For a lot of people, the answer to weight loss might seem simple enough. So long as you burn more calories than you eat, all you need is the willpower to keep it up, right? While that might be true on the surface, the reality is more nuanced and, sometimes, even despite their best efforts, people fail. Or they may not be able to give their best efforts in the first place. Here, we’re going to look at how factors beyond your own willpower can influence your weight loss journey, and how you can address them.
Hormones Play A Bigger Role Than Many Realize
Our hormones can play a huge role in regulating our hunger, our feelings of fullness, and energy use. What’s more, they can affect issues of motivation and willpower to begin with. If you’re low in testosterone, as much as you might want to change your health, it can be hard to find the motivation to do that. As such, talking to your doctor about hormone replacement therapy might help if you have had trouble mustering your efforts before.
The Weight Of Inertia
For some people, a lot of added weight isn’t just more fuel to burn; it’s a much bigger hill to climb. It can feel legitimately insurmountable. Sometimes, that’s physically true, as well, as some people may have difficulty exercising with the added pressure that weight can put on. Medical support, like telehealth weight loss programmes, can help them level the playing field. Modern treatments are highly effective at helping people lose weight safely and quickly. These efforts do need to be sustained by diet and exercise afterward, but for some people, that initial help can be precisely what they need to be able to stick to those habits.
Addressing The Knowledge Gap
While “eating less” or “eating healthier” might sound simple to some, the truth is that the dietary environments and habits we grew up with can shape our relationship with food much more than you might realize. Many do not have a real understanding of which food choices can improve their macronutrients, helping them meet their fiber and protein needs while still cutting weight, for instance. Meal delivery services and meal planning apps can help with this greatly, addressing the food education many need to sustain long-term healthy eating habits.
Healthy Lifestyles Are Systemic, Not Mood-Based
While motivation and willpower can help you be more consistent in your diet and workout habits, weight loss is sustained through routines and support structures that reduce reliance on your own self-control. Moods are variable, but tools like healthy meal planning, nutrition tracking, and medical guidance are not, which can help them support more consistent efforts. Moving away from the narrative that it’s all down to willpower also frees us from the shackles of guilt that can make us more hesitant to try in the first place.
Simplifying weight loss journeys to questions about willpower ignores a lot of influences that can make some people’s efforts much harder. It’s simply not helpful unless we look at the issues that go deeper.
Want to unlock greater wellness?
Listen to our friends over at the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast to unlock your best self with Dr. John Lieurance; Founder of MitoZen; creators of the ZEN Spray and Lumetol Blue™ Bars with Methylene Blue.
You Do Not Stop Being You Just Because You Need Help
