SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM LOSING WEIGHT TO GAINING LIFE
Imagine you are at your dream weight. You reached it. You feel good in your clothes. Maybe you finally fit into a pair of jeans you haven’t worn in years. Your confidence is soaring and you aren’t embarrassed anymore. No more squeezing into uncomfortably small seats. Potential mates are paying you more attention. You can see your toes when you look down. You actually take off your swimsuit cover. Overall, you feel better than you have in years.
Then what? How will you maintain it?
Well-documented statistics report that over two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese. While it is good to lose weight to increase longevity and decrease the risk of medical issues and joint problems, weight loss does not need to be an end goal or even the primary driving factor when trying to get healthy.
Weight loss is a result of making lifestyle changes. A benefit of living a healthier life. If weight loss is the end goal, what’s the plan after you reach your goal weight? Worse yet, if your focus is weight loss and you work on healthy habits but the number on the scale doesn’t decrease like you hoped, it’s easy to adopt a “why bother” attitude and quickly slip back into old habits.
What society thinks is your ideal weight, may not truly be ideal for your body. For example, you may be a 5’4” female who has heard the ideal body weight is 100 lbs plus 5 lbs for every inch over 5 feet. Making your ideal body weight 120lbs. I grew up thinking this was the ideal weight for me. A 5’4” female may feel natural or good at 130 lbs or 140 lbs. As another example, I have a male client who thought he wanted to be 170 lbs. After going from 240 to 180 lbs, he realized that was his happy spot. Because our body types aren’t all created equal, you can’t go by this unscientific rationale.
Simply focusing on a number on the scale shouldn’t be your end goal.
What should you strive for instead?
Your ability to do what you want to do without health restrictions until your time on earth is done.
Deep down, the reason most people have a weight loss goal is because their weight impacts their freedom in some way. They don’t have the life they really want. I don’t want to just help you lose weight. I want to help you gain food freedom, movement happiness, and control of your health. I want to help you eliminate regrets, disappointment in yourself, and health worries so you can live your healthiest life and do what you are meant to do.
In order to do that, you have to master these habits in a sustainable way:
FOR NUTRITION
FOR MOVEMENT
FOR SELF-CARE:
I am not saying it doesn’t matter if you lose weight. There are cons to weighing too much and benefits to losing some pounds. But what I want people to focus on is the practice of a healthy lifestyle. Trust that will lead you to a better life than simply losing weight.
Regardless of any medical conditions that require specialized help for optimal health, you still need to master the above habits. I understand mastering these may be a big struggle. Remember, it is a progress beats perfection process and requires some non-negotiables. That is why I have created a system to help make it simpler--Warrior Approach.
For free you can download the Warrior Approach Accountability Calendar as a tool to help guide you. It includes a series of emails over five weeks as you take on your first month of developing habits. Or if you would like coaching help, set up a 20 minute call with me. Cheers! -Jen
Jen Gerasimas is the founder of Warrior Approach, a simple system helping people who desire a healthy life but struggle with starting and sustaining good habits. As a former registered nurse, personal trainer, and nutrition coach, Jen has been studying the human body for over 20 years. She is the owner of 7Core Wellness, where she coaches individuals to eat, move, and live better so to become their best selves. Jen enjoys inspiring people to envision how achieving good health despite busy lives empowers them in so many ways. In addition to coaching, Jen trains clients out of her private gym, Studio 7Core, located in Vienna, VA of the Washington DC area. She has one daughter and loves to cook, dance, and be outdoors.