Maintaining a healthy weight is unfortunately not always as simple as the old ‘calories in versus calories out’ approach. Although dietary factors and exercise play an important role in keeping healthy, in this fantastic article Naturopath Lisa Fitzgibbon explains the benefits of identifying whether difficulties in losing weight relate to either physical or emotional factors, and the different strategies that may need to be considered based on this.
We love how Lisa’s extensive experience and upfront, witty and engaging manner makes her health advice so refreshing, even when covering often confronting topics on challenging health issues such as this.
At a Loss With Failed Weight Loss? Disclaimer: Ain’t no shame in that
Please know that while I’m talking about the need for people to maintain a healthy weight in this article, this is for health reasons — not cosmetic reasons.
There is strong data to indicate that the more fat mass you carry, the higher risk of developing chronic diseases you’ll also carry.
I’m a Naturopath.
I got into this career to help people get well.
And, it’s my job to educate you on how necessary it is to maintain a weight that is healthy for you. And, it’s also my job to help you ‘get the job done’.
Besides!
‘Fat shaming’ doesn’t help people to lose weight.
It just makes things worse.
In most cases, if someone is trying to lose weight, the reason they can’t isn’t lack of trying. It isn’t because they are lazy or unmotivated, stupid, greedy, or lack willpower. They are probably trying harder than the average Joe Bloggs to get their weight under control, but haven’t been able to achieve any real or lasting results because their body chemistry is literally working against them. Or, they simply haven’t been shown how to correctly eat for their health. Or, that the problem is actually mentally and emotionally based. (Which we’ll be discussing below.)
From what I’ve seen in practice, not only are these people annoyed about their weight, but they also feel incredibly: frustrated, angry, tired, deprived, confused, and worried – and they certainly don’t need anyone being mean, and ignorant (!), on top of this 😢
So, what I’m trying to say is this: If being healthy isn’t a high priority for you, or you prefer to not be restricted in any way in your diet, or your weight doesn’t ‘bovver you’, then this is simply not the article for you.
But, for anyone else interested in weight-loss —
Be ye a little overweight, or
Be ye a lot overweight, or
Be ye just not wanting to become overweight — let’s get you healthy xo
Note: Being healthy doesn’t just mean that you’re no longer at risk of cardio vascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and sleep apnoea. (Or, that you don’t in fact suffer from these afflictions.) Being healthy also means that you’ll feel more energetic, you’ll feel more in control of your diet, and your diet won’t control you.
It’s easy to point the finger
One of the services I provide at OOMPH is fat loss.
Generally speaking, it shouldn’t be difficult to help my client achieve this health goal. It should start with me advising them on what to eat, and on how much of it to eat. And from there, offering support in some or all of the following ways:
Rousing pep-talks (!) about it being ‘now-or-never’, and about them needing to ‘be their word’ — and finally do what they say they’re going to do 🧼📦😉
Providing additional weight loss insights or ‘tweaking’ their diet.
Correcting possible Thyroid, sex-hormone, liver, or stress issues.
Pulling out my ‘pom-poms’ to celebrate their victories (🤸🏼♀️), or
Vigorously waggling my finger at them because they are not pulling theirs out! ☝️
If the overweight client I’m working with purely has physical issues, then weight loss is a cinch! With these people, the only problem is keeping it off. (More on this below!)
However, there’s another set of overweight people — those with significant emotional issues. I have found that these people tend to hold the greatest amount of weight. And with this type of client, I won’t work with their weight goals until I’ve seen them for a couple of sessions to determine whether they are actually, well, truly capable of change.
Note: In some extreme cases, I have been known to refer the person off to a Psychologist after one meeting; to deal with their mental & emotional issues before I can even begin to help them.
With 16+ years experience in Naturopathy under my belt, I know that this type of client is virtually impossible to put on a diet. And, if I ‘allowed’ this to happen, that it’s just going to be a waste of their time, money, and effort — which will only make their emotional state even worse, and make them trust themselves even less to get the job done in the future.
For the rest of the article click here.
Lisa Fitzgibbon is a degree qualified (2006), experienced and registered Naturopath & Medical Herbalist. She runs her own private practice – OOMPH in Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand.
Lisa has been involved in the Natural Health industry for over 16 years. She draws on her professional training and experience, as well as her own personal experience to bring you realistic, holistic health advice.
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