“What kind of question is that- of course I am!”
I know it seems like a silly question. But so many people come to us at Evolve, that simply are not ready to lose weight.
Losing weight, typically, will mean having to have some sort of negative energy balance. Anyone who tells you otherwise is beating around the bush to make things easier to digest for you.
It will require a change of diet, and an increase in activity, and a hell of a mindset shift.
There are people who are either committed OR interested in wanting to lose weight. You know, most people WANT to lose weight, but few are willing to put in the actual work it will take to get there.
So how will you know if you’re one of them?
Here are a few quick tips to help you determine if you’re ready to attack this goal head-on. And if you’re not, that’s okay too. You MUST be honest with yourself before you take the plunge.
You are ready to diet if:
If you’re not afraid of being hungry. Hunger is normal. It’s a normal physiological process. The hunger feeling comes from the hormone Ghrelin, which is a GI peptide hormone that speaks with your brain to regulate food intake, and much more. Many people think hunger is a bad thing. Like, the end of the world. Hate to tell you, but honestly, being hungry in a fat loss phase means it’s working. As long as it’s controlled and not followed up with binge eating cycles- which brings me to my next point.
If you DO NOT have an “all or nothing” mentality or a negative relationship with food. I think the possible reason you’re reading this far is that you’re intrigued since nothing you have ever done has worked, nor have you been able to be successful long term. More often than not, this goes back to a poor food mentality, yo-yo dieting, and saying the “diet starts Monday”. This has to be fixed before you can really ever successfully see results in a weight loss/fat loss phase. These feelings will only be brought to the surface.
If your life stressors are low. There will never be a “right time” for anything we chose to embark on. However, juggling school, kids, a crazy work schedule, 5 million other commitments, and your poor management of these stressors will only amplify during this time. Calorie restriction and increased activity is also a stressor on the body- and you can only handle so much before you get either sick, injured, or move the other way in your weight loss journey.
If you have NOT under-ate most of your life. Been in a “diet” most of your life? Yea, you’re not going in a calorie deficit right away. Those who consistently eat 1000, 1200, or even 1500 calories most of their lives have primed their body to burn less energy, downregulate hormone function & metabolism, and psychologically program their brains that less food=good. Ya’ll ever heard of YOLO? No, not from Drake. You’re Only Lean Once= which means that once, maybe twice a year, is when you should really go in a focused calorie deficit, push hard, and come out safely. You HAVE to plan and integrate diet phases into your life like a season. Do you play football all year round? Nope. You practice rep by rep consistently most of the year, to prime you for the season. Same thing with dieting.
If you have social support. This is a give-in. However, you have to be okay with lots of questions, people commenting on why you’re not drinking, asking you why you’re eating THAT, and wondering why you’re going to bed at 9:30 instead of going to the bar all night. Your significant other needs to support you. Your family needs to be on board.
These are a few things to take into account when you’re about to embark on a weight-loss/fat-loss phase. If your coach doesn’t take these things into account, this is a red flag.
On the other hand, if you don’t LET your coach take you through the appropriate measures before a diet phase, that’s your issue. As I said, this takes. HELL of a mentality shift. And oftentimes, that’s what’s holding you back from trusting the process, and then getting the result.
In future blog posts, we will outline each point individually, bringing evidence that this isn’t JUST opinion, but rather facts from peer-reviewed publication, case studies, and more.