What are the main pains for weight loss? If you're not doing it right, you're likely to be experiencing hunger, energy dips and cravings. Sounds like an uphill battle relying on way too much willpower to sustain for most people. No wonder it's a challenge to stick to a diet! However, hunger and cravings don't need to be the enemy. I've recently heard some clever people reframing these challenges as part of being “your own metabolic detective”, and I think that's a great idea.
So, these diet ‘pains' are actually the clues to reading your own metabolism, that will lead to long-term weight loss and a good relationship with food.
So, What Does Hunger Tell Us?
Hunger is essentially a measure of how satiated (content might be another word) you are with what you have in your belly. How your mix of protein, fibre, carbohydrates, water and fats on your plate sustains you through the day. Some of these are more satisfying than others. Fibre and protein are good at signaling to your body that you have had enough to eat, and generally sustain this feeling for longer.
What About Cravings?
Cravings, however, are related to how satisfied we are with our meals, how tasty they are, how much pleasure is derived from eating them. In this case, it's the fat and carbohydrate component that have the most bearing here. The idea is to mix in just enough of these to make your meals taste great. Your cravings are telling you that you need to think of some ways to add some healthy oils or good low-GI carbohydrates to your meals. Willpower is a limited commodity, so adding in a little bit of what you love, can help keep cravings at bay and make weight loss more enjoyable.
Weight Loss Energy Dips
If you cut back your energy intake too suddenly or you are eating less and exercising more, you may end up feeling tired. The key is to keep your metabolism happy and not put it into starvation mode. This can cause a general slowing down of your body's processes as your body prepares to endure what may seem like some global crisis of food shortage. Another thing to look out for on an exercise more, eat less approach to weight loss is getting enough nutrients. It goes to reason that you need highly nutritious foods to keep up your daily requirement of B vitamins, Magnesium and everything else that keeps your body running smoothly if you are eating less in general. Another alternative is to take a good quality supplement to make sure you are covering all the bases for energy production.
Tips To Stick To Your Diet
Changing it up is a good way to respond to a craving, hunger and energy clue your body is sending you. This may mean eating more some days, exercising more some days, changing what you eat for breakfast to make sure you're sustaining your energy better and generally listening to what your body is telling you. Sounds like a great start to me!
Sticking to your diet and weight loss can be supported by a good detoxification program, metabolic or hormonal treatments and stress reduction. If you are looking at your health and deciding a weight loss program is the priority for you, come have a chat to me about putting these types of supports in place. Book online or call 0402 097 028 to get started today.
