How do you lose weight and still eat the foods that you love?
If you’ve been struggling with your weight, you’ll know that the answer to this question can seem elusive.
You can lose weight.
You can eat the foods you love.
But you find it hard to do both at the same time.
The Light Bulb Moment
In the last week, one of my clients came a step closer to working out how to do it. I really liked the way she expressed her light bulb moment, so I thought I’d share it with you.
The Wrong Question
My client (let’s call her Felicity) had previously thought of her quest to lose weight as:
“How can I eat as much as possible and still lose weight?”
Have you ever thought of weight loss like this?
The question implies that eating more is the key to happiness.
e.g. 1 chocolate cookie makes me happy. 2 chocolate cookies makes me happier.
e.g. A nice main course makes me happy. Starters, mains and dessert makes me happier.
“How can I eat as much as possible and still lose weight?” also implies that the key to success is finding a way to “get away” with extra eating.
This leads to things like:
1. Eating low fat versions of foods you like. “If it’s low fat, I can eat more of it (even though it tastes pretty bad)”.
2. Going on that fad diet. “If I diet now, then when I go on vacation, I can eat more and therefore have fun”
3. Fasting. “If I starve myself part of the time, I can really gorge myself the rest of the time”
The Right Question
But Felicity realised after her last session, that she was asking herself the wrong question. What she should be asking is:
“How can I eat as little as possible, and still enjoy the foods I love”
It’s only by eating as little as possible that you can lose weight.
But eating as little as possible is only sustainable if you are doing it healthily and you can still enjoy food (and the fun experiences related to food).
Asking this question leads to things like:
1. Figuring out which foods give you the most enjoyment.
2. Figuring out how much you need to eat to give you enjoyment.
3. Rather than settling for inferior substitutes (Low fat cheese anyone?) eating smaller quantities of food you love (and enjoying it more).
Let’s just recap:
PREVIOUSLY:
“How can I eat as much as possible, and still lose weight?”
NOW:
“How can I eat as little as possible, and still enjoy the foods I love”
To learn more about how to lose weight without dieting, CLICK HERE.
