How Do I Lose Weight Without Overthinking It?

“How do I lose weight without overthinking it and get rid of the food noise?”

This is one of the biggest struggles our clients’ face and one of our specialty areas at NY Nutrition Group. Everyone wants both the ease of food freedom but also the benefit of feeling good in their body. How do we strike a healthy balance between the two?

The reality is that just the thought of going on a diet to lose weight, restricting calories or certain foods, and frequently checking your weight to make sure it’s trending downwards can trigger food noise. Why? Eating less poses a threat to our survival: we develop an innate and protective sense of food scarcity which leads to feeling deprived, stressed and primed to constantly be thinking about food. It’s a real catch 22: in order to lose weight you need to eat less, but trying to eat less can result in more noise that leads to eating more food.

The solution isn’t necessarily to stop all weight loss efforts because we know that’s really hard to do when you’re unhappy with your current size and health status. However, weight loss can’t be the priority if you’re struggling with food noise and a poorly functioning relationship with food.

What is the solution? Shift focus to making gradual changes to your health habits, eating behaviors and the actions you’re taking daily to eat more balanced, listen to and respect your body’s cues and improve your physical and mental health.

By doing so, you’ll naturally reframe your thinking around food and feel more empowered to continue making positive changes. The reward will be more profound and the instant gratification or disappointment of seeing the # on the scale won’t feel as monumental.

When you’re focused on healthier habits and behaviors you’ll find your healthiest weight.

For anyone who needs additional guidance, consider working a dietitian who can provide a more personalized approach or check out The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan which was written for this exact reason: it can help you bridge the gap between wanting food freedom and also deserving to feel your best.

Food freedom is not just about giving yourself permission to enjoy a variety of foods it’s also about respecting your body’s signals that guide hunger AND fullness cues and help you determine which foods you like to eat and which you don’t. As long as your food choices come without pressure, guilt, fear, food rules and a need to punish or reward yourself after, you’re heading in the right direction.