Why cant I loose weight?

Question
Dear Melissa,

My name is Althea, I am a 44 years old and I have been having serious trouble loosing weight. When I was in my teens and early twenties I didn't have a problem. Then (after having kids) as time went by, I began getting fatter and fatter. I was in my mid thirties when I really began noticing and so I weighed. When I found that I was 199 lbs. I immediately began doing something about it. I got back down to a size 12, the then the next year I gained it all back. Now I am finding as I get older and older, it's getting harder and harder to loose. And the worst thing about it all is my husband just seems to think I need to get up and exercise. Well, last year I joined the local gym for 6 months and hardly lost an inch so I felt I was waisting my money and quit. But then last July, I went to My parents house in Mexico for 6 weeks and lost 20 lbs. I can't figure out why I could do it in Mexico and not at home. I'm not really doing anything much different. Can you give me some ideas of what may be going on? How can you tell if it's an eating disorder, stress or depression? I would appreciate your ideas. Thanks!

Althea

Answer
Hi Althea,

First of all, my sincere apologies for just getting back to you now...

This is an interesting topic for me; in addition to struggling with my own weight for many years, I think it also highlights much of the way our society works. We've become out of touch with our own intuition regarding what our bodies truly need, and instead rely on strict diet regimes to tell us what to eat, or eat whatever we have time to get down with our busy schedules.  However, I've come to realize that eating and weight issues are almost never about food. I do not support "diets" in the traditional sense of the word, because they are not sustainable, promote a sense of deprivation, and ignore the fact that we are all physically and energetically unique.

It's interesting that you have been able to connect your weight gain/loss to environment....this may indicate that it is stress-related. When we are stressed, the excess cortisol in our bodies causes us to  store excess fat, particularly around the midsection. When you were in Mexico, I would venture to say that you were not dealing with the same demands of day-to-day life, deadlines, taking the kids to and from activities, finances, traffic, etc. You were able to relax and take care of yourself. If this resonates with you, start thinking about ways to include more self-care in your daily routine, even if it's only a few minutes for yourself each day.

To help gain insight into your patterns, you may also want to try keeping a food-mood journal. Try recording what you eat, how you were thinking/feeling/doing before and after you ate, etc. Be honest with yourself....journals are free of judgement, and a powerful way to bring the subconscious to the conscious. It doesn't need to be elaborate, but it does not to be consistent to start observing any underlying patterns.


I wish you the best on your journey, and I hope you find this useful.

Warmly,
Melissa  

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