Why Do Some People Gain Weight and Others Don’t?
Why is it that some people “effortlessly” stay slim while others are in a constant battle with food and weight? Sure there’s genetics, but I would put two other factors well ahead of genetics; 1) habit and 2) goals.
Habit
If eating well and adopting an exercise routine does not become habit, there will always be temptations and reasons to not eat well and not exercise. To give a personal example, I was pregnant for the last 10 months and in the first trimester the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym, but I knew if I started to change my habits and only go when I felt “in the mood”, allowing for the very good excuse of pregnancy, I would start getting accustomed to going only when I felt like it. There were times when I literally left the class 15 minutes in, because I felt too tired to continue, but at least I’d showed up, changed into my gym gear, and never let my body – and more importantly my mind- get out of the habit of exercise.
Same with food. I make “exceptions” all the time with food and would eat chocolate, a cupcake, a big handful of chips from an open bag that crossed my path – but it was always viewed as a treat. How do poor food choices become more than a treat and start impacting health and weight? When you allow yourself to stock them in your kitchen (battling temptation is nearly impossible when the temptation is an arms-reach away), when you find yourself eating them more than a couple times a week, and when you no longer think of them as a treat.
Goals
Habits alone are not enough (since there are always times when they can get broken), you need a goal or a clear reason why you’re sticking to these lifestyle choices. I committed to myself when I got pregnant, that I was not going to gain excessive weight (it is not uncommon to gain 30, 40 even 50 pounds). Sure some of the weight gain is out of one’s control, but staying fit and (relatively) lean during pregnancy was a top goal of mine, knowing it would not only make the 9 months easier, but also the recovery period. I have to remind myself of this daily, however, when I don’t want to go to yoga or I do want that slice of pizza that’s calling me from the pizza by the slice stand.
Your own goal may be to fit into your favorite jeans, drop 10 pounds so you feel more energetic, reverse your diabetes, whatever it is – but if you don’t have a very clear reason for why you’re going to stick with lifestyle changes, it is simply far too easy to get comfortable cutting corners. Look for excuses and you will find them. But then next thing you know you’re back to your old ways – and weight.
Your experience? Weigh in!
Be well!
Michelle
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Mar 22, 2012 @ 07:17:00
Exactly…..you covered the nuts ‘n bolts of it.
Mar 22, 2012 @ 08:05:00
I think having a good support network is crucial. When I lived with my parents, there was a lot of pressure to eat more, for various reasons. I think they were afraid to tell me that I didn’t need to weigh 160 pounds.
One summer, I lived at home without them and lost 20 pounds because that pressure was removed and replaced with support for healthier eating. Now, I try to avoid eating around them, because they are so judgmental of my eating habits–as if taking a smaller helping was a bad thing.
Mar 22, 2012 @ 08:29:00
I heard or read recently that: Nothing tastes as good as staying slim feels.
I remember that with nearly every tempation (like eating Nutella out of the jar). As a nutritionist and epidemiologist – I understand that we all have different caloric needs, given our genetics and exercise – so one rule doesn’t apply to all. Yet we can each learn (if we pay attention) how much we can eat to maintain the weight we want – and we can learn to treasure health more than the instant gratification of good cup-cake icing!
Mar 22, 2012 @ 08:42:00
Great article. I was pregnant recently as well and found that a lot of those healthy habits are even harder to keep up once you have the baby. Discipline but yet not depriving myself from a treat once in a while has worked for me. I look forward to reading more from you here.
Mar 22, 2012 @ 09:11:00
Great article! I also think that half the battle is our societal rituals. We have so many celebrations and holidays packed into the year and we allow ourselves make exceptions to our good habits in those situations. Have a few birthday parties coming up? Next thing you know, you’ll have eaten two cupcakes a week for a month!!
If we insist on celebrating with the same poor food choices, we find ourselves eating bad food over and over under the guise of “celebrating”. It’s time to break the cycle of sweet, fatty, salty overindulgences in our ritual foods. We need to redefine the party foods of our culture so our holidays and celebrations don’t continue to make us sick and fat.
Mar 22, 2012 @ 10:49:00
Yummy! You have taunted me to visit the local Crumbs, and hate myself for it. I usually reserve my cupcakes for that special time of month!
Oh well you only live once, and those cakes will be around forever! So why not? Just not every day!
Mar 22, 2012 @ 20:56:00
Love your thoughts on this topic! I too get tempted from time to time, and that’s when I like to remind myself of something I heard long ago, and it still rings true to me and works for many of my clients: “Nothing tastes as good and healthy feels!”
Mar 24, 2012 @ 07:56:00
A few years back, I decided to change my eating and exercise habits to 1) lose weight; and–more importantly– 2) to become healthier. I chose to eat primarily whole, organic foods, lean meats, etc.; I purchased a HealthRider and used it every weekday morning and walked 5 miles every weekday after work. However, given my great love of traditionally mainstream (i.e., unhealthy) foods, I allowed myself to eat anything I wanted on Sundays. (This stemmed from my childhood memory of only getting ice cream on Sundays because our family of seven only had a tiny 12″ x 12″ ice box in our 1950′s refrigerator.)
Anyway, the point is, allowing myself to eat anything I wanted on Sundays gave me the treat “pass” I needed to continue the other 6 days on my journey to health. The result was that I dropped 43 lbs. in 4.5 months and became a sort of health guru at work. The other less expected result was that my Sunday treats morphed into very healthy food choices as well. That was the best thing I ever did for my SELF.