What Does Progress Look Like When You Don't Focus on Weight Loss?
Have you been told by medical providers that you need to lose weight for your health? Are you curious about intuitive eating and a non-diet approach but still feel that your body size is unhealthy? When we are working with clients at As You Are Nutrition, we often get asked what success looks like if we are not focusing on weight. Can you really mitigate your risk for developing diseases if you aren’t on a diet trying to lose weight? This blog post will help you zoom out from a weight-centric model and shift to a holistic, non-diet approach to health and wellness.
Here is a list of 10 outcomes that one can focus on in a weight-neutral approach:
Improved lab values and vitals
Research shows that a non-diet, intuitive eating approach not only helps with psychological health, but also physical health. Studies connect intuitive eating to lower LDL cholesterol, higher fruit and vegetable intake, reduced binge eating, improved glucose control, higher HDL (good) cholesterol, lower triglycerides levels, and improved blood pressure. Using an objective measure such as regular labs can give you more insight to your health than weight.
2. Improved energy and reduced fatigue
Tracking your energy levels throughout the day can give you insight into whether you are nourishing your body enough and resting when you need it. Don’t forget that food gives us energy!
3. Improved and consistent sleep
If you are waking up in the middle of the night, one explanation can be undernutrition. Sleep is critical for your overall health and stress reduction. Aim for at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
4. Greater interoceptive awareness with hunger and fullness cues
One sign of under-eating is the reduction in hunger and fullness cues. Think of this like a radio signal that isn’t fully getting good reception. The more you eat consistently, the more your body will communicate with you and tell you when it is hungry and full.
5. Less preoccupation with food
If you are thinking about food all the time, it might be a sign that you are not eating enough during the day. The Minnesota Starvation Experiment conducted in 1944 evaluated physical and psychological effects of semi-starvation. One of the most interesting outcomes of this study was that the subjects reported hyperfixation on food, cooking, and recipes. They even reported dreaming about food. The more you nourish yourself consistently, the less preoccupation with food occurs.
6. Less stress and anxiety at meal times
Healing your relationship with food means that you can eventually have less stress and anxiety around meal times. Reducing stress can have a huge impact on your overall health.
7. Improved strength, stamina, and flexibility
Ragen Chastain is a researcher, advocate, and health coach and has talked extensively about focusing on building strength, stamina, and flexibility instead of weight loss for movement goals. You can improve all of these aspects whether your weight changes or not and, by not focusing on weight, movement becomes a more sustainable practice.
8. More variety with food
Adding in more variety from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and protein can have a positive impact on your glucose control, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. This effect can take place whether you lose weight or not!
9. Ability to be more present with people in your life
Did you know that loneliness is as big of a risk factor for mortality as smoking? When we are dieting, we often skip out on social functions or are too distracted to have a conversation because we are busy counting calories. By letting go of the dieting mentality and healing our relationship with food, we can reduce loneliness and be more present with your loved ones.
10. More brain space for hobbies and thinking about what’s important to you
Imagine a world where you weren’t thinking about food, calories, nutrients, or feeling guilty about food every other minute. Imagine what you could do with that extra brain space! When you heal your relationship with food, you open up the possibilities for new hobbies, friendships, or maybe even a business venture.
Not only can you improve your labs such as cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure, but you can also improve your overall, holistic health. By zooming out and looking at these other measurements for progress, you can create sustainable, health-promoting changes.
Resources:
Quansah, D. Y., Gilbert, L., Gross, J., Horsch, A., & Puder, J. J. (2019). Intuitive eating is associated with improved health indicators at 1-year postpartum in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Journal of Health Psychology, 26(8), 1168–1184. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105319869814
Tylka TL, & Kroon Van Diest AM. (2013) The Intuitive Eating Scale-2: Item refinement and psychometric evaluation with college women and men. J Couns Psychol. Jan;60(1):137-53.