When a woman wonders what is causing her to gain weight or why she can’t seem to shed those last few pounds, the first thing she does is look at what she is eating. Although the foods we choose to eat obviously have an impact on our weight and how we feel, they are only one part of the overall weight loss puzzle.
There is so much more that a woman needs to consider way beyond whether she ate chips and salsa and drank a rita last Saturday night at her favorite restaurant. In fact, when we are trying to lose weight to get to that natural, healthy weight that is just right for our bodies, we have to get our minds and emotions involved, too.
Whole Woman Health is the leading woman health clinic in Denver and when our client wants to lose weight, we look way beyond the secret snack drawer to help her meet her goals. We look at what is happening psychologically and emotionally, too.
Leaving those aspects out of the plan is like handing her a year’s worth of meal plans but expecting her to cook them up in an oven that is not fully firing. She’s going to get results that are half-baked and we don’t do things half-assed around here.
7 Things Other than Food that Affect Weight Loss
If you want to reach an ideal weight that is healthy and just right for you, it’s time to look at the whole picture. It’s time to close the calorie counting app and open your mind. There are many things that impact your weight, and only one of them is food. Here are 7 of the others.
- Energy: If you are so tired that you nod off during every Zoom meeting week after week, it’s safe to say that you are not going to be up to running on the treadmill or taking that brisk walk around the block at lunch. Our energy levels are closely tied to our ability to lose weight and to our likelihood of being overweight. One study found that a person’s energy got lower and lower as their BMI increased. So, if you want to lose weight, you’ve got to find ways to increase your energy.
- Life Satisfaction: Being satisfied with your life leads to greater optimism about the future and a sense that you have plenty of options available to you. Definitely something to shoot for, yes? Turns out that healthy weight and life satisfaction are impacted by one another. When asked to rate how satisfied a person is with their life, studies have revealed that people with a healthy weight tend to have higher levels of satisfaction with their life.
- Quality of Sleep: When it comes to sleep, Americans are masters at not getting anywhere near enough. We are sleep-deprived AF and it negatively affects ALL the things, including our weight. There is great interest in how sleep and weight are related among researchers, whose studies have shown that lower sleep quality leads to metabolic dysfunction and weight gain among other things you probably aren’t too eager to sign up for.
- Confidence: This state of being helps you elevate from “who, me?” to “you’re damn right” status every time you so much as walk into a room. Confidence is one of those positive feedback loops that just keeps delivering goodness at every turn. As it relates to weight loss, the stronger you believe that you can lose weight and hit your goals, the greater your chances are of succeeding. And when you do, your confidence in other areas of your life gets a boost, too. So you slay your next targets and boom, you’re crushing it at work, too. Confidence is queen.
- Digestion: When things are not moving steadily through your gut, you feel sluggish, tired, and full. Not having regular and healthy movements is a sign that something you are eating is not right for your body. You might have a sensitivity. You may not be getting the right balance of nutrients with plenty of fiber to pack it in and push it through. Look, I know this isn’t polite dinner party talk but the state of your digestive system is a major factor in not letting your weight loss goals go to sh*t.
- Mental Clarity: Do you feel super sharp and on point like Lisa Simpson or more like Dory, forgetting what you said by the time you circle around to face the person you’re speaking to? If you’re aiming to shed pounds, mental clarity makes a difference. Remember that long-term healthy and natural weight requires full support of your mind and emotional well-being, not just laying off Funyuns and corn dogs. A woman who is trying to regain her natural weight can be seriously held back by all the mental blocks inside her head. These not only derail your weight loss plans, they make you feel dumb as a doornail.
- Happiness: You may already know that our brain chemistry is highly fluid and has major impact on how we feel and what actions we take. When we have higher levels of dopamine, one of those feel-good hormones in our minds, we have a far greater chance of losing weight. We all feel down sometimes. A life without all the feels is not a complete life, right? But finding the joy in simple moments, smiling, and laughing often can initiate a release of those delightful chemicals in your brain. Boost your mood and your weight loss, all with a smile on that beautiful face.
The next time you come across a woman, whether they are a professional nutritionist or just a member of your tribe, who recommends counting calories and restricting your diet as a primary means to lose weight, kindly turn the other cheek. It’s about SO much more than that. If you want to learn how to integrate your mind, body, and emotional state to reach your natural weight, we are here for it.
Exclusive Health Coaching in Denver
Whole Woman Health is the top health clinic for women in Denver and we are here to help you get back to your healthiest self. Other weight loss programs in Denver fail to provide the emotional and psychological support that is so necessary to long-term success. Not us.
We are a team of nutritionists and life coaches in Denver offering a weight loss program exclusively for women called The SHED and it covers all the bases, bridging the gap between mind and body and changing your relationship with food. If you are ready to invest in getting back to the best version of yourself, register today.