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Lose the Weight of Losing Weight

Yum

August 22, 2018 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD Leave a Comment

Oh hey there, it’s been a hot minute. Summer is such a busy season and I cannot believe it’s already late August! I have a lot to catch you up on AND a ton of recipes coming I promise!!! In the meantime, here is a topic that I touch on a lot with clients. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! Enjoy 🙂

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Weight loss is a tricky subject. It is one that everyone wants to dabble in but few want to be realistic with.  Weight loss IS possible (when necessary), but to be healthy while losing weight is often a fine line to draw.

We’ve all said, “My diet starts tomorrow/Monday/next month/beginning of the New year/enter date of choice” with the hope that magical things will happen the second we “get our act together”. And when we finally do, unicorns will fly overhead and we’lll look like every before and after picture we’ve ever seen on social media.

Until we don’t.

This is no reflection on your inability to lose weight or reach a goal but it is a reflection on the outside world influencing your unrealistic expectations and standards. We think weight loss should happen overnight and in an ideal world where we are in a vacuum with no responsibilities, this could be true. However, you are busy and stressed and 500 other emotions wrapped in one, so let’s figure out what we can do to lose that weight.

Unrealistic Expectations Set You Back

Stop giving yourself unrealistic expectations. That’s not how any of this works. At least for sustainable (and healthy) weight loss that is. I am not saying weight loss is not possible (believe me it is) but the unrealistic pressure and goals we set just set us up for failure and disappointment. Not to mention, stress wreaks havoc on the body and can stall weight loss.

We forget that we are not one-dimensional and have a lot of other factors to consider including: activity level, sex, age, genetics, lifestyle, etc. We go down the path of comparison forgetting that we are not the person next to us. So, we do what the next person does expecting the same results, and guess what? We fall flat because our expectations are UNREALISTIC! You are so uniquely you and you must treat yourself that way with weight loss (and with many other aspects of your life).

Setting Realistic Goals

Okay, so how do you set a realistic goal?

Well, consider what your motivation is. Are you truly motivated to put yourself and your health goals first? If so, great! Check that off the list and let’s move on. If not, it is time to sit down with yourself and figure out what is holding you back (hint: it’s most likely the person staring back in the mirror at you) and dig in deep to find that motivation to continue on. Here’s the hard truth sometimes you are just not ready to get healthy or lose weight and while I’m not saying that’s right, it could be the main reason you’re not seeing results.

Once you’ve found the new motivation, consider where you would like your ideal weight to be (this is your first test in realistic expectations). Or think about the size, shape, or measurement you were the last time you felt yourself or felt  your healthiest. If you have NO idea, that is where a coach comes in, seek their advice for help here.

An example on how you can find your ideal body weight is using the Hamwi method:

Men: 106lb for the first 5 feet and an additional 6 pounds for each additional inch
Women: 100lb for first 5 fee and an additional 5 pounds for each additional inch

Example: Female who is 5’5” would have an Ideal Body weight of ~ 125lbs +/- 10%
**Note: this is just a starting point! Some people are built with a larger or smaller
frame or are more muscular than others. Take this with a grain of salt and use it as a
reference NOT an end-all-be-all.

Realistic Weight Loss

If you have weight to lose AND you are doing so with the help of a coach, one pound per week is a good starting place. Any more than that and we are most likely going to plateau sooner and be unable to keep it off in the long-term.

Yes, this can be slow and frustrating, I get it. However, when you look back in a few months, you’ll feel the weight (pun most definitely intended) of the weight loss world off your back and a new found pep in your step. I’ve seen far too many people go about losing weight in the wrong manner. They may be working with a person or a program that has good intentions but in the long run they do more harm than good. If something seems too good to be true, it most definitely is.

How to Lose Weight

With a more realistic goal in mind, it is time to set yourself up for success. Remember, you are human and plateaus in your weight loss and health journey are bound to happen. It is those who continue across the plateau that find the most success, in this case patience (and consistency) is most certainly is a virtue.

So how do we lose weight? Patience, preparation, honesty, consistency, and the help of people who know what they are doing.

In Conlusion

Realistic Steps to Weight Loss

1. Find your Motivation.
2. Set a realistic goal: find a coach to help you and be realistic!
3. Plan Ahead. Meal planning can help set you up for success to lose the weight
at a sustainable pace.
4. Stop Stressing: another topic for another day but stress can lead to weight
loss STALLING. So stressing about not losing weight is sometimes worse than
not eating your best!
5. Be Consistent & Don’t Give Up! Those who put in the time and effort
consistently are those that see the best results over the long term. It’s not
glamorous but it’s worth it!

Stop putting the weight of weight loss on your shoulders and find someone to help you make realistic goals and set realistic expectations. You are far more than a number on a scale and your health should be your number one priority. End of story.

xoxo,

Sassy

…

Healthy Weight Loss

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@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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