Plus Secrets On How You Prevent Weight Regain
Photo 264890713 | Rebel Wilson © Wirestock | Dreamstime.com
Back in May of 2022, I wrote an article about Rebel Wilson’s impressive 80lb weight loss in a year as she embarked on her year of health. It’s one of my most popular articles and people seemed to like and feel inspired by her weight loss success.
Now some two later it seems that she has gained ½ of that weight back. In a candid and open post on her Instagram page, she stated:
“Working really hard has meant that, coz of all the stress, I’ve gained 14kg’s (30 pounds)! It makes me feel bad about myself…it shouldn’t…but it does. I’m really proud of the work I’ve been doing on new movies and my memoir, it’s just been a LOT and I’ve lost focus on my healthy lifestyle. Anyone else going through the same thing?”
I do not doubt that there are thousands of people going through the same thing!
Life is full of up’s and downs and sometimes other priorities just take over. Rebel and her fiancee have just had a baby via surrogacy and so it’s very common to let health habit slips as the demands of life take over.
It’s often said that losing weight is the easy part, it’s keeping it off that is the hardest.
And the science would back up this claim.
Studies show that one to two-thirds of people who go on a calorie-restricted diet will gain the weight back and often add on more. A meta-analysis noted that “little support for the notion that diets lead to lasting weight loss or health benefit”
I know that may seem a little disheartening.
What’s the point in going through all of that effort if you are just going to end up back where you started?
Rather than feeling disheartened, the better question to ask is … what can you do to try to ensure that you are within the 30% of people who do manage to lose weight and keep it off for the long haul?
Though the odds may look like they are stacked against you, it is still possible!!
Why Do People Regain Weight?
1. Using unsustainable weight loss methods
Choosing to cut out entire food groups, think Keto, carnivore even vegan or using tools such as fasting. Sure the weight may come of fast initially. But unless you can commit to eating that way for the rest of your life, it’s probably going to come back on and more. Sever restriction rarely ever works in the long term.
2. Down-regulated metabolism
Your body is an incredible machine and its sole purpose is to keep you alive. If you diet down and condition your body to lose weight through a dramatic calorie deficit. Over time your body will down-regulate your metabolism to be able to sustain living at that lower calorie amount. Your body is now primed to survive on lower amount of calories whilst sustaining body mass. If you cannot keep up this restricted eating and start eating more you will gain weight more easily due to a downregulated metabolism.
3. Hormones
A reduction in body fat leads to a reduction in Leptin and an increase in Ghrelin. Ghrelin (think hunger gremlins) means you feel hungrier. And the double whammy is the reduction in Leptin (the i’m full hormone) meaning you feel hungry all the time because your body wants you to survive and to fill up on life-savouring food.
What You Can Do To Prevent Weight Regain
So if you are currently still on your weight loss journey or want to know how you can keep it off for good, be sure to follow these key steps.
Readjust Your Why As You Go
We all go through different seasons of life. Sometimes health and fitness may be a high priority and then the stress of life takes over and it can get pushed to the back of the list.
Notably referring to Rebel’s situation, on her initial weight loss journey she talked openly about wanting to improve fertility. She was going through a period of freezing eggs and wanted the best quality eggs possible. Improving her own health was an important part of that process. The why behind her working on health and fitness was more than just the way her body looked.
She has since gone on to got engaged and now has a young child. One of her key drivers of wanting to have a family has now been achieved and so leading health and fitness to be less of a priority becuase she isn’t relying on it for fertility.
But if we can be mindful of adjusting the reasons why as we go, then it’s possible to find the internal drivers that will keep you on the path of working on health and fitness for the long haul.
For example, now wanting to be around for as long as possible to see that child grow up can also be a powerful driver for good health.
Diet And Exercise For Life Mindset
When you are working on losing weight it should always be approached with a ‘can I keep doing this for the rest of my life’ approach. Because if you want to keep the weight off, you have to consider that you have to keep on doing what you are doing forever, not just whilst you are on a health kick.
Don’t go on a diet, instead choose to change your lifestyle!
Maintaining Metabolism
Whilst exercise isn’t the main driver in weight loss, it does become the key factor in maintenance. Exercise helps build lean muscle mass and increases the metabolic rate to use more energy in maintaining it.
Work on building and maintaining lean muscle mass and again keep on doing that as a regular part of your weekly routine.
Strength train 2-3 times a week. Move daily, the more you move the more higher your metabolic requirements.
Find something that you enjoy and can keep up with. Make it social, make it fun.
Enjoyment In Healthy Foods
Focus on finding healthy foods you enjoy, and avoid over-restriction.
You are never going to keep it up if you hate the diet you are eating.
Aim to eat healthy whole foods that are rich in protein and low glycemic index. This has been shown to be far more effective in weight maintenance than a low-fat diet when it comes to managing hunger and insulin levels.
The goal is to find foods that you enjoy, that will help you feel full and satisfied, that will also support your new healthy lifestyle. Explore new recipes, try new foods and keep discovering the recipes and meals that you enjoy.
To help find more healthy meal ideas you can check out the Better Body cookbooks HERE to help with 100’s of healthy eating recipes to give you some food inspiration.
Stress management
One of the biggest killers in all-cause mortality can be linked back to stress. Its also highly correlated with weight gain too and as Rebel says in her post, it’s one of the key contributors to her own weight regain.
Noticing and managing stress patterns will be your greatest support when it comes to maintaining weight loss.
Implement good sleep, breathwork or meditation, find your own stress busting activities. Wether that is going for a walk, taking a time out, or sitting to read a book. Managing stress with other things other than food or drink is key.
Keep It Accountable
Whether you choose to keep yourself accountable with yourself using something like a planner, journaling or self-awareness evaluation or using a coach as ongoing support. I love using my Get It Together Life Planner (Amazon Affilaite Link) for this.
Every week I will check in with myself mentally but also check in with my metrics. This isn’t about obsessing over the scale, but having an honest check with yourself can be useful to help you balance your maintenance.
If you aren’t checking in with yourself it’s easy to slip back.
A self-awareness check-in with yourself using a life planner or journal can help you notice things changing this can signal for you to take action, this is self-regulation as a practice of mindfulness.
Conclusion
Losing weight can and should take time.
For lasting weight loss, slow progress is actually the best method to offset any drastic metabolic changes.
You then need to consider it’s not a one-and-done thing.
It’s about changing who you are and the habits that you have and making the decision that this is now just how you eat and live your life.
The path won’t be perfect or linear and it’s probably going to be slightly different for everyone.
Stop looking for the short term diets and fixes and instead shift to this life long lifestyle change approach
You can absolutely do this, and it will absolutely be worth it.
If you want to get additional support on your journey then you can start working with me as your coach and guide on the initial 28 day journey. CLICK HERE to find out more. Learn how to lose weight, tone up, without having to spend hours in the gym or severely restricting your eating. Learn how to eat and move to support your 40+ weight loss journey.
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