1. You think of food as ‘Calories’
This one had to come first, because it is one of the most common behaviors I see that are holding people back.
Side note: Understanding the concept of calories can be useful to a health newbie, for example if you are eating fast food, packaged convenience foods, ice cream and pastries on the regular its good to understand how calorie dense these types of food really are. For people in this category who might be very obese or have diet related health issues understanding the concept of calories can possibly (still not that often) be beneficial.
Calorie counting is flawed for many reasons.
- It is INACCURATE (you can read more on this in the links below);
- It takes the focus away from the value of what you are eating;
- It gives you a false feeling of security;
- It usually leads to a dysfunctional relationship with food;
- It takes away from developing a better understanding of your body and what it might need;
- It takes up mental space you could be using for much more productive and rewarding things.
2. You are not being honest with yourself
Why do you want to lose weight? Is it for you or for someone else? Goals without gravity have no weight.
3. You are not being realistic
Weight loss requires change. Change comes at a cost. It requires sacrifice. Look at where you are now and where you want to be. In between now and that time some, or many things have to change. This doesn't necessarily mean drastic overhaul stuff . It’s more about adopting, building upon and sticking to small changes to your lifestyle. Primarily diet, exercise, sleep and stress.
Weight loss takes time and persistence. You may start a path to better health by taking small steps and get frustrated that things are not changing immediately. So you quit, convinced that method doesn't work.
Your weight loss goals are out of line with reality. If there are certain things about your lifestyle that you are not ready to change, or if you are looking to get down to a weight that is below a healthy range for your body type then it might be a good time to look inward and ask yourself if your current goals are healthy, sustainable in the long term and realistic.
4. You are not connecting with your body
This ties back into the whole calorie counting thing. Engaging in behaviors like calorie counting, tracking macros etc alienates us from how we feel when we eat. Trying to keep within some set of numbers puts us at odds with the messages our bodies are sending us. Our hunger and fullness signals get totally out of whack.
5. You are getting distracted
You start a week of healthy eating, cooking meals at home and picking well balanced options when out. Suddenly you read about some new kind of AMAZING diet or juice cleansing regime which doesn't include the foods you are currently eating. You ditch your plan and shift to the next. Then you read about another, even BETTER diet that totally debunks the OTHER diet and switch to that. The cycle continues….
More on Calories:
Rethinking the Calorie
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/what-does-a-calorie-measure/427089/
Science Reveals Why Calorie Counts Are All Wrong
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-reveals-why-calorie-counts-are-all-wrong/
The accuracy of stated energy contents of reduced-energy, commercially prepared foods.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20102837
Food Label Accuracy of Common Snack Foods
