Now I'm no doctor, or nutritionist, or trainer or... professional anything, so please take this with a grain of salt and know that it's only my opinion. Losing weight is about so much more than workout more, eat less. So here is where my magical formula comes into play. Losing weight is 75% diet, 20% exercise and 5% is hormones/genetics. Shall I explain? We'll start with the smallest, 5% - Our hormones and genetics. It plays a roll in HOW we gain weight (where it likes to congregate on our bodies) and how we lose weight. Our hormones tell our brains "Yo, it's a good time to shed some of these extra pounds!" or "Dude, I think we need to hold onto this fluff for a bit longer!". This is why some women find it super easy to lose weight while nursing and others find their weight loss stalls - nursing hormones tell our bodies how we should handle fat storage. Genetics tells our fat storage where to put it.
Onto exercise - a whopping 20%. I'll break it down. One pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day, by doing nothing but being muscly. One pound of fat, doing nothing but being jiggley, will only burn 4 calories a day.Your muscles work way harder for you. So working out and getting muscles is great for weight loss, because the more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn.
Diet. If you are seriously serious about losing weight, then THIS is where you need to work. Most people really have a terrible relationship with food. Whether it's overeating or under eating, eating crappy food all of the time, or beating yourself up for eating crappy food once in awhile. Food is the issue. Do you eat when you're bored or stressed or sad or lonely? Do you mindlessly nibble when there is food laid out in front of you? Do you buy yourself that chocolate bar, even though you know you shouldn't, then hide in the car and eat it as fast as you can so no one else knows about it? And then do you hate yourself for it? Food relationships. There are a ton of diet crazes that go around; low carb, low fat, paleo, gluten free. One of those diets might work for you, all of them might, or none of them might. We are individuals and as such, our bodies will react differently to different foods. Just because your cousin swore off bread and lost 20lbs, doesn't mean bread is your problem... The problem is putting crap in your body, putting foods into your body that your whole system doesn't know how to handle. Processed sugars, for example, you eat it, get a sugar high, then crash - because your body is short circuiting. Our organic bodies are not sure how to process and use up 'foods' that aren't so natural - so they hold onto fat, they spike blood sugar, they send code to the brain to react like we're starving or addicted. The cure? Eat real food. Cut out the processed junk. Retrain your body and your taste buds to enjoy the real flavors of natural food - the crisp sweet/tart taste of an apple, the watery green taste of a cucumber, the warmth of a peach. Also, watch how your body reacts to foods. Do you get bloated after eating pasta or bread? Does dairy upset your belly? We've gotten so accustomed to just eating for the sake of eating, that we don't watch our hunger cues anymore and we don't watch how food effects our bodies. If it makes you physically uncomfortable, then maybe it's a food that you shouldn't eat.
Ok, I'm blabbing on and on here. Point to this blog: there are lots of different factors to losing weight. So if you are on a weight loss journey, don't lose hope, don't get discouraged. Also, don't buy into the mass produced weight loss theories and diet plans. Eat real food and watch how it effects your body, workout to gain muscle that works FOR you instead of against you, and remember that YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL in all the shapes and sizes you come in.
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