Cardio Q&A - Weight Loss Chat

RE:Defined Rx members describe these Cardio Q&A workouts like a podcast while working out. I will be on the treadmill, but you do not have to watch me for this workout. You can use whatever form of cardio you love or are able to do. Bike, elliptical, treadmill, run outside, walk, etc. Bonus, I added a kitchen clip at the end of this workout for you!

If you're interested in learning more about the RE:Defined Rx program, please visit www.redefinedrx.com to learn more or sign up. You'll definitely want to make sure you're getting my emails so sign up there.

Weight loss can be frustrating, but it does not have to be. 

So many factors like hormones, foods, medications, stress, sleep are just a few of the many  variables that can make weight loss frustrating and make us feel stuck.  I want you to know you can change your body if you want to by identifying what may be keeping you feeling stuck. 

We have been taught that if we need to lose weight we should go on a diet. 

The problem is dieting can lead to hormonal imbalances, thyroid problems, and metabolic slow down. Severely restricting our calories and cutting out whole macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. It can even make us think about food more. 

Extreme measures can backfire. Often too hard to maintain. There is a change in schedule, holidays, parties, change in your life, go on vacation, or so restrictive that it is too hard to maintain. 

END the YO YO Behavior - Restrictive then Unraveling 

Dieting Dangers 

• 1-5 years most people gain back the weight or end up with an eating disorder. 
• 95% of diets fail 
• Dieting leads to a preoccupation and obsession with food that can negatively affect daily life. 
• It can lead to yo yo behavior. Extreme restricting then unraveling. On and Off behavior. 
• Minnesota Starvation Study - With a low calorie diet they became:  suicidal, hysteria, edema, ended up with a preoccupation with food during the study and even after the study ended and they were eating more. “The section on psychology deals with behavior and complaints in natural and experimental starvation, intellective functions, and personality. Characteristic starvation changes included a marked depression, irritability, intense preoccupation with thoughts of food, decrease in self-initiated activity, loss of sexual drive, and social introversion.“ 

You can still be eating, but still have a deprivation mindset and experience the negative effects of that physically and mentally.  Our mindset around food matters so much to really see a change. 

Extreme dieting can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with food. Thinking about food all the time. It will rob you of your energy, time, and your life. 

I want you to enjoy food and to consciously eat nourishing foods without the obsession. I am going to show you another way to still get results without all the craziness. 

• Gaining and losing weight can impact our emotional health and wellbeing. How we lose weight and how we incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into our everyday life matters so much because it can impact how easy it is to maintain those results. 

 How we think about food and our body directly impacts our choices.

I want you to have a healthy relationship with food.

How we think about food can impact our relationship with food. To create a healthy relationship with food know that food is NOT moral. Good vs Bad. 

You are not a good person for eating a clean diet. You are not bad for having pizza and beer. 

Food can be nourishing or can deplete us, but your not a good or bad person based on what you eat. 

I want you to be aware of how food is impacting you. So you are eating foods that make you feel how you want to feel.

Is the food you eating leaving your feeling light and energized or sluggish and tired? Helping your sleep better or keeping you up at night? Alleviating your headaches or triggering headaches? Giving your clear thinking or brain fog? Helping your clothes fit well or making them feel tight and uncomfortable? Giving you radiant skin or triggering skin issues? 

Let go of Guilt and Shame around food and eating. Use it as information to help you not to keep you stuck. 

Eat to feel better not worse. 

Destructive thinking leads to destructive behavior.

Step #1 was week was all about AWARENESS. What are your triggers, habits, what causes you to gain and lose weight, being aware of your body and your actions, so you know what needs to change. 

Step #2: INTUITIVE Eating. Listen to your hunger cues. Eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied.  Back in tune with instinctive, intuitive eating. 

If your car needs gas, do you pull into any gas station you see and fill up your car? No. 

Sometimes we do this with food and our bodies. I want you to know when your body needs fuel. Know you can always fuel up when you need it. Food looks and tastes so much better when we are actually hungry. It is also your solution to end overeating. When we are eating for other reasons (bored, stress, tired, anxious, etc) it is harder to know when to stop. When our body has had enough. When we eat for physical hunger we know when we have had a enough and when to stop eating. 

Counting calories and macros, eating because its a certain time instead of being hungry, or strict dieting can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. It can be so time consuming that is hard to maintain. It is not a lifestyle that can be natural and easy to implement no matter what you have going on in your life. I want you to be able to go on vacation and maintain your weight no problem. I want you to be able to listen to your body and what it needs instead of going off of a number. 

What are you hungry for?

Often times it is NOT ABOUT THE FOOD.

The real reasons we are struggling with our body and food has nothing to do with food at all.

Often times there are deeper needs that need to be met, past hurts, replacing our thoughts in order to change our behaviors, and it is is a heart issue that needs to be addressed in order to stop repeating the same patterns over and over again. 

Simply being able to stop and identify why you are eating can help to get to her REAl underlying issue that is causing us to turn to food for other reasons than physical hunger. 

In this weeks Cardio Q+A, I will be talking more about this coaching and what to do if you do eat past the point of fullness. 

Enjoy eating distraction free. 

ACTION Steps for this Week: 

1. Ask yourself “Am I HUNGRY”? Give yourself time to breathe and think before you eat. Why are you eating? Do you need fuel or for other reasons. Get your real needs met. 

2. Keep journaling in the mindful eating journal page

3. Ask yourself after you eat “Do I feel better or Worse”? Do I feel light and energized after eating and ready for the next activity? If you feel BETTER why, what are you eating? If you feel WORSE why, how can you change that? 

You CAN feel comfortable and confident in your own body. 

You CAN make a change! You do not have to stay stuck. Start using the hunger scale today.

Warmly,

Jessica