20/01/2024
My many years of working as a specialist weight management dietitian …
Has led me to the following conclusion.
People struggle to lose weight for TWO main reasons:
1️⃣ Lack of access to a nutrition approach/solution that works for them and fits with their lifestyle
2️⃣ Mindset/behavioural struggles that lead to lack of consistency within their chosen approach
Today’s post focuses on the latter and is taken directly from my own life.
Just because I’m a dietitian, it doesn’t mean eating well or in line with my goals comes easily or naturally all of the time.
I still very much have to work at it in the same way my clients do, on a daily basis.
As many of you will know, I’m currently 33 weeks pregnant.
And my current focus nutrition wise is to eat a healthy balanced diet at my normal weight maintenance level to limit weight gain to a healthy level and to provide both baby and myself with the nutrition we need to stay healthy.
Today I woke up after 8 hours sleep but I was still absolutely shattered. It literally feels like someone drained all of my energy to the point where even lifting my arms is an effort.
All of which I know is completely normal in your third trimester.
But long story short …
I was also really hungry on wakening, my mood was low and all I wanted was sugar … and loads of it 🙈
My body was craving comfort like never before and the urge to engage with this was at 200% 🤯🚨
My mind tried to sell me all sorts of stories like …
‘Give yourself a break you’re pregnant if there’s anytime you can get away with it, it’s now.’
‘Just get it out of your system and get back to normal tomorrow.’
And so on.
But thankfully, I’m not new to these struggles and I’ve developed the skills to overcome them 90% of the time.
I’m not saying I always win though as I’m still human but most times now, I will.
So, how did I manage to stay focused today?
1. I reminded myself that there will be many challenging days and if I back out today then that becomes the norm and I’ll do that on every single challenging day. Shatters self belief. The saying ‘if not now, when’ is always a sobering thought.
2. I reminded myself WHY eating well is the better option eg loading my body with sugar, loads baby with sugar which can’t be good and after the initial pleasure I feel extra swollen and uncomfortable.
3. That eating whatever I want now just leads to surplus weight gain, which means I need to lose that weight again later on. This is just kicking the can down the road and making life harder when my life will already be busier with a newborn.
Prevention is better than cure in my eyes 👀
So I had my normal breakfast, got myself to M & S to get a nice big filling sandwich, had a small chocolate bar with cup of tea to take the edge of the sugar cravings and I’ll have Dominoes pizza tonight but I’ll have a small pizza with thin base (eat it all) rather than ordering a medium/large pizza and sides and eating until I’m stuffed.
If you have just started out on a weight loss journey with the turn of the New Year then the most beneficial thing you can do is work on this.
Mindset and behaviour control in your most challenging moments ✅
It’s REALLY REALLY tough to begin with but just try to take a little time out to remind yourself of the bigger picture.
These feelings can be REALLY overwhelming in the moment but try to counter all of the self sabotaging thoughts with rational reasons why it’s not a good idea to engage. Each time you can hang in there and win, then it gets easier.