Where To Start With Weight Loss Post-lockdown. 7 Tips From A Registered Dietitian.
The added stress, anxiety and limited activity of the pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives, including our bodies.
Recently I put a poll up, and an overwhelming majority said yes to wanting to change their body post-lockdown. This is unsurprising, considering a 2017 national survey of 1,033 Australians Adults found that 46% were actively trying to lose weight in the past year. The pandemic has only pushed to the forefront of our minds the importance of taking care of our health (which may include weight loss but absolutely doesn’t have to).
Before you pour your precious time, mental resources and money into losing weight, start with:
Who is this for?
What am I hoping to gain?
If this successful, how will my life change?
If this is unsuccessful, how will my life change?
The clients that are the most successful with losing weight and keeping it off know exactly why they want to make a change, aren’t fixated on a number nor are they waiting until “when I look lean enough.”
Decided on why weight loss is important to you and that right now is a good time? Here’s how to get started!
Stop going back to diets and strategies that didn’t work for you in the past. Did you lose weight calorie counting or intermittent fasting, only to gain it all back when you stopped? That indicates that those methods were not sustainable for you. If it didn’t work in the long term, it didn’t work.
Create a consistent mealtime routine - one that is based on your lifestyle, preferences and hunger. If you head to the gym at 6am for an intense training session, it’s a good idea to have something small to eat before you go to fuel your workout. On non-training days you might be breaking the fast a little later and having different types of foods- but still having a similar amount of meals and snacks.
Commit to small changes to your diet, not a complete overhaul overnight. Consistently nailing the basics of nutrition will do more for your health and weight loss goals than any supplement can. Start with an achievable change that is going to make a big difference e.g. replacing juice in the morning with fresh fruit and having protein 3x per day. If the habit you choose to start with is not something you can commit to for a lifetime, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
Don’t use caffeine to supress your appetite. You will postpone your hunger and overeat later. Caffeine is wonderful as a performance enhancing, fatigue- delaying tool (and delicious in coffee) but when it’s being used as an appetite suppressant, it often backfires.
While coffee does give us a boost of energy and helps protect our heart, coffee alone is not a meal!
5. Stop using your partner or best friend as an accountability partner. They love you and can absolutely play a supportive role, but they cannot be expected to steer you towards healthy choices and away from less helpful decisions. Losing weight is rarely about a lack of motivation. It is about undertaking strategies to overcome limited time, resources, address coping mechanisms centred around food and learning more about how to fuel and nourish our bodies.
While your loved ones can be helpful cheerleaders, our precious time with our loved ones should not be centred around weight loss. There is nothing that fuels preoccupation with food, shame, secret bingeing and guilt more than having all the meaningful interaction with our loved ones centred around our bodies.
6. Learn how to make healthy choices when eating out. Takeaway foods and special occasions can pull you out of your calorie deficit. It is rarely a single meal that is the problem, rather a continued pattern of overeating on the weekend or having an “all or nothing” approach to nutrition. “I already had dessert and a glass of wine at dinner, I might as well have another glass of wine and restart on Monday.” If one unplanned meal is derailing you from, it’s time to rethink your approach to nutrition.
7. The lowest calorie option is not always the best option. Context is always important.
A great, healthy lunch option for you on Tuesdays might be a grilled chicken salad at 12pm as you work from home and tend to have another snack break around 3pm. However, that same meal will not be adequate on Fridays where you don’t have time to have another meal until you get home at 7pm. Chances are the fast-food drive through on your drive home and snacks in the pantry are going to look a lot more appealing to you on these days and you’re more likely to cave in.
