Is losing weight going to make you happy?

Being a nutritionist for just under 3 years now, I always hear the same message. I want to lose weight. I need to lose 5-10 lbs. Whatever the variation is I have heard it. Everyone and their cousin thinks that weight loss is the key to happiness in life. Says who? I have yet to find anyone who lost weight and said the number on the scale was the sole reason they were happy. I dare you to challenge me on that. Seriously! Instead, anytime someone starts on a weight loss journey they end up happier, healthier, and more confident for other reasons. Those reasons can vary from finding confidence in strength training, feeling more energized from eating nutrient-dense foods, or having the energy to spend time with their families.

But this isn't an article about HOW to lose weight, instead, I want you to think about WHY you want to lose weight.

The first and most important question I always ask people is:

“ Why did you choose that number for your weight loss goal”

Unless they have orders from a doctor or medical professional, I always follow up with:

“ Well, how would you feel if your weight stayed the same but you felt stronger, more energized, and even went down in pants size?”

Almost everyone says they would love that. Then I like to dig into where they got that number. 9/10 times people just choose a number because they spent some time of their life at that weight. If someone sets their goal to lose 10lbs, they will do whatever they can to get there. Once they hit that goal they will want to lose another 5 or another 10. You will always push the goalpost back. It's just human nature, I find myself guilty of it as well.

Now to the hard-hitting questions.

How do you know this number of weight loss is going to what makes you happy?

Think about it, if you're unhappy with your current physique who says that an arbitrary number will be the reason you are happy? That's all the number on the scale is, just one piece of data that coaches can use. We live in a society where we want the scale to look like a golf scorecard, the lower the better. Yes, you need to be within a certain range of weight for your height/weight ratio but you'd be shocked with how big that range can be.

Instead, you need to learn how to appreciate where you are now so that you can be happy and confident. If you're only happy at a certain weight then you will be stressing all day every day to ensure you're at that weight. Some ways you can appreciate your body today are:

• Take stock of what you can do physically. The number of people I talk to that struggle to walk around their neighborhood or struggle to do a pull-up would surprise you.

• Appreciate everything you can do pain-free. Talk to any doctor and they will let you know that a majority of their patients come in with some kind of pain. According to the CDC, it's 8% of the adult population or 19 MILLION people.

• Appreciate your current medical situation. A lot of people are in bad medical situations from chronic illness to genetic disorders.

If you struggle with this or want to talk about it more let's set up a call! I run 2-3 FREE nutrition consultations weekly. This isn't a sales call, this isn't a coaching call. It's designed to help YOU realize where you are and where you want to go. Together we start to build the road map for FREE. All you have to do is ask.

Don’t forget to call your mom

-Mike

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