Why Am I Overweight

  • never ask “why am I overweight and still hungry?” again
  • why people who count calories STRUGGLE to lose weight
  • speed up your metabolism NATURALLY & unlock your HAPPY weight

Why am I overweight and STILL hungry?!

I asked myself: Why am I overweight but feel starving… for 10 looong years.

10 years of:
Feeling uncomfortable in my BIGGER body
& having hunger pains that made it hard to concentrate on anything else.

FINALLY I figured out it’s EASY to lose weight and feel satisfied.

And the solution’s so SIMPLE, it will surprise you!

Here’s a hint:

It has to do with bread, beans, cheese & an apple

Why Am I Overweight
…stay with me!

You CAN lose weight and feel full

Have you ever looked in the mirror and whispered:

Why Am I Overweight - I'll NEVER lose weight

Because:

You’ve eaten a lot but you’re STILL hungry…
OR
You don’t know how you could POSSIBLY eat less.

Guess what?

Whether you’re eating a little or a lot, the solution is THE SAME.

Let’s cut through the clutter…

Here’s how to lose weight, WITHOUT feeling hungry.

It all comes down to RESPECTING your body.

 If you want to lose weight and feel satisfied you MUST respect your body's needs

How do you know if you’re hungry?

When do you go to the washroom?

How can you tell you’re tired?

What makes you scratch your arm?

…our BODIES send us signals to do these things!

Our bodies know what we NEED.

So when we feel hungry it’s because… (drum roll)… we’ve NOT met our body’s needs.

How can I be overweight and NOT meet my body’s needs?

Whether you eat a huge bag of chips OR carefully count the calories in rice cakes…

The bottom line is:

You’ll stay hungry
until you give your body
the ENERGY and NUTRIENTS it needs to function properly.

No matter how much or how little you eat, if you don’t eat a VARIETY of food that has a VARIETY of nutrients, you’ll stay hungry.

Nutrients are compounds in foods, essential to life and health, providing us with energy, the building blocks for repair and growth and substances necessary to regulate chemical processes. There are six major nutrients: Carbohydrates, Lipids (fats), Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals, Water.— The Department of Health, Australia

In other words, you can consume a ton of calories—or the recommended amount, but if those calories aren’t from different food groups (that provide different nutrients) you won’t feel satisfied for long.

…No matter how many chips or rice cakes you eat, you won’t get the ESSENTIAL vitamins and minerals that meet your body’s nutrient needs.

Stop Counting Calories!!

People who try to lose weight by counting calories struggle because calories don’t measure nutrients! Calories don’t take into account which vitamins and minerals you’ve consumed. Calories only measure energy.

Counting calories does NOT track nutrients!

Why do we NEED to eat a VARIETY of nutrients?

Think about your beautiful body.

It’s made up of millions of parts. Including, incredibly complex organs such as your:

Heart
Lungs
Liver
Bladder
Brain
Pancreas
Intestine
Kidney
Eyeballs
Skin
Stomach
Spleen
Uterus
Teeth
Gallbladder

Why Am I Overweight - Sticker Set

Along with veins, blood, muscles and bones… and every other bit that makes up your body!

Each of these living parts need energy and SPECIFIC nutrients to do their important jobs.

The best way to get nutrients is from a natural source

For instance, think of a carrot.

Carrots contain many nutrients including:

zeaxanthin
lutein
gamma-carotene
Vitamin A, B, C & K
minerals
& fiber

10 AMAZING things that the nutrients in carrots do for your body:

  1. Boosts immunity
  2. Helps maintain a healthy cholesterol & blood sugar level
  3. Cleanses the liver
  4. Keeps skin healthy
  5. Strengthens bones
  6. Increases metabolism
  7. Maintains Oral health
  8. Prevents cancer
  9. Promotes heart health
  10. Protects eye health

You can eat chips or rice cakes ALL. DAY. LONG. But these foods have barely any of the ESSENTIAL nutrients that perform 100’s of VITAL roles in your body—like nourish your skin, bones and beating heart. So you’ll feel hungry until you eat the essential nutrients your body requires.

Capiche?

When I was trying to lose weight I did not capiche (!)

I got SO wrapped up in following diet rules, tips and tricks, that I forgot the reason we eat is to NOURISH our bodies.

All the diet restrictions I’d read over the years gave me tunnel vision and I only thought about CALORIES.

I COMPLETELY forgot about the stuff we learned as kids, like to eat balanced meals!

One weekend in university I planned to stay in my room with 3 bags of rice cakes and a case of diet pop. My goal was to eat nothing else so I could go to class on Monday and not feel so fat… I’ll save you the suspense. My weekend weight-loss plan didn’t work. Instead, trying to starve myself led to overeating and further ingraining bad habits.

Which eating pattern sounds most like you?

Eating Pattern #1: 

You eat lots of food that’s high in energy (lots of calories) but low in nutrients. It’s heavily processed and packaged… like chips, chocolate, candy, fast food, etc. This food is called Empty Calorie Food because you can eat a lot but still feel hungry. So you become OVERFED and UNDERNOURISHED.

Please Note:
Processed foods are also full of additives like sugar and salt that are highly addictive. Additives are addictive. And they CONFUSE your body which ALSO makes you want to eat more… You CANNOT win with food made in factories.

Eating Pattern #2:

You don’t eat enough energy OR nutrients. So your body goes into survival mode. In this state your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and it’s hard to lose weight and easy to gain it. And worse, starving yourself usually leads to bingeing (and often purging). All these choices CONFUSE your body and primes it for MORE weight gain.

Both of these eating patterns set you up to FAIL. And make you wonder: Why am I overweight and still hungry?

…Sadly I LIVED Eating Pattern #2 for 10 years before having some understanding of what was going on and finally breaking the pattern.

Another reason why you need to feel FULL

Feeling satiated is important for a healthy BODY and MIND.

When your body’s sending hunger signals to remind you to eat, it’s difficult to be fully present with your friends, teachers, colleagues, children, parents, animals… and yourself.

Who are you?
What do you care about?
Are there boundaries you need to set with certain people?
What music do you love?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

These are the kinds of questions you should be considering, while taking in the world around you and really listening to the people you love… rather than being preoccupied by hunger pains.

It’s vital you eat enough of the right kinds of food

Then you’ll never ask:

Why am I overweight and still hungry?

Instead you’ll be lookin’ and feelin’ FINE. Full of energy and a love for life!

Here’s how I made the change so it lasts…

How do I get enough energy and nutrients to lose weight and STOP feeling hungry?

The experts will tell you to look at food labels. And figure out the % Daily Value.

“Do the math!” They’ll say.

And I guess they want you to also keep track of the calories you eat? And keep those ENERGY and NUTRIENT tallies running all day, every day?

Why complicate something that is really quite simple?— Mary Poppins, a magical nannyBut what if we’re eating dinner at someone else’s house, or at a work BBQ or on a date… and don’t have access to food labels?

And what if we don’t want to spend any of the precious time we have on this planet logging everything we eat?

For the last 25+ years I’ve been a healthy weight by taking a much, MUCH easier approach.

The simple solution to: “Why am I overweight and STILL hungry?”

You can eat enough of the right kinds of food SIMPLY by:

Eating ROUGHLY balanced meals made MOSTLY of whole foods.

…Like beans on toast with melted cheese and an apple on the side.

And I stress roughly and mostly because the OCD-perfectionist in me took waaay too long to relax and stop worrying about eating the EXACT amount.

There’s no such thing as exact or perfect when it comes to eating!

Eating balanced meals makes it easy to lose weight and feel satisfied

When you focus on “roughly” and “mostly” you’ll experience a huge and exciting change in your body and mind.

This is when I call upon a recurring guest who makes regular cameo appearances on my blog…

The Eatwell Guide!

Simply put fresh food on your plate in proportions similar to the Eatwell Guide for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you’ll get enough energy and nutrients to meet your body’s needs. And thus, lose weight and feel satisfied!

Eatwell Guide - the10principles

Seriously, whoever designed the Eatwell Guide is a bloody genius.

What about snacking?

How do I make snacking easy?

If you’re hungry between meals? Eat a ROUGHLY balanced snack made MOSTLY of whole foods.

Losing weight and feeling full really is that easy. And when a healthy-eating routine is that SIMPLE, it’s effortless to continue long term.

April 28th, 2019 was my 20 year anniversary since I recovered from bulimia, lost weight and got on with my life. Here’s a link to my story.

TROUBLESHOOTING: Why am I overweight and still hungry

My eating was so disordered for so long. But when I tried the healthy method of eating outlined in this blog post, my life got better quickly. I reached a healthy weight, had WAY more energy and could concentrate on life.

I hope you’ll save yourself PRECIOUS time by respecting your body’s needs.

If eating 3 ROUGHLY balanced meals made MOSTLY of whole foods feels overwhelming, check out this article I wrote about Structured Eating. And ask someone you love to read it too. It’s more fun and effective to work toward goals with someone you trust.

Make Today Count

make today count - the10principlesEach day you make a healthy choice, no matter how small, the same choice is much EASIER to make the next day.

Don’t start tomorrow.

Your next meal is an opportunity to respect your body by giving it the energy and nutrients it needs to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight… WITHOUT feeling hungry.

Make today count!

Build healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.

Why Am I Overweight - Summary

Next Steps

Is breakfast, lunch or dinner your next meal? What fresh food can you add to what you normally eat? Focus on making one small change that’s doable and build on it. Want to see what everything I’ve shared in this post looks like “in action”? Sign up (below) and you’ll INSTANTLY get my ONE DAY Meal Plan that’s an example of what I eat every day that helped me lose 30 pounds for good 25 years ago. xo

Get rid of your diet RULES!

In the comments (below) I’d love to know:
a) Do you read FOOD LABELS and keep a running tally of the nutrients you’ve consumed?
b) Has this post changed your thoughts on trying to lose weight via “calories in, calories out”?

Do you know anyone who asks themselves: Why am I overweight and still hungry? Please share this post.

 

 

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Sharing what I learned makes the 10 years I STRUGGLED worth it

This EASY method helps you reach a healthy weight naturally so you can STOP asking yourself: Why am I overweight and still hungry?