11 SEP 2018: Well, the kids are back to school, the nights are cooling off and the sun is taking longer to show its face in the morning. As summer slowly fades, we are getting back into our regular routines and taking this opportunity to refocus. Some even refer to this time of the year as the ‘second New Year’. If you had the best of intentions that got away from you, now is your shot at a second chance!

Maybe you have a trip coming up, a special event, or maybe you just want to feel better, achieving a healthy weight can help you look good and feel better.

Here is the fascinating thing about weight loss: while it does have a lot to do with food, paradoxically, it actually has very little to do with food. In order to explain this more clearly, allow me to share with you my suggestions on how to make a positive change in your life without drastically restricting your food choices.

You got a bad attitude.

But it’s not your fault! Our whole culture around dieting and weight loss creates a disadvantage right off the bat. The media shames anyone who does not fit the unrealistic, airbrushed and photo-shopped standards of what it is to be beautiful. Our language around weight loss sends us off to engage in a battle, the diets are incredibly restrictive, and we punish and shame ourselves for whatever gluttony got us so far off track.

A better approach starts with shifting the focus away from the numbers on the scale. The relationship between food and weight is a little more complicated than reducing it to a numbers game, and it becomes even more complicated by the (often negative) emotions and beliefs we hold about ourselves. Frame your weight loss journey with the goal of feeling and looking better because you respect yourself enough to know that you deserve those things.

Because you cannot hate yourself into someone you love.

So, the next time the pastry cart rolls around or there are doughnuts in the staff room, avoid being angry with yourself because you can’t have something. Instead, try saying I choose not to have that because every single cell in my body is working incredibly hard to keep me happy and healthy and that doesn’t support this goal. Whether you say it aloud or keep it to yourself is your decision to make but recognize this change in perspective, and see if it changes the way you feel about the food you’ve been offered.

Give yourself a break.

…from eating, that is! Try to maintain a fasting period each day of at least 14 hours between dinner and breakfast the next morning. During the fasted state your body will switch to burning fat as a fuel source to sustain you. Believe it or not, even maintaining my regular eating habits, I notice more mental clarity and better energy when I maintain this fasted period. As an example, this looks like dinner at 7 pm and then not having breakfast until between 9-11am the next day. This break also allows your body to catch up on some much-needed housekeeping, which is often neglected by the energy demands of digestion. Known as intermittent fasting, this is more about eating in less time than it is about eating fewer calories.

Go nuts!

Unfortunately, I don’t mean at the buffet. Have a handful of nuts (raw is best to preserve the fats and nutrient content) about 20 minutes before your larger meal(s). Nuts are very energy dense with lots of healthy fats that will give you feelings of satiety and keep you from overeating at meal times. This will also help you eat more mindfully. If you are drooling at the sight of a table full of food because you haven’t eaten, or you’ve been saving your calories, you’re more likely to scarf down far more than is comfortable. Not to mention suffer from indigestion and feelings of guilt! When you’ve taken the edge off, you can pace yourself and actually chew your food. Chewing sends signals to the brain. The more chewing we do, the more accurate our ‘stop eating, we’re full’ signals will be.

Resistance is NOT futile.

Resistance training is a crucial part of achieving a healthy weight. You don’t have to go all Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1975, but moving weights, even simply bodyweight exercises, will help you build more muscle tissue. This is important because not only does it factor into looking good, but muscles burn calories just to exist. This means the more muscle mass you have the more calories you will burn even if you’re couch-bound to binge-watch the latest season of whatever it is the kids are watching these days.

Please remember that weight loss is about fueling your body properly and not starving yourself. Healing comes from abundance, not scarcity. Everything is okay in moderation because as long as you eat well most of the time, the rest will come out in the wash. Cut yourself some slack and recognize that you are exactly where you need to be. Weight loss is a long game, not a quick fix, so be patient. Your body already knows what it needs to do to feel better; we just need to respect ourselves enough to give it the chance.