The Secret to Successful Weight Loss: It's Not What You Think

You continue to gain weight and feel like crap because you are confused on what it actually takes to lose it.

The Problem And What Most People Do:
Keto, paleo, fasting, carnivore, vegan.

There are a million diets out there, and guess what? They all can work.

But they aren’t working for you because when it comes to dieting and losing weight, there is no one size fits all approach. You have been trying to follow this very rigid dieting advice or plan but you are failing to remember that you are a human not a machine.

What good is doing keto if you love bread? That diet will NEVER work for you, no matter how many friends its worked for.

Trying to follow these diets are part of the reason that 96% of dieters fail. Meaning they gain all their weight back within a year. 66% gain even MORE weight back than they lost.

Sound familiar?

If you are reading this right now and have been struggling to lose weight for months or years then you have to be able to look in the mirror and say to yourself

“I don’t know how fat loss really works”

If you did, you wouldn’t be struggling, right? You must forget what you think you know about dieting and fat loss.

Why It Doesn't Work:

The longer and longer I work with people on change and the more I see it in my own experience I am more convinced than ever. Change in our life doesn't happen until we are willing to change who we think we are.

You have stories. You have a past. A history. You have held onto these. You have let them define you. You bring those experiences, stories and beliefs with you today. Even if you don't recognize them, they are there.

And unless you are willing to do some deep work, they will continue to run the show for you going forward. Because you can't change that which you won't let go of. And you won't let go of the shame, guilt, fear.

You’ve created an identity around these emotions.
This is why no diet will work
No exercise program will work
No promotion will bring you more money

You have a story around these things. 
You must rewrite old narratives.
Give them new meaning.
Turn pain into purpose.
Let go of who you think you are so that you can be who you were meant to be.

It starts within.

There is nothing wrong with you, you are just playing the wrong game.

Its not how much can I deprive myself and use willpower and discipline, but what can I eat that will nourish me as well as satisfy my unique preferences.

I remind my clients all of the time when we start working together that you don’t follow a diet, you create one. You have unique preferences, likes and dislikes. You can’t ignore them.

Fat loss at its core is always going to be about eating less calories than your body needs. That’s pretty much it.

If your body needs 2000 calories a day to function and thrive, then eating 1700 over a period of time, and you will begin to lose weight.

It doesn’t matter if you eat chicken and salad, or cookies and McDonalds.

In fact, Kevin Maginnis lost almost 60 pounds JUST eating fast food and McDonalds.

The key? less calories than his body needed. He at half of his 3 McDonalds meals per day. Didn’t matter what kind of calories, just how many.

Now, you might be saying “but yeah, that can’t be healthy” And you might be right. Quality of food is also important. Its an art to blend quality and quantity. But this is where people overthink it and get in their head.

We are talking about losing weight. Not overall health. And one of the most toxic, unhealthy things you can do is chronically overeat and be overweight. So losing excess bodyfat, regardless of how its done, is ALWAYS a good thing.

But this will still be hard for many to grasp. In the text above, I literally just told you that you can lose weight eating the foods you like. I even gave you an example. Yet, for most, it wont change the narrative you have around fat loss.

How To Solve This:

The truth is that fat loss is more of a mental game, from my personal and professional experience.

To change this you must be able to do a few things.

1. Pinpoint the Emotions Involved. When you notice that you are eating in a way that you feel you have little control over, bring awareness the emotion involved. For example, lets say when you feel anxious you Newsletter 5 find yourself searching the fridge to cope.

2. Identify Stories Around Food. This is where you identify where food became a crutch, coping mechanism, celebration, etc. Clearly identifying where it started is key. Using the example above, you notice upon reflection that you used to get treats from your parents when you felt upset or had a bad day. At this point you’ve been able to identify that you eat when you feel anxious and that stems from being “treated” with food as an anxious or upset child.

3. Rewrite Your Story. Through conscious awareness, you can begin rewriting what food means to you going forward. In moments that arise that trigger an emotional response and urge for food, you can shine a light in that moment and say to yourself “oh, I see it now. I’m seeking food to satisfy a feeling. I am not a feeling. I can make a choice that aligns with my ideal life and how I want to look and feel.”

4. Practice a New Way. Having awareness, pinpointing the emotions involved, and rewriting your story are just the start. You must put into practice a new reality. A new way of experiencing food, with new beliefs around what purpose they serve you.

It is time to create a way of eating that supports you, nourishes you, and helps you look and feel your best.

In a previous blog I outlined how to design a framework (not diet) around how to create an easy, fun way of eating. You can access that HERE.

With time, practice and iteration you will begin to experience the opposite of what you had been. You will have the experience that you can eat foods you enjoy, foods that nourish you in a way that helps you look and feel great. This process can obviously be difficult. But overcoming it starts with the steps outlined above.