Why diets and fitness programs fail us
One of the reasons I launched my 8 week the last 10 kg weight loss program was that I was tired of so many weight loss programs claiming they had the solution, only to offer another version of a meal plan, exercise plan or pill. Some would say the food was specifically targeting premenopausal woman. That they had the key to secret foods, or an exercise plan, that would help all woman lose their hormonal weight….despite countless medical journals highlighting that we are all different. That our bodies all respond differently to foods, and so there isn’t a one size fits all model.
When I was trying to lose weight, I kept hoping to find the magic food, I kept thinking maybe the answer lay in this diet, or this exercise plan, or this pill and so as a result I tried a heap. But the results were always the same. It always felt that something was missing. It felt like I was just putting make up each day, rather than treating and caring for my skin so that make up wasn’t required.
One consistent issue with all of these programs, was that they didn’t address the actual reason so many of struggle with our weight. They have convinced us that it is because we don’t know the secret food combination. And tell us that when we do, ‘poof our weight will just melt off.’ There would be the insta reels with these super fit woman in active wear telling you that you too can be like them. But we all know to have that level of muscle, you are doing a serious amount of weight training and for me that is not what I was after.
For most of my clients, they all have a pretty good handle on what a ‘good’ diet, vs a ‘bad’ diet is. But losing weight is more than that. Food is the symptom. Why we eat, is what need to solve for.
We have been told for too long that if we cant lose weight there must be something wrong with us. What I would like to offer is that this is not the case. All it tells me, is that you have a human brain, working exactly as it has been designed to. And it is the understanding of our brain, that for me is the missing ingredient in the weight loss programs out there.
As humans we are wired for survival. We have a brain that likes to be efficient, we have a brain that doesn’t like change. Understanding and managing for these 3 things alone will help you more with your weight loss than any diet you are on for 6 weeks.
To lose weight, we need to first understand how our brain works. We need to understand the role of dopamine. We need to understand the role of insulin.
The answer to weight loss does not lie in a meal plan and fitness app. It lies in understanding your brain, understanding your drivers, understanding 3 key hormones and then creating a plan, that supports you in unwinding years of patterns. You cannot solve for weight loss, for the long term, if you don’t actually solve for why you are not losing weight in the first place.