Why Diet and Exercise Alone Will Not Help You Lose Weight

Eyes closed tightly, she steps on the scale one foot at a time…

She holds her breath in an effort to be as light as possible. Opening her eyes she immediately feels disappointed to see that she still hasn’t lost a pound. 

Thoughts that have invaded her mind hundreds of times before start to creep in… 

“Ugh. Why am I not losing weight?” 

“Something must be wrong with me.” 

“Why even bother trying to work out and eat healthy? It doesn’t seem to make a difference anyways.” 

Have you ever felt this way before?

This is an all too familiar “mystery”that so many of my wonderful clients face! 

The right dietary changes are made and daily exercise becomes a part of the routine, it works for a while, and then the weight loss plateaus. 

Why? 

Contrary to popular belief and what mainstream weight loss programs tell us, diet and exercise alone do NOT guarantee weight loss. Stress and negativity are actually huge contributing factors and can result in slowed or stalled weight loss.

Because stress management is a core component of weight loss, we need to have the right tools and strategies in place to address the excess stressors in our lives. 

Here are 4 of my BEST TIPS that you can start using TODAY to put you in the fast-lane in your weight loss journey: 

1. SELF-LOVE: Self-love is one of the best tools we can use to combat stress, and get that scale to finally budge! 

At the drop of a hat, most of us can come up with 10 things about ourselves that we dislike, but somehow we struggle to identify even the first thing that we truly love. Guilt, shame, and self-hatred are low vibrating emotions, whereas love is a very high vibrating emotion and has so much positive power and momentum!

The words we say to ourselves become the thoughts that we think. The thoughts that we think become what we believe. In order to change the belief that we cannot lose weight, or that there is something wrong with our body, we need to radically change the way that we talk to ourselves. I wrote a whole blog post about self-love and weight loss that you can read HERE

2. AUTONOMIC PAIRING. Autonomic pairing is when we pair our nervous system with the appropriate activity or goal that we want to achieve. There are two parts to our nervous system: the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for resting and digesting, and the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for putting us in a state of fight or flight.  

There’s a whole series of events that take place when our fight or flight system gets triggered – slowed digestion, increased blood pressure, and increased respiratory rate. Unfortunately, most of us are operating in a fight or flight state for most of the day… putting us at risk for chronic health conditions and making it extremely difficult to lose weight. 

If we’re in a fight or flight state, our digestive system shuts down and we’re not able to digest and assimilate our food properly. When trying to lose weight, we want to make sure we’re in a rest or digest state, because that’s the state that our body needs to be in to repair, heal and burn fat! 

3. SLEEP: Sleep is imperative to not only weight loss, but to the mind, body, and spirit’s healing process. Sleep deprivation also plays a huge role in our brain function. It can cause us to have more negative emotions and make more bad decisions. Sleep deprivation is also shown to cause poor memory. So we really want to make sure we prioritize sleep!  

A few simple ways to improve your sleeping patterns are to minimize blue light and screens 2 hours prior to bedtime, create a comforting bedtime routine, and create a peaceful environment for optimal sleeping. Adding these practices into your every day routine will help you to prioritize sleep, and ultimately help your body to lose weight. I wrote a whole blog post about sleep and weight loss that you can read HERE! 

4. JOYFUL MOVEMENT: Joyful movement is so much more than exercise! Hard, high-impact workouts can cause unnecessary stress on our already stressed-out body. Joyful movement is any movement that brings joy to your heart! It’s any movement that allows you to move your body and bring you into the present moment. 

Allow yourself to explore many different types of gentle movement… A few examples are yoga under the morning sun in your backyard, dancing in your living room with your kids, biking through a tree-filled trail, or swimming in your favorite pool or body of water. 

Let your mind, body, and spirit be your guide and listen to what it is telling you. You do not put yourself through grueling workouts in order to lose weight, you need movement that lifts you up and makes you feel amazing! 

If you’re feeling stuck in your weight loss journey and feel like you’ve “tried everything” and “nothing works”, you’re not alone! 

If you’re ready to look and feel better than you have in years – I invite you to take action TODAY and book a complimentary 20- minute Wellness Discovery Call!

On the call we’ll dive into:

• Where you’re currently at with your health and the specific challenges you’re facing
• What you’ve tried in the past that hasn’t worked
• What your specific goals are and why they’re important to you

Then, we’ll create a specialized plan that fits your exact needs!

Author: Dipa Chauhan

Dipa Chauhan is a certified R Ph, CFMP, FLT Therapist, Functional and Lifestyle Medicine Provider. 

Dipa’s love for cooking and helping people led to the creation of the "Doctor's Orders: Your Essential Cookbook To A Plant Strong Anti-Inflammatory Diet". Here you can find over 250 healthy and easy recipes, weekly shopping lists and menus. Through this website Dipa has benefited thousands of people all around the world.

Dipa enjoys spending time with her family, especially her son Devin. Dipa also enjoys exercising, walking and other outdoor activities.