What are the Features of a Healthy Weight Loss Program?
When it comes to finding a healthy weight loss program, there are almost as many opinions and diets as there are people. If you’ve identified some symptoms (like joint pain, weight gain, high blood pressure, or insulin resistance) that you’d like to address by losing weight, how do you choose something that is healthy and sustainable? How do you make changes to your lifestyle that will prioritize health and healing, and will become the “new normal” for you?
One of the major problems with a diet is that while you may do well while you’re “on” it, what will happen when you’re not? If you define your habits by the diet you’re “on,” how will you define your habits when you’re “off”? Although it may take more time, a slow and steady, sustainable pace is more important than quick results. Dieting can actually slow your metabolism. Calorie restriction can upset your hormone balance, result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and cause your body to go into fat-storage mode. If losing weight is part of your health journey, what do you look for instead?
Six Features of a Healthy Weight Loss Program
Flexibility
Every one needs a little wiggle room sometimes. Life sometimes throws unexpected things your way, and you need to be able to maneuver through those instances. A healthy weight loss program offers the kind of flexibility you need to have in order to make things work on a day-to-day basis. Rigid programs can be discouraging because if you get off track, it can feel like an all-or-nothing deal in order to get back to your plan. It is also important to have a broad variety of healthy choices within your plan.
Personalization
A healthy weight loss program takes into account the individual. Rigid rules about what and when to eat just don’t work for everyone, and so a healthy program should center the patient and offer some flexibility to make room for preferences, cultural differences, health concerns or allergies, activity levels, financial constraints, and access. A good program should offer broad enough generalizations to account for those differences, while offering guidance about how to navigate the issues for the best health outcomes.
Nutrition support
Bodies under stress hold onto weight, and caloric restriction or nutrient deficiencies are stressors. In order to allow your body to shed excess weight, you have to be properly nourishing yourself. Eating a wide variety of nutrient dense foods will give your body what it needs. There are a few things it can help to supplement, such as vitamin D3, omega 3s, and probiotics, but a healthy weight loss program emphasizes eating real and healthy foods in order to nourish your body, not supplements or products. It should teach you how to find and rely on those real foods, and to develop eating patterns that nourish your body in the long run for energy and vitality. Bodies use food for fuel, and the more you understand about how to properly fuel your body, the better the outcomes you can expect.
Accountability
Human beings function best in community with others. A healthy lifestyle weight loss program will offer you support and encouragement, and also ask you the hard questions about what you are REALLY doing and what you really need to do. Having other people to encourage, educate, and inspire you will help you stay on track. This is particularly true if you are the first person in your family or friends to take steps toward healthy living. Making long-term changes can be challenging, and it helps to know that there are other people on board with you.
Movement
Nutrition accounts for 80-90% of weight loss, but a healthy lifestyle must include movement as well. Bodies are made to move. First of all, building and maintaining strength, flexibility, and endurance has a huge effect on your brain and mental health. Movement releases endorphins and has a positive effect on your mood and emotions. It is an excellent form of stress relief. Aerobic exercise has been proven to reduce anxiety and depression. By increasing circulation to the brain, exercise helps you maintain your cognitive functioning and mental alertness as you age. It also has a positive effect on your self-esteem. Regular movement increases the efficiency of your metabolism, and improves the quality of your sleep. Furthermore, these benefits are accessible to everyone. You don’t need a gym membership. You don’t need to subscribe to the old “no pain no gain” mantra. You don’t need to spend hours sweating. Just find time every week to do some stretching, and take some brisk walks, and do a little strength training. Can you start your day with some toe-touches, squats, and wall push-ups? Can you take a walk on your lunch break? Can you take the stairs at work? Can you make date night a hike through a park? These little tweaks all add up, and they all work together to your benefit.
Overall Health
Sometimes your body has to prioritize healing over weight loss. A healthy weight loss program will support healing processes in your body and emphasize healing over weight loss. Just as weight gain can be a symptom of something that needs healing, weight loss can be a symptom of returning health. To change your lifestyle to pursue health, focus on sustainable steady progress. Healthy lifestyles include food choices and movement, and they also include good sleep, stress management techniques, hydration, and connection to your greater purpose. The body you have is the only one you get, and taking care of yourself is one of your greatest investments. In order to show up for the people you love, you have to take care of yourself.
When is the best time to start focusing on your health? Today! No matter what your health story has been in the past, you have time to make changes and send yourself on that journey. A healthy weight loss program can provide the information and support that you need to make the changes you want to make. The experts at TruBalance are ready and waiting to cheer you on, and all TruBalance offices are equipped for virtual appointments. Let today be the day you change direction and pursue another level.