? An ad-hoc program based on the FOOD education and correct combination – tailored on your needs, can help you to either gradually change your eating habits for good as well as help to maintain these new habits (and therefore the lost weight) in the long term.
Restrictive diets or DIY diets downloaded from the web, magic drinks or “fat-burning” pills, etc., done without taking into account thyroid health (read previous post about it), are harmful because they can slow down metabolism and can interfere with thyroid activity, especially in women.
These rigid approaches will only further slow down your metabolism, and your body will activate a “defense” mechanism, holding onto every single calorie you ingest, by storing it precisely because the calorie intake is low.
Excessive exercise and fasting, in turn, will put even more strain on your adrenal glands, by generating further “stress” in your body and halting any weight loss process you hope to achieve. And as a result, what will happen?
You will stop any “useless” sacrifices, including the restrictive “diet” once again, by reversing on to the same wrong initial habits, and…perhaps even regaining additional weight!
Have you even experience such situation before? So what might the solution be?
But what to do then?
To answer this question, you have to consider several aspects. First of all:
Restoring the right relationship with food, by rediscovering joy and pleasure by eating. Reconnecting with your body after years of dieting and calorie counting, with or without apps. Also, don’t always let yourself be conditioned by that number on the SCALE. By doing so, you will always live in fear of eating more and never feeling free to enjoy the pleasure from food.
Because food is also (and above all) NOURISHMENT and PLEASURE.
Then…
Work on the ROOT CAUSE of your health condition (even if overweight): inflammation, micronutrient deficiencies, blood sugar imbalances, stress, intestinal permeability, sluggish liver, etc. etc.. All of these factors, if well addressed and “regulated”, will help your body work better, and your metabolism will also benefit from it.
I ensure you that if you focus on these “trigger” points, you will also see positive changes in your energy levels.
Motivation and weight loss will be only a natural consequence, while your body regains its balance, even hormonal. Be kinder to yourself and to your body!
Don’t be to “harsh” to yourself by always reducing food even more… but focus more on other priorities and love yourself more.
Even how you treat and speak to yourself and your body counts…
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