Change.

Now again, I'm not some yoga teaching, tree hugging, fitness obsessed fireplug, who claims to have all the answers here. I'm just a fitness professional who loves fitness a perfectly normal amount. I don't overdo, I do not have an eating disorder, I actually have a pretty healthy balance with family/friends, work, fitness. I've just been in the industry for a while and have solutions to problems that many people face with diet and exercise. From talking with clients, friends, people who struggle, people who have overcome struggles, I've gotten to see some patterns.

It's no secret by this point that change is a conscious decision/effort. Anything worth anything takes time, and sacrifice. Weight loss is no different. People view change in many different ways, but overall change is scary. It's a disruption of daily habits and routines that we're so comfortable in. Since weight loss is a consistent, conscious effort internally, combined with external influences (fast food commercials, people eating junk food around you, etc.) it takes some real will power and self talk. Everyone has communication with themselves. Whether you realize it or not, we see or hear something, our brain triggers certain emotions involved with that image or sound. This is what makes us crave a pizza as soon as it's in front of us, when before that, we weren't even thinking about pizza. If your self talk is negative, or if you ask yourself questions as if there's no answer vs. questions with endless answers and possibilities, this could be the difference between (finally) reaching a goal, or giving up yet again. For example if you were to ask yourself "How am I everrrrrr going to lose weight; I hate dieting, what if I fail AGAIN?" Instead of "How can I lose weight and enjoy the process?" By answering that second question, I can come up with possibilities that I never knew existed. Maybe I can discover that I like dancing, and if I tried a zumba class, I could dance and have fun without even realizing I'm losing weight in the process. You must have a positive, CAN do attitude. There's plenty of people out there waiting to see you crumble..don't be one of them!

Let's talk stats. Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of body fat leading to a body weight in relation to height that is substantially greater than some accepted standard. More than one third of US adults are obese. According to data from the NHANES, reports that obesity has increased significantly over the passed 30 years. How do we break the cycle of obesity? I have some thoughts.

Reasons you haven't lost weight..

• Portions. I've heard that going out to dinner in Europe is a completely different experience than it is in America. First of all, you get portions that a human being will actually eat. Not a portion that you can eat tonight, take home and eat again, and again, for the next three nights. I don't know how we've gotten into this "bigger must be better" society but it has got to stop. When it comes to TVs, yeah maybe bigger is better. But when it comes to food, get some smaller plates, fill your plate with your protein and two vegetables, and your food should be about the size of your hand, because that's how big your stomach is. That's why eating out, even when choosing healthy options, is the reason you're still fat.
• Satiety. To know the difference between hunger, and a craving, we must learn the difference between what drives us to eat, and what gives us our DESIRE to eat CERTAIN foods. We make our eating choices based on smell, texture, color, and taste. Hunger prompts eating. Satiation tells you when to stop eating. Satiety determines the appropriate time intervals in between meals. Internal and external cues stimulate the appetite, which complicates the inner workings or hunger, satiation, and satiety. Appetite is the real desire to eat, hunger is the actual need to eat. This is what makes us eat dessert, even when we're still stuffed from dinner. It's helpful to know and separate certain foods with high satiety value. Protein based, fiber full, nutrient dense foods and drinks have a high satiety value. High fat, low nutrient foods and drinks provide low satiety levels and empty calories. Healthy foods make us feel fuller, leaving us with less of a need to eat more at our next meal. Unhealthy foods not only provide less nutrients and more calories, but often don't even make us feel full.
• Cravings. A lack of planning ahead often leads to giving into temptations around you, and binging. Know the difference between real hunger and a craving. Don't go more than 4 hours without eating to avoid starving and slowing metabolism. Cravings are a bitch. Keep a photo of a sexy celeb in a bikini on your fridge for motivation. It's like hey you wanna open that fridge? Think again, biotch.
• Consistency. Most people think "Hey I've eaten so great these last three days, so why haven't I lost 10lbs by now?" Doesn't work like that. Eating well needs to be consistent, not convenient. That means setting a healthy eating schedule for the month, while including one or two cheat days. Craving pizza? Write it down, save for your cheat day, and get it out of your system so you can start fresh. Stop crying because your depriving yourself. Healthy living doesn't mean depriving, it just means substituting healthy alternatives on a consistent basis. One or two cheat days a month will not completely destroy your progress.
• Accountability. Lack of accountability is a great way to NOT reach your goal. Figure out what your starting weight is, figure out how much you want to lose. Healthy weight loss is 1-2lbs/week. Come to terms with the amount of time it will take to reach your goal weight, and plan weekly weigh ins. I can't even tell you how many times I've heard "I just can't figure out why I'm not losing weight." Weight loss is black and white. Calories in, calories out. Are there other factors that contribute to your progress or lack there of? Sure. Now figure out what they are FOR YOU. If you eat well all day and then sneak a bag of potato chips in your room and binge every night, then be honest with yourself and admit it. Stop trying to rationalize things. "Yeah, but I don't eat that bad," "Yeah but I only eat three cookies now instead of a whole bag," these are excuses that will destroy you. Be honest. Keep a food diary. Track everything. THEN come back and tell me why you can't lose weight.
• Get tough. Stop waiting for someone to hold your hand through this process. No one feels sorry for you or really cares where you are in your life or where you want to be. In fact, most people have other insecurities and hate seeing others succeed at anything, let alone losing weight and looking phenomenal. If you realize that now, it'll make it easier to depend on no one but yourself. Is it nice to have a gym buddy, or have your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife diet along with you to make it easier? Sure it is, but don't ever depend on someone else to reach YOUR goal. You made the choice, now you have to do the work. DO all of the necessary research, DO come up with a plan of action, and DO encourage others to adapt to this new healthy lifestyle and weight loss journey, but DO NOT expect others to help you. It's easier to prepare yourself to have a healthy meal when everyone else around you is eating shit. You'll feel more accomplished when your fitting into those skinny jeans, and they're going up a size.
• Be real. Everyone knows the foods we all should be eating in order to lose weight. We don't actually eat them on a regular basis, but we like the say "Oh I had some broccoli on Tuesday, I should be down 5lbs by now." I don't know who made the rule that we have to absolutely love everything we put into our mouth, but I would recommend keeping an open mind. I don't know one person out there who doesn't love good food. Good food is a part of life, and we celebrate with cakes, and greasy delicious foods for a reason. These needs to be taken in moderation. If you're over there thinking "Yeah but I know a girl, she's sooooo lucky, she can eat whatever she wants, anddddd doesn't exercise, anddddd she doesn't gain weight, so why can't I be like that." Yeah I hate to break it to you, but some people are genetically gifted, and have a higher metabolism than most people and can get away with eating like shit. For the majority of people though, this works passed the age of 7 and then you have to actually make a conscious effort to maintain a healthy weight. Sometimes, I want to tell THAT GIRL to fuck off too, as she's eating a pizza, and I'm busting my ass 5 days a week and eating 6 servings of fruit/veg everyday so that I can drink a glass of wine on occasion, but we can't just go around telling people to fuck off. So get real. Keep an open mind on trying healthy foods (which most actually are delicious). Remember your taste buds change every 7 years or so. So the foods you thought you didn't like as a kid, you actually might love today. I used to hate peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Now I eat them literally every single day.
• Resiliency. In life we fall, we get right back up again. Some people get right back up. Others kind of lay there and wallow in self pity for a while, then think about getting back up, then lay back down, then eventually someone PICKS their ass up off the ground. I've seen this time and time again with weight loss. Someone sets an unrealistic weight loss timeline, goes really hard in the beginning when they're motivated, then motivation kind of wears off a bit (because they're eating 1200 calories/day to try to lose double the weight that is actually healthy and safe) starts to binge, then falls off the wagon. Do we get right back up after this? NOOOOO we eat all the foods we missed out on while we were "dieting" and throw ourselves a little pity party during the sugar crash. Couple ways to avoid this

1. Come up with a healthy weight loss strategy. Sure we could all starve ourselves in order to lose weight. Maybe we lose 10lbs in a week. Maybe we pass out during spin class. Maybe become anorexic. Probably not the best strategy. Find something healthy that works for your lifestyle. I hear weight watchers is great if you don't think you can go it alone.
2. Come to terms with a realistic timeline and prepare for setbacks. Guess what, you ate a cookie. Good job dumbbass, now DON'T eat one tomorrow, and you'll be right back on your way to downsizing.
3. Rewards for progress is a great way to stay motivated. Treat yourself to a new outfit or a mani/pedi every time you lose 5lbs. Those 5lbs get harder and harder to lose as you go on.
4. Think with the big picture in mind. In 6 months you could be down close to 60lbs (if you have 60 lbs to lose). Or you could play the yo-yo game and end up in the same exact position you're in right now. It's up to you either way.