Previously, Sweet Life Wellness guided you through several tips for being flexible and planning during the summer months of busy and interrupted routines. With the release of her new book (coming soon). Maryland Dietitian Kay Loughrey will direct your focus towards creating a shame-free healthy relationship with food and life. With her new book in hand, you’ll discover:
- What causes the food-shame connection and how to heal it.
- Fifteen inner roadblocks and solutions to remove them.
- A lifestyle guide for living a happy life at a healthy weight.
Before she dives into her unique approach to weight loss, she wants to peel back the layers on why we need this solution in the first place. This week, Kay shares her insights into three of the most prominent problems in the weight loss industry. Keep reading to learn more!
Problem 1: Focus on Temporary Solutions and Dieting
The first problem she’s identified with the weight loss industry’s approach is that most of the focus is on temporary solutions and dieting to lose weight. Yet with diets and dieting there is little to no attempt to teach you how to continue to keep your weight steady without regaining it again. This has proven to be an unsustainable approach to weight loss, as 80% of dieters who lose weight eventually gain that weight back within 5 years. Sustainability continues to be an issue with weight loss medications and surgery when lifestyle change is neglected as the essential foundation for success.
Problem 2: Hyper-Focus on Food Instead of Lifestyle Changes
The second underlying problem is that the weight loss industry is hyper-focused on the foods consumed rather than a whole lifestyle approach of changes to yield better nutrition, physical activity, and mental/emotional health. This hyper-focus on foods leads to those who are struggling with weight loss associating foods as “bad” or “good”, developing a fear of food, and sometimes even leads to eating disorders. The weight loss industry has failed to educate those wanting to lose weight with the reality that losing (and maintaining!) weight loss is a process that involves all areas of your life, not simply what goes onto your plate.
Problem 3: Ignoring Inner Roadblocks
Finally, the weight loss industry has neglected to acknowledge and effectively address that there exists inside every person a series of inner roadblocks that may be preventing persons attempting to lose weight from doing so successfully. These roadblocks, mental and emotional belief patterns, need to be addressed first as a person begins to explore the journey of losing weight in a healthy and whole-body way.
Looking Forward: A New Approach to Weight Loss
These weight loss industry problems may seem discouraging, but this is not the final word! As you will read in the next blog, Kay will share more about the three key aspects of her comprehensive lifestyle program designed for you to build a shame-free healthy relationship with food, lose weight, and keep it off. How it works is by healing the food-shame connection, removing inner roadblocks and nurturing yourself with conscious food choices, physical activity, and healthier lifestyle choices. Kay will also be exploring this inspiring and empowering approach in her new book “Happy Life at a Healthy Weight – Creating a Shame Free, Healthy Relationship with Food and Life” which is set to release soon! If you would like to explore more about healthy weight loss patterns, you can read a previous blog here “First Steps to Successfully Lose Weight and Keep it Off.”
Be on the lookout for more announcements about the book release date. In the meantime, click here to take the Discover Your Roadblocks Quiz to identify and begin to address your inner roadblocks to weight loss now.
Resources
Hall, Kevin D, Kahan, Scott. Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. Medical Clinics of North America. 2018 Jan;102(1):183-197. doi: 10.1016/j.mcna.2017.08.012. PMID: 29156185; PMCID: PMC5764193.
National Library of Medicine. “Diets.” https://medlineplus.gov/diets.html. Accessed July 29, 2024.
National Library of Medicine. “Diet for Rapid Weight Loss.” https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000885.htm. Accessed July 29, 2024.
National Library of Medicine. “Diet Myths and Facts.” https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000895.htm. Accessed July 29, 2024.
Michigan Medicine. “Weighing the Facts: The Tough Truth About Weight Loss.” https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/weighing-facts-tough-truth-about-weight-loss. Accessed July 29, 2024.
Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN
Transformational Speaker, Breakthrough Coach, Nutritionist-Dietitian
Karis N. Hicks
North Carolina Central University M.S. – Nutrition Studies
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