When you lose weight, where does it go?

Have you ever stepped on a scale and thought, "woah, I lost three pounds" only to then wonder "where'd the weight go?" Many people, when asked that question, say things like "it gets used as energy" or "it evaporates". While both of these answers are partially correct, they still don't explain what happens on a physiological level.

The mystery of weight loss often causes people to try different diets. For example, the keto zealots will tell you that weight loss happens when you're able to get your insulin under control and reverse insulin resistance. Vegetarians will tell you that weight loss happens when you cut out meats because they clog your arteries and lower your testosterone. Carnivores ironically say the opposite- eating only meat is what boosts your testosterone. Everyone has a reason for why their unique method works. Truth is, most diets do work in terms of eliciting weight loss. That's why they're called diets. The problem is that most diets do not teach you how to maintain that weight loss for a lifetime. Usually to maintain your goal weight you must "stay on the diet".

Today I want to dive into two topics.

1. The physiology/mathematics of weight loss

2. How to make decisions around weight loss

I am not going to explain the mathematics of weight loss because someone else has explained it better. To watch the explanation please click this link. You'll want to watch the video before reading on.

If you watched the video you now understand that weight loss happens through a calorie deficit. There has to be less calories going in than what is going out. In other words you have to eat less and or move more. The truth is that this concept of eat less, move more isn't helpful to most people. The struggle of weight loss revolves around the question of "how do I go about eating less and how do I go about moving more?" This is why diets are so popular because everyone seems to have the solution to those questions. What if you don't like keto because it's too restrictive? What if you don't like the idea of being vegetarian because you're concerned you won't eat enough protein? What if you don't want to eat a carnivore diet because you're concerned about constipation? What if you've tried everything and you're still not where you'd like to be- what then?

Before starting a diet or a journey toward weight loss you must assess why you're doing what you're doing. This "why" will help guide all your other decisions. All of the small choices that eventually lead to the end result. It's also key to know that your "why" is not the end result. If your end goal is to weigh twenty pounds less than you currently do, it doesn't explain why you want to lose twenty pounds. Your reason as to why you want to lose twenty pounds may sound something like "I want to lose twenty pounds so that I can live a long life enjoying my kids and my grandkids." In this case the reason you want to lose twenty pounds is to have a long life so you can enjoy time with your kids and grandkids. Let's dive a little deeper though. Why do you want to enjoy time with your kids and grandkids? Perhaps you have a deep sense of longing that is tied to family. Why do you have that deep sense of longing that is tied to family? You might say "I believe that God designed family in such a way that they should be enjoyed and loved for as long as one can." That is your why. You want to lose twenty pounds because you believe God designed family to be enjoyed for as long as possible and you believe that losing weight will increase the amount of time with them.

Now that you know your reason why, lets build some goals as to how you want to achieve your goal of losing twenty pounds. Let's say you really enjoy being part of family get togethers where there are loads of carbohydrate based meals and often times a carb rich dessert. It would be silly of me, as your coach, to recommend a low carb diet. You wouldn't want your dietary approach to be something that deters you from your reason for losing the weight in the first place. Perhaps we can create a goal based on movement to start with rather than just nutrition. Staying active is important to you because you want to be able to keep up with your grandchildren. Knowing this, we can create some realistic goals based on your preferences. If you enjoy swimming in the summer, we could make a goal of swimming thirty minutes a day for four days a week. We could create a goal of walking for twenty minutes five days a week each morning. We could create a goal of going on bike rides in the evening with your husband for thirty minutes. There are lots of options- you don't have to be tied down to one thing.

If you notice a trend in my writing, it's that there is not one specific way you must approach weight loss. There are many different avenues to the same end result. It's just a matter of finding what would work best for you based on your lifestyle, preferences and environment. Stop falling for gurus who tell you that you need to "avoid these 5 foods to lose weight" or "eat these 3 superfoods to boost your metabolism". Truth is you can lose weight eating Twinkies, donuts, candy, fruit, pasta, ice cream and whatever else you want. There is no such thing as a bad food, just a bad diet. It's what you do the majority of the time consistently, that will determine your outcome.

I hope this gives you some relief on the topic of choosing better options for your weight loss and unique goals. If this blog post helped you in some way feel free to leave a comment below or get in contact with me here. I'd love to hear from you!