10 minute read
Intelligent Weight Loss
How To Combat The ‘Quarantine 15’
Lockdown weight gain has affected almost half of us. Here, Harley Street nutritionist and leading weight loss expert Kim Pearson, shares how to tackle it intelligently.
A recent study found that 47% of us have put on weight since lockdown began in March, with 16% gaining five pounds or more in the first six weeks. Researchers spoke to 2,000 adults and identified the top reasons for weight gain during lockdown which included increased comfort eating, a reduction in exercise, drinking more alcohol and a lack of routine.
Many people are finding that lockdown is having an impact on their weight and this has certainly been reflected in the number of enquiries we have received at the clinic lately. Albeit a virtual clinic at present! Our clients are typically intelligent men and women who have a good understanding of the difference between ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ foods, but nevertheless, have still found managing their weight a challenge.
Of course, eating the right diet is key, but a more comprehensive approach is often needed to ensure weight loss is successful and maintained in the long-term. From my 15 years working with clients to help them lose weight, I have identified five key pillars that are integral to successful weight loss. These form the foundation of my Intelligent Weight Loss Method. So what are they, and how can you implement them in order to manage your weight successfully? Here are the five steps to success.
Smart Diet If you feel you could do with overhauling your diet, a good place to start is by keeping a food diary for at least one week. This will help to develop your awareness of your eating habits and review where you could make improvements.
As a general rule, we teach our clients to structure meals around a source of protein (fish, seafood, eggs, tofu, organic meat and poultry), plenty of vegetables and salad (aim to fill half of your plate with them), and moderate amounts of healthy fats (such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, nuts and seeds). Whether for health reasons or fat loss reasons, it’s generally a good idea to avoid regularly eating refined carbohydrates, sugars and highly processed foods.
Eating mindfully, chewing food thoroughly and noticing when you’re starting to feel full will help you to naturally manage your portions. I believe that a smart diet can allow for well-planned treats. Rather than turning to highly processed snack foods as a reaction to boredom or stress, make a plan to have a treat you’ll really enjoy once or twice a week. Planning is really key here, so decide when you will be enjoying treat foods and you can look forward to it.
Eating mindfully, chewing food thoroughly and noticing when you’re starting to feel full will help you to naturally manage your portions. I believe that a smart diet can allow for well-planned treats
Lifestyle Refinement Sleep, exercise and stress can significantly influence our weight so it’s important to not overlook them when it comes to weight loss.
Working on improving your sleep is well worth the effort. When we are tired we produce more of the hunger hormone ghrelin, and less of the satiety hormone leptin, so we feel hungrier and less satisfied by what we do eat when we are tired. Start out by aiming to get to bed at the same time each night, setting an alarm to remind you when it’s time to turn off Netflix if you need to! Aim to eat your last meal three hours before bedtime, avoid caffeine in the afternoon and switch off your phone/computer/tablet at least an hour before bedtime.
Stress can be a trigger for non-hunger eating and increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been linked to fat storage around the middle.
If stress is an issue for you, work on strategies for addressing it. Identifying route causes is an important step in developing your awareness of what triggers stress for you. Building in daily activities known to reduce stress – such as meditation and walks in nature – can have noticeable effects on your stress levels and your weight.
Self-care is a term we hear a lot and it’s an important consideration when it comes to weight loss. When we don’t make time for ourselves we can quickly become depleted and reach for foods to ‘top up the tank’. Selfcare is all about what feels right for you, whether it’s spending half an hour reading before bed, taking a bath, doing a creative course or working on self-development. Scheduling at least 20 minutes of self-care into your daily life is more important than ever right now.
We all know that exercise is good for our health and supports weight loss. It also positively impacts our state of mind and mental health, so it’s worth finding ways to work some activity into your daily routine. The key to staying consistent with exercise is finding an activity you enjoy. If burpees and push ups aren’t for you, there are plenty of alternatives. Exercising outdoors provides additional benefits – exposure to sunlight enables us to produce vitamin D and helps to regulate our circadian rhythms – so try going for a cycle, a run or a brisk walk. Alternatively, download a workout app or follow a personal trainer’s Instagram workout so you have a workout to follow. Buddying up with a friend or family member, even if remotely, will help to keep you accountable to your goals.
Birthdays, vacations, the holidays - these events don’t have to be ‘all or nothing’. Having a plan before heading into the situation ensures we can enjoy good times without it triggering a downward spiral health or weight-wise.
Health Optimisation It is always my goal that my team and I not only support our clients in achieving their happy weight, we also optimise their
health and wellness at the same time. True transformation goes beyond a lower number on the scale, or a smaller person looking back at you in the mirror. It means feeling well, full of energy and with a positive outlook on life.
We work with many clients who come to us feeling like they have tried everything to lose weight but nothing has been successful longterm. For these clients it can sometimes be the case that they have underlying health issues, such as underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), that have gone undiagnosed and are preventing effective weight loss. Restrictive diets may work in the short-term, but they rarely works in the long-term if underlying health issues aren’t resolved.
As a nutritionist, I am always keen to ensure that nutritional status is optimised and any deficiencies are identified and corrected. Low vitamin D and iron are common, and they can leave us feeling tired and not ourselves.
So what can you do today to start optimising your health today? Circling back to our first pillar, cutting out ultra processed foods is known to reduce disease risk and support healthy ageing. It is a vital first step that you can take to start optimising your health today – reduce the processed food in your diet and base your diet around whole foods.
While it would be nice to think that we can get all of the nutrients we need from food alone, sadly in today’s world that’s often not possible. Intelligent supplementation can be important in optimising nutrient status. While nutritional requirements vary from one individual to the next, and can change at different stages in life, many of us could benefit from supplementing vitamin D, omega 3 and magnesium. Women who are menstruating may also need to consider taking iron, and those on a vegan diet should consider a vitamin B12 supplement.
I have developed an Intelligent Weight Loss blood tests that provides a comprehensive insight into factors that affect our weight. It can be carried out at home and it looks at thyroid function, liver health, cholesterol, blood sugar (diabetes) as well as nutrient levels. If you feel like an underlying health issue might be stalling your weight loss progress, it’s worth considering.
Mindset Mastery ‘As within, so without’. Our bodies and minds are connected in countless ways and our outside world is a reflection of our inner world. Mindset can be defined as ‘thoughts and beliefs that shape habits. And your thought habits affect how you think, what you feel, and what you do’.
I believe that it is important to approach weight loss from a perspective of wanting to care for your body and be your best self, rather than deprive your body because you feel negatively about it.
A journal can be a valuable tool in helping you to develop your self-awareness. Start by taking a few minutes daily to write in your journal. If you’re new to it, try buying a wellness journal online that prompts you with different questions to reflect on.
Meditation is a powerful practice that not only works to reduce stress, is can also help us foster mindfulness. As well as working on this at a conscious level, the subconscious can be positively influenced to support us reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. Working with NLP specialists, I have developed a weight loss meditation, using the power of suggestion to reprogramme beliefs and behaviours on a deeper level. It’s a more recent addition to the Intelligent Weight Loss Method but it’s proving extremely powerful.
Meditation is a powerful practice that not only works to reduce stress, is can also help us foster mindfulness. As well as working on this at a conscious level, the subconscious can be positively influenced to support us reaching and maintaining a healthy weight
Supportive Accountabiltiy Weight loss is a journey. There can be challenges on that journey and having an individual or network to support you hugely increases your chance of success. The American Society of Training and Development carried out a study on accountability and found that we have a 65% of completing a goal if we commit to someone. Furthermore, if we have a specific accountability appointment with someone we’re accountable to, we increase our chances of success by up to 95%.
If you’re not working with a practitioner, you can create accountability in other ways. You might choose to recruit a friend or family member who you know understands your situation and supports you achieving your goals. Share with them your plans, and set up a ‘check in’ routine with them in the form of a weekly call or daily text update.
If you don’t feel comfortable working with someone you know personally, there are many online support groups, so find one that you feel is full of likeminded individuals who share your goals.
Many of us have struggled with yoyo diets and years of losing weight, only to regain it over time
Long-Term Success Many of us have struggled with yoyo diets and years of losing weight, only to regain it over time. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is reaching our goal weight and thinking the job is done. It’s important to plan for weight maintainance, approaching it with the care and attention we would when we embark on a new weight loss plan.
It’s a good idea to agree an ‘upper maximum’ weight with yourself and weigh yourself weekly to ensure you’re staying on track. If your weight begins to creep up beyond that number, you know it’s time to take action.
We don’t get our teeth fixed once and then never go back to your dentist again. Regular reviews are important to make sure everything is staying on track, and it’s the same for weight loss.
Taking into consideration the five pillars of Intelligent Weight Loss will stand you in good stead to successfully lose weight and maintain a weight you’re happy at long-term. If you feel like you would benefit from one to one support and a strategy tailored to your individual needs, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
