Why weight?

Having worked with over 500 weight loss clients it came as no surprise to me when I read a survey from the Nuffield Trust showing that two thirds of adults and a quarter of children aged between 2 and ten are overweight or obese.

Having just returned from Portugal, the comparison with our nation’s weight epidemic is palpable. So why do we have such a poor outlook on weight and, ultimately, on our health?

A great deal of the problem is caused by a lack of education on the subject, combined with hidden sugars, fast food, salt intake and a more sedentary lifestyle.

But our relationship with food is hugely governed by the way we think about it.

We are designed to eat simply to provide fuel for the body to carry out all of the functions it does on a constant basis at a subconscious level. So where do we go wrong? In my experience clients tend to fall in to one of three categories?

1- The Emotional Eater: when food is your automated response to an emotional stimulus. You are literally medicating your emotions with food.

2- The YO YO dieter:  constantly tries more fad diets for a little while before falling off the wagon and starting on the next diet the following Monday! (The really shocking trend I am seeing with clients is 2nd or 3rd generation Yo Yo dieters who have been brought up watching their parents Yo Yo and have developed the same damaging habits, almost as dangerous as passive smoking and While we accept that passive smoking is dangerous to our physical wellbeing, we need to understand that witnessing bad health behaviours from our parents and peers is similarly damaging for our mental health and that imitating those behaviours will ultimately damage our overall health.

3 – Lack of willpower: you know what you should be doing but, when you pass the shop, open the wine or simply can’t be bothered to cook after a long day you head for the Take Away.

As I mentioned the way we think about food is hugely important. We are trained on a subconscious level from a very young age to go and find anything we lose … and weight is no different.

My first real experience of this came after the birth of my daughter when my personal trainer instructed me to cut out bread. The result? I came home and stuffed myself like a baker’s mouse.

Starting a diet activates a starvation response, which in turn tells us to eat and that we had better store those calories because there must be a cold winter or period of starvation coming.

You see we really are still all cavemen and women … just a little better dressed and with smart phones.

However, instead of fad diets. is it really that hard to understand the concept of eating well and moving more?

Most of us know exactly what to do to shift that weight, we just struggle with how to do it.

Writing down everything you eat and drink in a week can be a very powerful exercise to help you realise how many calories you really consume. The way our minds work, it’s very to delete that Starbucks you had on the way to work or the snacks you ate while watching TV.

If you need help, I’ve found hypnosis to be a very successful tool when working with weight loss clients, allowing them to identify the “The Why” behind their eating rather than focusing on “What “they are actually eating.

this is true especially of emotional eaters who are searching to fill that void and replace it, mistaking feeling full as a feeling associated with comfort or love, in reality, as soon as that full feeling hits, so does the feeling of guilt and low self-esteem and the whole cycle starts again

I always encourage small changes, in do-able forms as these quickly add up to a big change about shaping how we think about food. 

These are simple things like keeping hydrated properly by drinking more water and fewer caffeinated drinks (both hot drinks and fizzy ones!). Having vegetables or salad with every meal., Keeping away from white flour where possible and going for wholemeal or sourdough.

And try to have one vegetarian day a week.

Finally, simply watching and reducing portions can make a huge difference on the way we look and feel!

Eat well – Live Well – Be We. Those are the fundamental principles behind my weight loss programme.

info@sandierobertson.com