Weight can be a sensitive topic, something people shy away from talking about. But for many people it’s something they are constantly thinking about and looking for a successful weight loss strategy. The media is full of reminders, whether it be about the latest weight loss diet, medication, superfood or a meal service you can sign up for that promises an easy way to attain your ideal weight. If you fall into the overweight or obese category your GP may recommend you lose weight to decrease your risk of chronic disease, as it is a significant risk factor.
We all know weight loss is complex, it’s not a matter of just cutting back on how much you eat or exercising more, if it was, fewer people would be overweight. Weight loss is influenced by a person’s psychology, physiology and behaviour and the following diagram identifies some of the factors that have an impact on weight and can derail a successful weight loss strategy.
Successful weight loss strategies
Many weight loss strategies focus on calorie balance and while some people find success with these types of strategies they are difficult to maintain long term and as you can see from looking at the above diagram many of the factors that affect weight loss aren’t addressed.
Successful weight loss and maintenance requires peeling back the layers to identify the individual components contributing to a person’s weight and implementing a personalised treatment and support program to address each of these components.
How a nutritionist can help you lose weight
As a nutritionist, I commence these discussions in the initial consultation and begin building a picture that provides input to the best treatment strategy. Topics that may be discussed include:
- cultural background and influences
- medical conditions, mental health, medications and disabilities and the role they play in metabolism
- Lifestyle
- Environment – to look for other contributing factors to health e.g. toxins, mould, ability to exercise, access to healthy food
- Motivation and willpower – where useful I work with individuals to identify what are the drivers and the motivation for change, to set goals and work to achieve them.
- obstacles – identify what challenges there may be and work to find a solution
- Working within restrictions – could be financial, time, dietary
- willingness to change habits
Following the initial consultation further information may be gathered through testing – to understand pathology, metabolic markers, GI markers and tailor treatment accordingly. The discussions are ongoing as a life history cannot be covered in one consultation, but that’s ok and dietary and lifestyle changes can be commenced to start addressing your health concerns.
It becomes similar to peeling back to layers of an onion, as some symptoms are resolved others may appear and we continue to adjust the treatment program accordingly referring to other health providers as and when needed. Reviewing and providing support for mitigating factors is important to provide a change in habits that sets you up for long term healthy weight and lifestyle.
Would you like to start addressing the factors impacting your weight? Book an initial consultation, and we can start towards building a treatment plan to support you to improved health outcomes.
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