The top 5 dieting problems - not what you'd expect!
In a recent survey by Precision Nutrition, 100,000 clients were asked what their biggest dieting challenges were when trying to lose weight. They found out that “I don’t know what to eat” didn’t even make the top 5. Most people kind of know that to lose weight, eating that tub of Haagen Daz on a Friday night isn’t going to help. The number one challenge people had when dieting was over-eating when they feel tired, emotional or stressed. After all, who doesn’t need a pick me up after dashing between work, school pick-up, mountains of laundry and that phone call from the mother-in-law!
A lot of us eat when we’re feeling down and in the short term this helps by releasing endorphins and serotonin, our feel-good hormones. Unfortunately, the foods that gives us this boost are nearly always high in sugar or fat.
The top 5 dieting challenges in the survey were emotional/stress eating, cravings, snacking when not hungry, lack of planning and eating too quickly.
Psychology backs this up, as researchers working on eating behaviour found that emotional eating, cravings and appetite regulation strongly influence food choices and the amount of food consumed. To lose weight and maintain it for the long term it’s therefore important to address the habits, behaviours and emotions that help decide what you eat.
There are lots of diets out there, and the one that is best for you is the one you can stick to. Most diets will work if you can stick to it continuously and to do this you need to pay attention to what you are eating, eat balanced meals, limit snacking and feel able to manage stress and emotional eating.
Our Mind and Body Reset Weight Loss course is a whole new concept we have pioneered to look at the behaviour and emotion behind your relationship with food. The six-week course starts on 4 November and each week there will be a mindset class with health coach Natasha and a HIT session with fitness instructor Laura, so you retain muscle mass and tone as you progress.