Doing Everything Right Isn’t Getting Me Results

Several months ago one of my clients made the above statement in a fit of disgust. She actually felt that all of her efforts to lose weight weren’t working. When she told me what was going on, I soon realized that she thought she was doing everything “right” but in reality she’d forgotten several of the basic things I’d told her. What were those things? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, let me paint the picture of this woman for you.

She’s a Mom Entrepreneur with a significant amount of stress in her life. She originally came to me to lose weight but after I heard her talk about her life and schedule, I soon realized that there were some things that were contributing to why she was having a hard time losing weight. It was clear that she had a stressful and busy life. A fairly optimistic person, she was feeling beaten by the fact that she couldn’t lose the weight and reclaim her appearance. She was embarrassed about her looks, not wanting anyone to see her body; in pictures she’d only get pictures of her from the shoulder up. Over the years, the once ten pounds she’d gain and lose turned into thirty-five and at age 41 her every other year diet program wasn’t working anymore. She counted points, added the fiber, drank the water but NO LUCK. She came to me telling me she wanted to try something new.

Our work began the usual way with her trying to make all of the recommended changes I’d suggested. Within a week she’d emailed me to tell me that there was a shift in energy and optimism. A month went by and the weight shifted for the better. She was thrilled! But then another month went by and my once happy, weight losing client hit a wall. Not just a wall in her weight but one in her life. She hit a plateau and began to panic, and when we had our next session that’s when I realized what she’d forgotten. You see, my theory is that the pace of our lives and the stress that we endure on a regular basis directly relates to our weight. As soon as life gets too busy or stressful the time to devote to planning meals, cooking them and chewing what you eat occurs less often. You start making excuses to get exercise in, not drinking water or to go to bed at a regular time. Life gets in the way, the overwhelm of life disrupts the routine you were just establishing and the weight stops coming off. My client came to me feeling that her great efforts were slipping away. Although we’d covered it all before, I spent the entire next three sessions reminding her of the basic things to do to get her routine and life back in balance. In doing the work I do, I’ve come to realize that it’s got to be a whole life approach. You can’t just change one area (such as eating better) you often need to work on several at the same time. I often need to remind my clients that it’s about choices, not necessarily in what you’re eating it’s about choosing to pace your life differently too.

The great news for my client was once we got her back on the right path, she reversed the minor weight gain and six months later she lost all thirty-five pounds. The even better news is that she feels like she’s got a grip on her life again and to me I think you can deal with anything once you have optimism in your life again.

Have you ever hit a plateau and wondered if it could be more than just the food you were eating that was causing the plateau?