Author: Angela Swaan – Nutritional Therapist, Ambassador of the World Healthy Living Foundation 

We are unavoidably hope-based creatures. Imagine 2 women given the same boring tasks to do several hours a day in the same conditions – but you tell one woman she will be paid $15.000 for a year of this work, and you tell the other that she will be paid $15 million. Each woman in identical circumstances will be experiencing those circumstances in completely different ways, because WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE FUTURE DETERMINES HOW WE LIVE IN THE PRESENCE.

You should ask at this point, how is it even related to weight loss? In fact, you may be surprised, but it is!

If I ask what needs to be done to achieve personal goals for weight loss most people will say:

• Calories deficit
• Good quality Sleep
• Exercising
• Consuming too many sugars or processed food/fast food

And that’s correct but… if we know it very well, why still it is so hard for so many to keep results, I mean when asked:

1. why some people are able to lose weight and keep results when others DON’T – The answer is MINDSET
2. why some people are more successful in life then others – The answer is MINDSET
3. why some people are making more money while working less hours? – The answer is MINDSET

I am not saying that money or job position is the most important, but results are.

Long time ago I heard a story during my university years on one of ours study lessons about a woman who dreamed to lose weight so she can wear a bikini suit and go with all her confidence to the swimming pool feeling nothing less than happy and enjoyable. Time passed and she achieved her dream goal, she worked so hard and made everything she planned with her body. Finally, the day came – she dressed up, took her brand-new bikini with her, and went straight to the swimming pool. She couldn’t believe the moment is true, the moment when she was able to go into the water like this was supposed to be the most amazing experience ever, then she realized the feeling of wet water is something she is not enjoying, the overall experience of her – swimming and being in this situation is very negative. Her thoughts were like ‘I did all of that just to be disappointed?’ and in fact few months after she GAINED her weight back. The moral is easy, right? she couldn’t keep her results because she did not have a strong WHY she is doing it.

That’s the problem with nowadays world, we want to lose weight just to lose weight because everyone is talking that skinny is attractive, we want to ‘fit in’, we are not scared of long-term consequences, not scared about cancer, cardiovascular diseases, etc. all it matters is today and right now which can teach the wrong ideas of getting results quickly, not necessarily healthy.

According to science Obesity and Overweight is a growing problem, especially in the USA but also worldwide, all of this is happening before our eyes and yet, we act like it’s not a big deal, so let me show how actually the problem looks in numbers:

Key facts (WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION):

• Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.
• In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 650 million were obese.
• 39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2016, and 13% were obese.
• Most of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.
• 39 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2020.
• Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese in 2016.
• Obesity is preventable.

What are the common health consequences of overweight and obesity?

Raised BMI is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as:

• cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), which were the leading cause of death in 2012;
• diabetes;
• musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis – a highly disabling degenerative disease of the joints);
• some cancers (including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon).

The risk for these noncommunicable diseases increases, with increases in BMI.

Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of obesity, premature death, and disability in adulthood. But in addition to increased future risks, obese children experience breathing difficulties, increased risk of fractures, hypertension, early markers of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and psychological effects.

There is so much more than just losing fat. It’s getting to the root of why you always think ‘I tried everything already and can’t lose weight, why always wear black; why eating the foods you love make you feel guilty (never should feel this way); why you’re afraid to step into the gym or find other physical activities to help you burn some calories; why your confidence is low; and how all of this is having a negative impact on your health but also other parts of life, relationships, and happiness.

So, be prepared to transform your attitudes, fix bad habits and learn new ones, lose fat without thinking about ‘going on a diet all the time, gain confidence, and become the best possible version of yourself. And yes! It is possible! I proved to some people I worked with already that the only way to keep results lifetime not just for the summer is to simply learn nutritional and lifestyle habits and stick to them.

Do you wake up and think every day about how boring and difficult it is to brush your tooth? Of course, no, because it is a habit. The same way it should be with other habits leading you to be healthier.

I am a big fan of ‘no-diet culture’ meaning going on all kinds of miracle diets promising to lose weight in a short time, in my opinion it’s a waste of time. It is proven that in a meta-analysis of 29 long-term weight loss studies, more than half of the lost weight was regained within two years, and by five years more than 80% of lost weight was regained

Dr. Jason Fung, author of popular books and researcher once said:

Once we understand that obesity is a hormonal imbalance, we can begin to treat it. If we believe that excess calories cause obesity, then the treatment is to reduce calories. But this method has been a complete failure. However, if too much insulin causes obesity, then it becomes clear we need to lower insulin levels.” ― Jason Fung, The Obesity Code.

Sources:

• Fung, J. (2016). The obesity code unlocks the secrets of weight loss. Melbourne London Scribe.
• Hall, K.D. and Kahan, S. (2018). Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. Medical Clinics of North America, [online] 102(1), pp.183–197. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/.
• Keller, T. (2018). Making sense of God: an invitation to the sceptical. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
• Revelant, J. (2015). 12 surprising reasons you can’t lose weight. [online] Fox News. Available at: https://www.foxnews.com/health/12-surprising-reasons-you-cant-lose-weight [Accessed 16 Nov. 2021].
• Smith, J. (2020). Not a diet book: Lose fat. Gain confidence. Transform yourself. London: Harpercollinspublishers.
• World Health Organization (2021). Obesity and overweight. [online] World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.