Pelvic Health & Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Addressing your questions about pelvic, women's, and musculoskeletal health. Health is a journey. Movement is healing!
Weight loss is difficult. I know it seems like everyone says that, but what do they actually know? Weight is something I really struggle with personally. Yeah, the angle is a little off and black is a more flattering color, but in the past 2 years I have lost and kept off 30 lbs. It wasn't easy, I am not going to sit here and tell you losing weight is easy-peasy. That's a bold faced lie and you are far too intelligent to fall for that. Losing weight is difficult, keeping weight off sometimes feels impossible. But your body is an incredible and intricate creation. You deserve to look and feel your best!
Food, meals, eating with other people is so quintessential in our culture. It's a necessity and social staple. The act of eating has psychological and emotional components. We eat when we're happy, celebrating with a dessert or some type of alcohol (...margs). We eat when we're sad, drowning our sorrows in a pint of ice cream or a bottle of wine. We eat when we're stressed, devouring potato chips. We eat when we're bored, just mindlessly finishing half a bag of goldfish. (If you can't tell I am a bit inclined to sweets and salty snacks.) The point is when you feel something, there is some type of food you may crave. In order to lose weight it is necessary to change the way you think about food and live your life. Instead of letting your feelings dictate your diet or rewarding yourself with junk food (we all do it--go to the gym, reward yourself with 4 oreos) try thinking of food as energy. Would you fill your car up with gas that doesn't let you travel as far? No! So why are you doing that to your body? Eat what you need. I'm not advocating going calorie crazy weighing every ounce of food you ingest. Be more aware of what types of food you are putting into your body. You only get one body, do you really want to fill it constantly with garbage processed foods? Keep a food log of what you ate during the day and how you felt. After a week, I bet you will notice a difference in the way you feel and your ability to focus when you fuel yourself with healthy, nutritious options. It could be beneficial to use an app like MyFitnessPal to log your food and kick start your weight loss. Use the calorie counter until you get a better grasp on how you should be eating everyday to lose and then maintain your weight. When you go to the grocery store stick to your healthy list with items on the perimeter of the store, avoid going down the isles filled with processed-sugary goodness. Beyond what you eat, losing weight requires other lifestyle modifications. It's easy to become sedentary, but in order to shed the weight you need to get your body movin' and groovin'. Just going to the gym can get so monotonous. Try out a few different types of exercise classes (do not worry about looking silly, everyone had to start somewhere). Join a running group or get a friend to go hiking. The possibilities are endless, but it is so much easier when you have someone to exercise with, support you, and hold you accountable when you don't feel like exercising. Making these big changes can be really difficult. You may not be ready quite yet and that is okay too. The reward is worth the challenge. You are doing this for yourself, but also for your friends and loved ones. Committing to a healthier you will not only add years to your life, but life to your years. |
AuthorHello! I am Caitlyn, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Board Certified Women's Health Physical Therapist working in St Louis, Missouri. Faculty in developing residency program. Endowarrior Categories
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July 2021
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