Over my years of working in private practice these are some of the most common issues I’ve seen as far as halting their progress right off the bat when they’ve hired me to help them lose weight.
So if some of these pertain to you, don’t worry – these are common and you’re not alone!
Many of these are simple and basic but people underestimate how powerful the little things are and stronger their foundation would be, or how much more solid their launch pad would be if they got these 3 things down first. Then once these are down, hire a dietitian to reach and maintain weight loss!
#1 – If You Don’t Eat Veggies or Drink Water
When I meet with new clients, we layout out goals and part of the plan is for me to help them with a meal plan. I cannot tell you how many times people either name every vegetable on their dislike list or they tell me they don’t like vegetables. Why are you consulting with a dietitian if you don’t like vegetables? You will not find a single sound therapeutic diet out there that does not contain vegetables. You’re wasting your money if you hire a dietitian and you’re not ready to incorporate them into your life or you’re going to refuse to eat your greens.
Also, do not underestimate the power of adequate hydration. Many studies support drinking water increases resting energy expenditure up to 24-30% and helps control hunger and fullness hormones. You’re not alone, most people don’t drink enough water. Before hiring a dietitian to help with weight-loss make sure you’re drinking at least 64 oz of water per day or, even better, half of your body weight in ounces of water per day. To get the most bang for your buck when hiring a dietitian, make sure you have the basics down. Make amends with vegetables, and be in the habit of drinking plenty of water.
#2 – If You’re Not Ready to Make Lasting Changes
Don’t come at with a list of reasons why you can’t cook or don’t have time to workout or if you want to be put on a fad diet.
If you want big changes, you’re going to have to make big changes. It’s uncomfortable and it can get messy. Just like spring-cleaning your house – it gets messy before it gets clean. You dig & pull out all the junk that’s been stuffed away for who knows how long, and then you have to figure out what to do with it. The same thing goes when working on cleaning up your diet. Those bad habits, beliefs revolved around food, hang-ups, comforts, aversions all need to pulled out and sorted through. What’s healthy, what’s not? What gets me closer to my goal and what doesn’t?
It’s hard work, it’s challenging but if you put in the work you will reach your goal. It will get easier. If you’re willing to change multiple aspects of your life for the long haul, a dietitian can help you make small changes that make a huge difference in the long run.
#3 – Only When You’re Feeling Strong About Making New Changes
This is a big one! More times than not people will call upon a dietitian when they’re ready to make new changes. Which, don’t get me wrong, is great! But you can go really far on your own when your mind is set to succeed. But you really need to call upon the dietitian when you’re feeling weak. When you start to slip up. When you start to let things in your diet that you haven’t been. When you start slacking. When you’ve missed 2 workouts or more. When things aren’t going well, when you’re struggling – that’s exactly when you need a dietitian. Dietitians are trained to help you figure out what’s holding you back, how to overcome bad habits, how to get conquer stress eating or mindless eating, how to keep you from gaining the weight back that you’ve worked so hard to lose. Of course this is the hardest time to reach out to the RD. No one wants to point out that they’re struggling, that things are going down hill; they don’t want to look like they’ve failed. Wake up people! We’re human! Show me a time where humans have set out to reach a goal, took that first step, persevered through the journey without a single mishap, a single fall, a single set-back! You won’t find one. The strongest and the most successful people are the ones who get help in the areas where they’re weak.
Right now it’s the beginning of a new year and if you’re looking to lose weight and keep it off I highly recommend hire a dietitian to help! Just make sure you have these three things down first and I would bet that this is your best and healthiest year yet!
References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/drinking-water-helps-with-weight-loss#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14671205/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17519319/
