Why can't I lose weight?

That's the Million Dollar Question!
                                                                  
Why CAN'T I lose weight?


Well, for those of you that don't have a serious health condition that requires you to be on medication that seriously 'causes' weight gain then its basically down to these main things:

Are your parents/family overweight? What was the thought mentality surrounding food/meals in your house growing up? (all the same thing really).

It's not 'genetics' as such but more so a point of what you've been taught is a healthy/normal way to eat and you are just following what you have been taught & what your parents have been taught and so on.

For example: if you were always told to 'finish' up your dinner & 'don't leave anything on your plate or there's no dessert' blah blah... is not the most positive reinforcement of eating healthy.

It starts young

I always see overweight parents 'loading' up their childs plate at dinner time, the child forces it all down so they can have dessert, so have now eaten waaay too much at the meal. I'm not saying it's ok to leave dinner so they can have dessert (as dessert shouldn't be every night anyway, once or twice a week maximum or the child will grow up thinking dessert is essential after every dinner).

The best thing in this scenario would be to encourage the healthiest part of the meal be eaten such as all the veg & lean proteins (presuming veg has been given, but that's another subject altogether).

The other thing I see a lot is with big families is; the fatter the child, the bigger meals they get!! what the? a BIG kid is big from overeating so then they are given adult size meals which will only keep them fat or help them get fatter.

Children have child size organs therefore their bodies cannot be treated like an adults.

In my own experience, I came from a mixed view house hold. On one hand one parent would glare at me if they saw me eating a bar of chocolate, telling me 'you'll get fat eating that', then the other parent was passing me a Mars bar as I got in the front door from school saying 'here, have this in your room, don't tell', so low and behold I grew up with yoyo weight gain/loss.

I eventually got into body sculpting (but that's another story).

My point is, if you cant lose weight and tried 'all' the diets, it's highly likely that it's nothing to do with the diets you choose but down to your own belief system surrounding food and eating and what you believe is true.

I have never seen an overweight child that doesn't have overweight parents so if you are very overweight please be mindful of this as it is the example you are setting for your children's' and grandchildren's futures

On occasion there are other trigger factors (stress/trauma) surrounding weight issues which can eventually lead to eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia and binge eating but that is in the minority.

To get started on a healthy eating plan that you can use for the whole family will take a lot of discipline and you really must WANT to make those changes to improve your health.

This blog contains lots of information about nutrition and how to eat without feeling hungry all the time and will be containing lots of recipes throughout the coming weeks.

You may want to check out a local personal trainer to help motivate you in the first few weeks or just an outdoor group class. There are plenty around for both men, women & children. If you want to change your life then sometimes it's just taking that first step.

Remember this saying 'You don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great'

Take care.
Please post your comments and questions