Ever wondered why you are not losing the weight, even though you are eating healthy foods and are choosing to make the healthier choices?
Weight loss requires effort and dedication to learning. Being able to apply this knowledge at the moment you’re faced with the decision to consume a particular food is a critical milestone on your weight loss journey. Though, weight loss is also about honouring your needs as a whole being, not just addressing the physical hunger and nourishing your physical body. Your mental and emotional wellbeing are just as important as the food you put into your body. The first mistake is neglecting or not fully addressing your mental and emotional state. Your mental state will have a tremendous impact in your decision-making process in relation to food. It is extremely hard and near to impossible to succeed on weight loss without addressing those aspects if they are heavily impacting you. It’s through implementing the acquired self-awareness and understanding that we find the strength to make the best decision that fulfils us as a whole.
The second mistake is not educating yourself sufficiently on the basics of food composition and the physiological impact it has on your body. Sometimes, we think we are making the “better” choice by picking the “natural/heathier” option without really understanding its composition and how it affects your metabolism, hence the impact it has on the function of our bodies. A good example of this is raw brown sugar vs white sugar. You may think that consuming raw sugar is healthier but in reality, nutritionally and metabolically, it is the same as the white sugar. Therefore, it is critical to focus on the basics of food composition, so that you are not solely relying on what is written on the food packaging or on what others are telling you about specific foods.
When you’re trying to lose weight, you need to consume fewer processed foods and more fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats and legumes, however, the way they are cooked (fried, baked, steamed, broiled) and the types you choose can make or break your efforts. This is where the third mistake happens. You think you are eating healthy food but in reality, you are eating too big of a portion, providing more energy than you are expending. Here are a few examples of food items that are high in energy content: seeds, nuts, avocados, beans, lentils, potatoes, chickpeas, dried dates, dried figs, chia seeds and fresh cold pressed juices. These are great food items and are packed with highly nutritious vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, etc. but if consumed in large quantities or in combination with items that have been cooked in a lot of oil/butter/sugar, the excess energy will be stored in your body as excess weight. It undoes all the benefit of the fresh food in terms of energy consumption. In addition, be aware of the trigger words such as the “healthier alternative” or something having “natural sugars” such as cold pressed juices or “healthy oil” such as olive oil. At the end of the day, these items contain a large number of calories and if those calories are not used up during activity, will be stored as fat. For example, one tablespoon of olive oil has 120 Calories, one cup of chickpeas (200g) has 750 Calories, one medium avocado can have up to 300 Calories, and just two small dates have 50 Calories. Therefore, it is important to be aware of portion sizes when consuming healthy foods.