10/10/2024
As a Personal Trainer, I’ve found that one of the biggest barriers holding people back from achieving their health and fitness goals is the limiting beliefs we often have around food.
So many people feel trapped in a cycle of restriction, where the focus is always on cutting calories, eliminating food groups, and depriving themselves.
Words like "restrict," "eliminate," and "cut out" are used constantly, and this can reinforce the negative emotions and behaviors that led to weight gain in the first place - especially when not enough emphasis is placed upon what we should be eating to fuel our bodies optimally.
This mindset leads people to feel like they can't eat anything or that they need to starve themselves in order to lose weight.
People are often drawn to low calorie artificially sweetened products which are advertised as being healthier for you, but often they can be devoid of any quality nutrition, just causing you to feel even hungrier.
Protein, diet and meal replacement drinks are often some of the worst examples of this, because I've found that people are often less aware of the effect that drinks are having on their bodies and can be scared of consuming enough food when they're trying to lose weight.
We tend to treat our bodies like calorie calculators, expecting a lower intake in this number to lead to a consistent reduction in the number on the scales.
The truth is - for the majority of people - this approach doesn't work in the long run.
People tend to take calorie restriction to a level where it is unsustainable, trying to lose weight as much weight as possible from the outset without building healthy levels of lean muscle first, leading to poor results which causes non-compliance and falling back into old habits quickly.
The evidence shows that yo-yo dieting (extreme calorie restriction followed by periods of unhealthy eating when you fall off track) can cause you to lose muscle during the restricted time periods, and then when you return to old habits, the weight you regain is often stored body fat and not the muscle which you lost!
This is detrimental because the amount of lean tissue you have is like your engine, so when we lose muscle we burn less energy at rest and are more prone to storing fat, similarly an increase in your body fat percentage can lead to hormonal changes which make it more likely for you to continue storing more.
This is how both fat loss and fat gain can cause a "snowball effect".
It’s time to break away from this cycle and take a more positive, sustainable approach to nutrition and weight loss.
The way the human mind works, it can't process a negative thought (if I asked you to not think of a pink elephant, it would usually be the first thing that comes into your head!).
So with this in mind it makes sense to shift most of our focus towards what we should be eating more of - to fuel our bodies for optimal results.
Instead of focusing on what you need to cut out of your diet, I encourage you to shift your focus to what your body actually needs - starting with protein.
Most people with weight loss goals need to eat at least 140-240g of protein per day, based on the recommendation of 1.8g of protein per kg of body weight.
Yet, from my experience, many people are only getting a fraction of that, with the average person consuming just one protein-based meal a day.
The rest of their meals are often made up of refined carbohydrates, low-nutrition options like soup, or snacks that don’t provide much value.
When you consider that the first 30g of protein you eat each day is required just to support your immune system, that leaves very little for your body’s other needs—like maintaining lean muscle, repairing tissues, and even supporting healthy skin, hair, and nails.
If your body is only getting 45g of protein or less, it’s not enough to fuel these vital functions, let alone support weight loss.
So, rather than obsessing over what foods you should avoid, start by prioritising the right foods—particularly protein and high-quality vegetables.
Once you meet your protein requirements and fill your plate with nutritious veg, you’ll find that there’s naturally less room for highly processed carbohydrates and sugar (which both have similar effects on the body).
And if you do run better on carbs, having them later in the day or after exercise for recovery (or combining them with healthy fat, protein and fibre to reduce the glycemic load) will mean they are more likely to replenish glycogen stores and less likely to cause fluctuations in blood glucose - which make you hungrier.
This brings me to another important point—choosing real, whole foods over processed options - particularly when it comes to protein.
A simple rule I’ve come to appreciate is: “If it’s advertised across TV and social media, it’s probably not healthy.”
While there are exceptions, most foods with big marketing budgets—like processed snacks, low-fat products, and weight loss supplements—are designed for profit, not health.
These companies spend huge amounts on packaging, billboards, and TV ads to convince you that their products are good for you, but in reality, they are often filled with cheap, low-nutrient ingredients and can crash your blood glucose in a similar way to sugar, causing you to feel hungrier shortly after consuming them.
Fake processed foods such as wheat and grain products, low-fat items, many weight-loss supplements, soy products, vegetable and seed oils as well as processed meat snacks have very high profit margins because they are inexpensive to produce.
That’s why you see them everywhere—on the end shelves in supermarkets with attractive advertising while the whole foods aisles can be less appealing.
On the other hand, real, nutrient-dense choices like berries, eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, nuts, and beneficial supplements don’t need flashy ads, are rarely on offer and have a much less appealing placement on the supermarket shelves.
These foods have low profit margins because the money goes into the quality of the product itself, not the marketing.
These are the foods that will provide real, lasting benefits to your body, even though they may not come in shiny packaging or have adverts telling you how great they are.
The problem is that good nutrition advice is hard to come by these days.
We are constantly bombarded with marketing that tells us what to eat and how to feel about certain foods.
But remember, most of the time, this marketing is about making you feel good about a purchase, not about actually improving your health.
The usual emotions you get from shopping on Amazon or buying products such as clothes or a new phone are often not very helpful when it comes to making better food choices.
If you want to feel genuinely good about the food you’re eating, it’s important to rely on your own intuition and trusted sources of information; rather than the messages coming from multinational companies whose primary interest can be profit over your health.
In summary, instead of focusing on what foods to cut or restrict, try a new approach—one that emphasises fueling your body with the right nutrients.
Make meeting your protein needs and eating real, whole foods your priority.
Not only will you feel more satisfied and energised, but you’ll also set yourself up for long-term success in your health and weight loss goals.
So with this more positive and empowering mindset, what’s stopping you from getting started?
The journey to better health doesn’t have to be about deprivation or restriction—it can be about nourishment, balance, and long-term success.
Hedge 🙂
P.S. Don't forget the pink elephant - when you feel hunger "think protein"!
