Why You Didn’t Lose Weight in 2014

You started the year determined to get to a reasonable and healthy weight.

You weren’t looking to weigh what you weighed when you were 18. You just wanted to get to a weight that reduced your risk of all of the scary weight-related illnesses.

You were determined!

You watched Dr. Oz.

You can trust a TV doc! Right?

You can trust a TV doc! Right?

He touted the use of garcinia cambogia. Garcinia cambogia is a tropical fruit also known as the Malabar tamarind. The good doctor promised it blocks your body’s ability to make fat and it puts the brakes on your appetite. He went on to claim It could even help keep blood sugar and cholesterol levels within healthy ranges. You ran out to buy some at the “health store” at the mall. It wasn’t cheap but you expected it to work, so it seemed worth the price.

After a month you weren’t getting anywhere, so you tried to increase the dose to boost the effects of your garcinia cambogia. All you got for your efforts was a dry mouth and an upset stomach.

Still determined to lose weight, you tuned into Oz again! This time he was promoting a diet using raspberry ketones! You watch him fascinated by his claims that raspberry ketones will increase your metabolism helping you to lose between 2 – 5 pounds a week! It’s raspberry ketones you buy this time.

After a month, your weight is exactly two tenths less than it was before you started using raspberry ketones. There’s more bad news. You signed up to get your first bottle of raspberry ketones for free on a website.

After several more months you discover that the first bottle was free, but the pesky bottles that keep coming monthly are not free! Now you’re getting charged a lot for subsequent bottles. Your credit card automatically gets charged and another bottle of raspberry ketones arrives at your door and you don’t want them.

You are spending hundreds of dollars on “the miracle weight loss product in a bottle” that doesn’t work and you’re finding it very hard to unsubscribe.

You’re done with miracle supplements and Oz and his “flavor-of-the-day” weight loss plans and/or products. You head for the diet book section of your favorite bookstore. Front and center is Dr. Mark Hyman’s “UltraSimple Diet Book: Kickstart Your Metabolism and Safely Lose Up to 10 Pounds in Seven Days.

This guy is a doctor. His books are on the New York Times best selling lists. The book promises it works because it’s simple.

“provide your body with foods and activities that help you detoxify and cool inflammation and your body will do the rest…automatically.

It has the natural ability to find balance and heal once you stop doing things that throw it off balance and provide things that put it back into balance.

This is why it’s automatic — provide your body with the good things, take away the bad things, and you body’s natural intelligence takes over and you lose weight and gain health.”

It turns out there is nothing “UltraSimple” about it.

There are foods you must eat and foods you must never eat. There’s nothing simple about giving up food you love, or foods that the rest of the household is eating, but you can’t. There’s nothing simple about eating food you don’t like. The recipes aren’t easy and you don’t have time or money to be cooking separate meals just for yourself when you have a family to feed.

After giving the UltraSimple Diet your best shot, you’re no thinner because it’s impossible to follow this diet. The book promised to “reduce inflammation” but when you think of the time and money you’ve spent trying to lose weight, you are very, very inflamed!

Now the year is almost behind you and your weight is creeping ever higher. You are not a failure!

You tried to lose weight in 2014 and you learned what you tried didn’t work! That’s not failure; it’s feedback.

You're not a failure or a "loser" at losing weight. You received feedback on ways to lose weight that don't work.

You’re not a failure or a “loser” at losing weight. You received feedback on ways to lose weight that don’t work.

The feedback is “stop trying so hard and wasting money on weight loss supplements and books.”

Should you just give up and learn to live with yourself at whatever weight you happen to be? That’s an option, but not your only option.

Another option is as simple as 1-2-3:

1. Stop chasing the new, miracle weight loss plans and products.

2. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and eat smaller servings of proteins and starches.

3. Add steps to your day and find entertainment that involves moving (such as dancing, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, paddling, tennis, table tennis, bowling, dog walking, etc…..)

2015 is the year you can lose weight and keep it off!

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.