Eating Healthy But Can't Lose Weight? It's More than the FOOD
Good afternoon!
So this morning I was listening to a podcast on my walk talking about Robb Wolf's new book: Wired to Eat.
Since I'm focusing a lot of my energy and attention on my nutrition coaching, I'm doing as much research as I can on a daily basis to go beyond just teaching my peeps which foods are healthy vs. unhealthy, but also shed light on other variables that are key to getting results that last:
1. individuality with food - how different people respond differently to certain types of foods
2. non-food factors (sleep, stress management, connected relationships)
Because I think most of us know what's healthy, right? At least for the most part.
We can all agree it's better to choose an apple over a cheeseburger, but sometimes we still pick the cheeseburger. Why is that?
With my nutrition coaching, one of my main goals is to bridge the gap between KNOWING WHAT TO DO and ACTUALLY DOING IT.
Because there's a huge difference between knowing what's healthy and actually following through with what's healthy.
Part of the reason we're not successful when it comes to dieting (jumping around from diet to diet, always searching for the 'next best thing' or 'secret' to results) is because we over-complicate things for ourselves.
In the podcast today, I heard a quote that really resonated with me that I wanted to share with you because yes, it really is this simple:
One could spend billions of dollars on research and not come up with better health recommendations than: eat whole, unprocessed foods; get outside in the sun; move a lot; sleep like you're on vacation; and surround yourself with loving relationships.
That's literally everything I try to teach my clients, all in one sentence.
You see, so many people are in search of this magic pill, or diet, or workout plan, or something that's going to magically get them the results they've been searching for but haven't been able to achieve.
Yet so many people forget to peel back the layers of WHY they actually want to look/feel better in the first place.
And even more so, these same people forget to take into account the non-food factors that play a HUGE role in our progress, which are:
- Getting enough sleep (7-8 hours is the sweet spot for most)
- Spending 15-20 minutes per day in the sun (regulates natural sleep cycle and enhances Vitamin D which makes you feel fab and sleep better)
- Moving a lot (not just working out, but walking more, parking farther away, taking the stairs, etc.)
- Surrounding yourself with loving relationships (because if being surrounded by negative people isn't the biggest dose of poison for your body and mind, I don't know what is)
So yes, while eating whole, unprocessed foods is your best bet nutritionally - there are non-food factors like I mentioned above that play a huge role in your progress.
Because at the end of the day, what do most of us want?
Loving relationships, a healthy body, energy, great sleep and a positive attitude.
(And maybe a puppy and tacos. Or is that just me?) :)
Try implementing a few of these into your daily routine and let me know how much better you feel!
All my love,
Julie