What Type of Weight Loss Woman Are You?
Over my years as a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner I have seen 2 types of weight loss clients:
The “I want to lose weight”…..but what I really want is for my joint pain to go away or this yucky bloated feeling in my belly to go away. Upon further investigation, they are less concerned about a number on the scale and more concerned about symptom relief...type of client
Then there is the…
“I want to lose weight”….I don’t actually give a shit about any of my other symptoms, I only want to see changes on the scale… type of client. [Side note: I love the unabashed honesty of these clients]
Which type of weight loss woman are you?
The first group feels they should be concerned about their weight because society or their doctor tells them it’s important. However, when nudged they will identify many other symptoms which are more concerning to them. They’ve either been told their symptoms are “normal” and to ignore them or that their symptoms are side effects of weight… i.e. just lose some weight and you will feel better. (This isn’t altogether untrue, but not always helpful or productive to hear). Upon helping them refocus their goals they often find symptom relief and successful weight loss.
An example of this is a recent client who came to me to address her gut health. She happily reports that her “headaches are gone, bloating is gone, sleep and mood are better and though weight loss was never [her] main objective, she lost 25 pounds through this process and couldn't be happier.”
The second group is solely fixated on weight loss. Other health symptoms be damned! They often only want to talk about weight loss “successes” and “failures” but would rather not focus on any of the “why’s”. They sometimes fail to notice when they are getting other positive health outcomes as a result of our work together.
One example was an early client to my practice who was hoping to “lose weight, get rid of headaches and improve sleep”. We made some simple dietary changes in our first 2 sessions that successfully had her sleeping through the night and alleviated her daily migraines! However, as we headed into our third session she informed me she was going to stop our work because she hadn't lost any weight yet.
That had me perplexed until I realized I had failed to help her understand one important key concept about weight loss.
Your health and your weight do not function independently of each other.
Cosmo and #faddiets don’t teach you this. Your weight is one of MANY symptoms of health. When your body is suffering imbalances the scale tends to tip in an unfavorable direction. When you correct those imbalances the scale can find its happy place. Our bodies are complicated and messy and supporting our metabolism is not always straightforward.
When we solely focus on our weight, we often fail to notice when our body is on the correct path to wellness….and weight loss.
In January I kick off a new round of the RESTART Program, where we address many of the most common causes of imbalance in the body.