Finding what works for YOUR body can be a challenge.
Variations can be frustrating. What raises your blood sugar may not touch mine and vice versa. This is part of why nutrition for weight loss can be so challenging – that and the plethora of conflicting information out there. That conflict is good evidence that nutrition is an individualized pursuit.
It’s not unlike finding what works for you in a shoe size. I wear a 7 ½. I would not be happy trying to wear a 5 or a 9, but it might fit you. My size is actually MY size.
Or my budget works for me – my priorities and preferences. I can learn from others to be more efficient or playful, but my priorities and needs are unique to me, and it might not fit you.
You love coffee, and I just don’t. I love the scent, but even with syrups and lots of milk, I can’t make myself like that residual coffee flavor. It would be easier socially because it’s more readily available, but it doesn’t fit my tastebuds.
We accept these areas of individuality in many areas, but we want what works in weight loss to be consistent and easily identified. Mostly, we want consistent results even from week to week in ourselves, but our chemistry just doesn’t work that way – not for diet, for prescriptions, for physical therapy, nor for mental health.
Our individuality – chemical, physical, psychological, social, etc. – requires tweaking if not wholesale change from one person to another. We can get by on “nearly there,” but we do best on what fits us.
I lost my weight on a low-fat, low-calorie diet. I lost the weight, but the side effects left me consistently tired, hungry, and cranky – that’s not good enough. I could not make that a lifestyle. My dear sweet husband deserves better than that. I deserve better than that.
Finding What Works for YOUR Body
Trial and error is still a thing. Many dieters in the 90s and early 2000s tried to follow the low-fat Food Pyramid style nutrition. It worked for some, and for others like me, it did not fit. Try intuitive eating, try non-dieting, try the Whole 30, try Low-Carb, try Noom – there are many out there, so try any or all of them, and see what works for you – and what you can live with. Diets aren’t just for weight loss – they are training in what works for your body. They all work while you follow them, but until you find what suits your particular chemistry, it may be harder than it has to be.
I finally got clarity after I took a metabolic test that showed me what my body needed and what foods would best fit my chemistry. When I follow the recommendations, I do very well and feel quite satisfied and content. It works for me. Find what works for your body.
If you need a little help with that or need to work on overcoming emotional eating, let’s have a chat. We can get you where you want to be.
