Nothing creepy here
Have you ever heard the term weight creep? Maybe you’ve heard it called by its other name. Also known as, I woke up one day and realized I had gained 25 pounds. Weight creep is where you gain 1-2 pounds per year and slowly put in weight.
A lot of my clients came to me for help after their eyes were opened to the weight creep. Many of our clients are in their 40’s and 50’s and have experienced this slow, but steady weight gain. They got busy raising kids, building their careers, washing their hair, feeding pets, and the other 100 things women seem to be able to get done in a day.
They started this schedule in their 20’s and now 20 years later, there is an extra 20-50 pounds more on their body. And it seemed to get there overnight! Darn that Fateral Express. Let that one sink in.
This weight creep can be due to many factors, such as: inactivity; metabolism slowing down; stress; not enough sleep; and poor nutrition. The main one I want to address is poor nutrition.
It is very common for proper nutrition to be the first thing to go in a busy schedule. The main culprits are:
-Not looking at serving sizes/portion control
-too many liquid calories (alcohol, sodas, coffee, juice)
-Sneaky add on calories (mayo, oils, sauces, butter)
-BLTs (Bites, Licks and Tastes)/grazing
-Mindless eating
You can add on a ton of calories with those factors above. But hope is on the way!
The best way to cut these off at the pass is to start keeping a food diary. When you have to record what you are putting into your body, it makes you more conscious of your food choices. The simple rule is, if it has calories you have to record it.
This will give you a blueprint of how your typical day looks from a nutrition perspective. The food journal will show you how much you are eating, when you eat the most, what types of food choices you make, and an approximate number of calories you are taking in.
This eliminates the guess work and the very common “I think I eat pretty good?” statement/question I hear pretty often. The best thing it does is gets you consciously thinking of what you are putting in your body. Takes away the guess work.
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
-Peter Drucker