Nutrition Quarterly Winter 2023

Nute Guru Q A Hey Nute Guru, I need help with weight loss! Each New Year I resolve to lose weight, but no matter how hard I try, I'm always off the wagon by Valentine's Day! What can I do to keep myself on track and lose weight consistently? New Years is a big time for resolutions, weight loss often being one of them. The biggest problemmany people face is looking at weight loss as a sprint, rather than a marathon. Weight loss isn't something you do for a few weeks – it's a lifestyle change. With that in mind, I do have a few key tips to help you keep your efforts and results consistent. Why do so many people struggle with yo-yo dieting? One of the most common things I notice is that many people treat weight loss as something to focus on for a few weeks at a time. You wouldn’t take a bath once and think you were clean for the rest of your life! Similarly, a fewweeks of healthy eatingwill not help you tomaintain your weight for a lifetime. As soon as you consider trying to lose weight, you need to make sure that whatever method you choose is one that is likely to work long- term. When I ask people how they can avoid yo-yo dieting, most of their responses revolve around resisting temptation and persevering with unpleasant diets or exercise. Your real focus should always be on how to make changes that are long-lasting in the first place. Here are 5 tips to ensure your weight loss really lasts: 1. Make it easy to stick with. Most people approach weight loss with an all-or-nothing mentality. They think that in order to lose weight, they have to completely overhaul their life. They replace their old diet with a new one that is completely different. Even if they haven’t exercised for years, they decide they will wake up at 6am every morning and go for a 3 mile run. It’s very difficult to stick to these drastic changes because they are so different to what you were previously doing. And any disturbance to your routine (getting busy at work, getting a cold, going on vacation, or even a poor night’s sleep) can derail your progress. For changes to have the best chance of succeeding, you have to make them as gradual and pleasant as possible. Make small changes each week, and build it up slowly. 2. Have a life. “No pain, no gain” is a great motto for weight trainers, but not for dieters. Many people think of losing weight as a painful and depriving activity.They put off vacations and avoid eating out during these times. Long-term changes cannot be painful or depriving, or you will not stick with them. This means you have to learn how to enjoy life, while still losing and maintaining your weight. 3. Welcome the bad days. Most diets are strict regimes in which, if you don't do exactly as you’re told, then you’re “failing.” However, life really doesn’t work that way. Think of a child learning to walk: falling over is part of the process. And, when you’re trying to change a lifetime of eating and exercise habits, you need to not only expect to have a few setbacks along the way, but to welcome them. These setbacks are a Nutrition Quarterly · Series 4 – Volume 1 4 NUTE GURU