- Jan Clementson
Get my top 5 tips to losing weight and taking back control of your health and happiness
Why is it that no matter how hard you try, you just can't shift that weight or if you do, then you always put it back on and more? You may have tried every diet under the sun but still haven't figured out what works for you. The frustration, despair and anxiety levels can get so great, that often you just give up and console yourself with cake, chocolate or something else not so healthy. But is it really all about iron-clad willpower and living on a lettuce leaf......or are there other things going on that may be contributing to your weight problems? In recognition of National Obesity Awareness Week last week, I recorded a series of video tips that could get you started with weight loss. But today, I really want to put these into the wider context of what else might be contributing to your situation.
There's no getting around the statistics that we are currently facing an obesity epidemic that can lead to long-range health problems including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and even certain types of cancer. All of which can lead to an acceleration of the ageing process, as well as having detrimental effects on mental health that can lead to problems with anxiety or even depression. You are probably well aware of this and will no doubt have been told a million times that you just need to eat healthier and exercise more. And whilst both of these are often true, you need the right strategy and need to take into account other factors at play too.
Potential Causes of Obesity
The early 2000s saw the emergence of the "obsogenic environment" - which was a recognition that environmental, societal, psychological and genetics played a part. The Foresight Report in 2007 depicted these other aspects in this simple diagram below:
Since then, science has expanded in it's understanding of these intertwining factors leading to the latest depiction of these obsogenic factors in a great 2021 review paper in the World Heart Journal.
This latest depiction of obseogenic factors looks hugely complicated yet is what I tend to find in practice with my clients to a greater or lesser degree. There is always more than one thing that leads to weight gain or obesity, although it's not always the same for each person. We do not eat or exist in isolation, we exist in harmony with our environment. Any number of external factors can change our internal environment but also our own thoughts, beliefs and perceptions can have a significant impact on our internal environment. These can all lead to internal imbalances that lead to a multitude of system imbalances, symptoms and and an inability to shift that weight. Being overweight or obese is a sign that your body is out of balance, rather than the cause per se of your health problems.
There are some things that you can't control, such as genetics or maternal effects,, but there are many things that you can alter, such as:
Diet - are you eating the right types of food that will work for you and help to rebalance your body systems?
Movement - do you incorporate regular movement into your day and avoid sedentary behaviour?
Sleep - are you going to sleep at the right time and experiencing good quality sleep?
Stress - do you employ stress management strategies for different situations to help you manage stress? Or is your stress out of control and impacting your hormones?
Social - how is your social environment influencing you? What are you watching, reading or listening to?
Mental - how are your thoughts, beliefs and emotional patterns affecting what you do and how you behave?
Physiology - are you breathing properly? do you have any muscular-skeletal misalignments or injuries? do you have any infections? is your gut out of balance or other systems out of balance?
Environmental - are you employing strategies to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins from the air, water and what is put on your skin? Or minimising your exposure to EMFs (electro-magnetic fields) produced by electronic devices?
Detoxification - are you regularly employing strategies to help clear your internal wastes, in the same way that you would take a daily shower?
When you look at obesity from this much wider perspective then you can see that it's not as simple as eating a lettuce leaf and exercising like crazy. But there are plenty of things that you can do yourself to start to bring yourself back into balance. So let's get you started....
WEIGHT LOSS TIPS
Here are my 5 key tips to get you started:
Tip 1 - Satiate your hunger with a rainbow diet
For more information on the rainbow diet check out an earlier blog here
Tip 2 - Beat the bloat with electrolytes
Tip 3 - Get moving
Tip 4 - Sleep like a baby
Tip 5 - Breathe through the stress
Taking Control
When you start to look at health in this wider context, you start to see that actually you have a lot more control than you think. When you start taking care of yourself, you start to feel better, you start to look better and you even start to attract better. it always starts with YOU and it's never too late to start. Every change that you make helps to counter the effects of obesity and helps to slow down the ageing process so that you can feel healthier, more energised, more vibrant and with a greater sense of wellbeing.
Need Some Guidance?
Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Many of us muddle along trying lots of different things but without a proper strategy in place. If you want to save yourself time and reach your goal faster, then I am happy to help you put into place a personalised strategy that will work for you and will keep you motivated and supported to reach your goal. If you are ready for the next step, book a free 30 minutes telephone Discovery Call and let me show you how I can help you. Simply book a convenient time from my online booking calendar from the link below:
If you are not yet ready to get started but would like more tips like these, then click here.
Let 2023 be the year that you take back control of your health and become the best version of you.
Wishing you good health, Jan.
