holistic approach to weight loss
loistryin
Posts: 70 Member
I read all the do's and don'ts to losing weight and they frustrate me. I think when i get the spiritual, emotional, social, financial and intellectual parts of my life in better balance I will be able to lose the weight I need to lose for my health. So i am working inch by inch to deal with those parts of my health and hope to lose the weight eventually. I am in no financial position to quit my job as I think that if i could a big stressor would be taken away, and start to open the door to weight loss. i can however take baby steps towards how I respond and looking for another job. I could write more but shall stop for now. What are your thoughts to a holistic approach to weight loss?
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Replies
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i think taking life as a whole is important
it depends on your goal though, mine is to feel healthier and be fitter, so losing weight is just part of that0 -
Certainly not unreasonable. Lots of people have trouble losing because of stress either pushing them off their diet (stress eating) or making them lose focus (worrying over bills and not paying attention to their diet). I think that someone that has a lot of other issues on their plate and aren't in immediate medical danger may want to focus on cleaning up their lives before they put all their focus on weight loss.0
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In my experience, it can work to build anticipation before you start with the actual lifestyle changes you need to make in terms of nutrition and exercise, but it can also lead to procrastination because the perfect circumstances will never exist. I've learnt that making changes in terms of what I eat and how much exercise I get has a direct impact on how well I cope with my work and personal situation. The more you improve, the easier life gets overall. It's also a positive cycle and you're more likely to take small victories re weight loss as motivators for other aspects of your life. Work-related stress can be very well countered with exercise. If you hit a plateau, there will always be something else that you can take pride in. I never see weight and/or fitness as isolated from the rest of my life. That's what I understand as a holistic approach.0
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i like this: you might too
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asciiqwerty/view/ten-steps-to-a-healthier-happier-you-6512150 -
If I had to do this holistically then I'd never do anything because it wouldn't all line up - for me (not saying for you) it would be an excuse to not do anything.
Doing one little thing often leads to another for me. I cycled to work the last few of days which made me want to eat healthier so then I started bringing in salads for lunch. Today I did the same and left money at home so I wouldn't be tempted by snacks in the office.
Obviously different things work for different people, but it's too easy for me to procrastinate which gives me time to self sabotage.1 -
^^^ also true for me
lots of little steps cna get you a long way
I find that good habits are harder to break than good intentions0 -
I think there's a misrepresentation here of what it means to take a holistic approach. It certainly shouldn't mean that you don't do anything until everything is perfect.
Rather it means as well as looking at the direct cause (too much food in mouth) you look beyond that to the whys.
You look at your behavior and why you do what you do. You look at the patterns in your life and why they are the way they are. And then you make changes to those as well. Because when you're looking at things holistically you're looking at a feedback loop. Every change you make affects all other aspects.
Prioritizing which problems you deal with first, is also a good idea, but it's a fundamentally different concept.0 -
Holistically the ONLY thing one needs to do to lose weight is just eat less than one burns. Don't need to make it any more complicated than that.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
I think there's a misrepresentation here of what it means to take a holistic approach. It certainly shouldn't mean that you don't do anything until everything is perfect.
Rather it means as well as looking at the direct cause (too much food in mouth) you look beyond that to the whys.
You look at your behavior and why you do what you do. You look at the patterns in your life and why they are the way they are. And then you make changes to those as well. Because when you're looking at things holistically you're looking at a feedback loop. Every change you make affects all other aspects.
Prioritizing which problems you deal with first, is also a good idea, but it's a fundamentally different concept.
Agreed.
Also, changing lots of things at once is a stressor in itself! I don't think weight loss in itself should be so hard you have to quit your job to do it.
Try changing small things, one at a time, and see what happens. If you are stressed at work, talk to your manager about reducing that. If like me you are a comfort eater, switch your favourite nibbles to something low calorie at the same time. That for me is an example of a hollistic approach to weight loss - treating both symptom (excess nibbling) and cause (stress) at the same time.
Exercise is also good for stress. You could try taking a walk in your lunch break - a break at lunch will reduce your work stress, you'll get some fresh (ish if you live in the city
) air.
These are just suggestions, you have to find what works for you. Go little by little and make changes in all areas of your life.0 -
If you wait until everything in your life is balanced to begin getting healthy - that day will never come. Start now and make changes.0
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I think there's a misrepresentation here of what it means to take a holistic approach. It certainly shouldn't mean that you don't do anything until everything is perfect.
Rather it means as well as looking at the direct cause (too much food in mouth) you look beyond that to the whys.
You look at your behavior and why you do what you do. You look at the patterns in your life and why they are the way they are. And then you make changes to those as well. Because when you're looking at things holistically you're looking at a feedback loop. Every change you make affects all other aspects.
Prioritizing which problems you deal with first, is also a good idea, but it's a fundamentally different concept.
I agree with the above.
I have a very stressful family life and it certainly impacts on my physical health and vice versa. It's not going to change and there's no point waiting for it to get better before doing something about something else.
Eating well, doing physical activity you enjoy and being kind to yourself will pay dividends, not just for weight loss, but improving your self esteem or managing stress better for tackling something else.
Whilst it is a simple case of cals in/out for weight loss, I found there was little point of things in the long run if I didn't address my use of alcohol and junk food as a way of managing things and look at the reason I did it, rather than just reducing cals and beating myself up when I lapsed again.0 -
I personally do not believe that your life has to be going okay for you to lose weight, or at least be trying to lose weight. My life is hard right now, it is just awful actually, and doing even little things is a lot harder than it should be. I am still eating less and moving more. I have the perfect excuse to be fat and sad, but I am not taking it. I am making myself a better me.
It sounded to me like you were saying, I can't even try to lose weight because of X.0 -
Holistically the ONLY thing one needs to do to lose weight is just eat less than one burns. Don't need to make it any more complicated than that.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I would have thought that as a certified personal trainer you would understand that the causes of people eating too much are varied and often psychological. I find it very surprising that you dismiss them so easily.0 -
Not dimissing it, but consumption of food is in TOTAL control of the person. Job stress, lack of time to exercise, etc. may not be. The choices of food aren't "forced" on a person, they choose those foods themselves. Weight loss it DIRECTLY connected to food consumption and just changing that alone will more than likely make it much easier to transition other areas one needs to work on. If one CAN'T take control of the one thing they have control over, how are they supposed to remedy the issues of the ones they don't have control over?Holistically the ONLY thing one needs to do to lose weight is just eat less than one burns. Don't need to make it any more complicated than that.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I would have thought that as a certified personal trainer you would understand that the causes of people eating too much are varied and often psychological. I find it very surprising that you dismiss them so easily.
I think empathetically and have to because my job is to NOT let some reasons stop people from achieving.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
i like this: you might too
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/asciiqwerty/view/ten-steps-to-a-healthier-happier-you-6512150 -
Those are awesome tips. Thank you!!!0
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We tend to compartmentalize our lives... I suppose we learned it in school.. We went to reading, then Language, then Math, then... Certainly it is important to not lose sight of the big picture; honestly, there are those that weight control must be job one since they are morbidly obese and their very lives are threatened by it... Others have other priorities. In a truly holistic approach though, I would very well think that one would have to work on all segments simultaneously... Focus on de-stressing but part of that is the diet and exercise that comes from getting more healthy. Best wishes on your endeavors. i hope you find what works best for YOU... Only you can make that determination. Balance in All things.0
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I fully agree. I don't think losing weight is just about counting calories or drinking a protein shake. As someone who struggled with her weight for years I didn't become overweight just because I didn't know what to eat. I become overweight as a result of some deeper issues that I was dealing with. I think losing weight is mental, physical, emotional, and yes even spiritual. This is also what will make the changes lasting.0
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My pleasureThose are awesome tips. Thank you!!!0 -
I kind of looked at it from a different perspective. By being fitter & healthier I'd have more energy to deal with the stress of my job. If I lost some weight it might increase my chances in an interview (first impressions and all that). What i've found is that exercising regularly has massively reduced my stress levels - bad day at work followed by a run and suddenly the day's stresses have gone and I sleep well. If I'd waited for everything to be right with my world I'd still be 106lbs fatter than I am now. Taking control of my health has has massive beneficial knock on effects in all other aspects of my life and my very being. The rest was just procrastination and excuses for not starting a daunting task of amending my lifestyle.
I hope you get to where you want be :flowerforyou:0 -
As we all know Stress does have a massive impact on our health and does impact our weight. I took up Yoga 15 years ago to try and de-stress from a challenging Corporate career. I found it the only thing that stopped from thinking about work.
Years later, here I am a full time Yoga teacher.
I found time on a tread mill, for example, only gave me time to think and fret over work and what I needed to do. If you do Yoga (properly), you can't think about anything else!
I'm not one of those "stick insect" type Yoga teachers you see on YouTube, I still have curves, but Yoga created a way of life that helped me take my life back, get fit and most importantly become healthy.
Yoga became a way of life, I guess you could call that holistic. When I look back, I do know that "Life's too short" to have to put up with Stress from work. Nobody should have that control over your life.
Good luck looking for a another job.0 -
I've learnt that making changes in terms of what I eat and how much exercise I get has a direct impact on how well I cope with my work and personal situation. The more you improve, the easier life gets overall. It's also a positive cycle and you're more likely to take small victories re weight loss as motivators for other aspects of your life.
This. It might just be a matter of figuring out what you can control right now. Maybe it's just how you eat, to start. Or prioritizing a workout plan. Doing something tends to make you feel more in control and thus more able to address the next thing. Think of it in terms of taking a positive step or two that will holistically affect your whole life.0 -
to the psychologist above......I can't control anything even myself without the help of my higher power, Jesus Christ..... just saying.... I like the idea lemurcat gave....figure out what I can control.... I did walk almost every day this summer. When school started back up (I am a teacher) I had trouble getting it in. With the help of MapmyWalk and new iphone I have been still getting some walks in. I even did a 5K in August and plan to do more. Thank you yoga lady too for your response. I found a yoga workout on mfp or mmw I forget which that I plan to try soon. Happy thanksgiving to anyone who reads this as I write it the day after thanksgiving. BTW I walked Thanksgiving morning and plan to today. Getting an iphone and itunes and mapmywalk has been working for me.....still won't get on scale again, but I feel better.0
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In my experience, it can work to build anticipation before you start with the actual lifestyle changes you need to make in terms of nutrition and exercise, but it can also lead to procrastination because the perfect circumstances will never exist. I've learnt that making changes in terms of what I eat and how much exercise I get has a direct impact on how well I cope with my work and personal situation. The more you improve, the easier life gets overall. It's also a positive cycle and you're more likely to take small victories re weight loss as motivators for other aspects of your life. Work-related stress can be very well countered with exercise. If you hit a plateau, there will always be something else that you can take pride in. I never see weight and/or fitness as isolated from the rest of my life. That's what I understand as a holistic approach.
^^THIS! Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good... get started now. From a holistic perspective, I've seen any number of comments on these boards indicating that the good habits learned in the weight loss arena have spilled over and helped to make improvements in other facets of life (I would be one of them). So take the holistic approach, but START with weight-loss - you'll be amazed at how much better the rest of your life can be.
Good luck!0 -
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That's funny. I don't have a higher power to help me control anything, and yet I still have the same amount (or more) control as most other people.
Bizarre.
Perhaps *I* am the higher power!
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Actually, it can work pretty well the other way around. Rather than waiting until you have everything else lined up, you can use the skills from weight loss to help you line up everything else. Exercise can help with stress AND weight loss, for example. If you pray or meditate everyday, there is no reason you can't exercise every day. The discipline of calorie counting is similar to the discipline of financial budgeting and you can use software like mint.com in similar way as MFP.0
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concordancia wrote: »Actually, it can work pretty well the other way around. Rather than waiting until you have everything else lined up, you can use the skills from weight loss to help you line up everything else. Exercise can help with stress AND weight loss, for example. If you pray or meditate everyday, there is no reason you can't exercise every day. The discipline of calorie counting is similar to the discipline of financial budgeting and you can use software like mint.com in similar way as MFP.
This.
All jokes aside, I can understand taking a little time to prepare, both mentally and physically by figuring out some menus, food shopping, finding a gym or home program, etc. But please don't fall into the trap where you basically spend a lot of time preparing and never quite get to the doing part.
Many overweight people get into this hole where they feel they must put their lives on hold, such as dating or going on vacation, until after they've lost the weight. They feel as if getting to some magic number on the scale is going to open some magic door to happiness. It just doesn't work that way.
So sure, prepare, take a holistic approach, but don't let preparation become a crutch which you use as an excuse to never really start, because you're not quite *prepared* enough.
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I would say I have taken a holistic approach, but still losing weight while I tackle the other issues in my life. It is shocking all the changes that can be made along side losing weight. For example, when I first started - I noticed my anxiety and being a lone was a trigger for eating. So, I had to deal with that. Then, I noticed my job produced stress, anxiety and drained me - so I had to deal with that. I am currently starting to see a doctor about physical issues, setting goals to deal with my financial situation and switch fields completely.
I think if you are being completely honest with yourself, in order to lose weight it has to be holistic if you want it to be a permanent change. Like addiction, excess weight is just a symptom of underlying issues.0 -
One of my main rules when it comes to motivation, is to take what works and simply run with it. If this is the thing that works for you, go for it. Just don't use it as a way to put things off 1
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