Plus Size Weight Loss Tips Without Dieting, Part 1

⁉️Question for you:  Do you believe that plus size weight loss is possible without restrictive diets for women over 40⁉️

Well the answer is a resounding, YES!

Today, Let’s talk about the tips and tricks for plus size weight loss for women over 40 without being held hostage by restrictive diets. Why the heck should you want to stop dieting and start listening to your body instead? Well, as we have talked about before, DIETS DON’T WORK!!! (Read more about that here, if you dare!)

You know the dreaded plus size weight loss yo-yo dieting cycle that we all have been through?  The cycle where you:

1.  Diet Phase:  Make a conscious choice to diet.  You start restricting things that you think are a “bad choice”, foods that “trigger” you to lose control.
2. Control Phase: You are on track.  You’re being “good”.  This is how you want it to be, but then it swings back.
3. Binge Phase:  Yep, the pendulum swings and we are right back where we started. We end up in a  binge.  It’s like something out of an 80s romance movie.  We  feel out of control and hate ourselves for every minute of it.  We have been “bad”.
4. Diet Phase:  We decide to try again and we get back on the die

Now we just start looping our lives through this process which sadly just leads to weight gain. After a while this gets old and frustrating because you should be able to food freedom.

So what do we do as plus size women that want to lose weight without dieting and living a life stuck in the yo-yo diet cycle?

Tips and Tricks, Part 1

Listen to your Body!

⏰Honor Hunger

Do you eat when your not actually hungry just because it’s noon and you’re mentally programmed that at noon it’s time to eat?

Honoring hunger is about recognizing what happens internally before you get hungry.

Instead of waiting until you are so hungry that you become moody and irritable and would eat just about anything put in front of you, what would happen if you tuned into the internal signals of your body that it needs nourishment?

Think of it like a gas tank on your car.  There is gas light zone.  The orange light flashes on, and depending on your car you may have 20-30 miles before your tank is 100% empty and your car will no longer run.  But we don’t let our car get all the way to empty, we find a place ASAP and take care of business.  I’ve heard stories that if you don’t the damage and time it takes to get the car running again can be great.

It’s the same with our bodies. ?We don’t want to wait until our bodies are on empty.  WHY?  Because that’s when the crazy unleashes.

?Hunger Signals

Notice what happens when you get super hungry.  I mean to the crazy witch hungry stage.

• Do you get a headache?
• Do your eyes glaze over?
• Do you slump in your chair unable to work?
• Do you become an unreasonable witch? Who do you take it out on?
• Do you end up eating things that you normally wouldn’t just because it is there?

For me I start binge eating.  It was so key for me in my plus size weight loss journey to realize this.  When I get to level 10 hungry, I make choices I don’t like.  I’m talking saltines with catsup, 6 month old Halloween Candy, ice cream with freezer burn, and 4 pieces of toast dipped in tomato sauce (poor excuse for make shift bread sticks and marinara).

Then the kicker is, even after eating all this you still feel unsatisfied.  You don’t feel like you enough even though you know logically you did.  Physically your internal appetite is still searching for a meal, and it won’t shut down until you are stuffed or have had what feels like a meal.  Have you ever been on a hunt in your kitchen while feeling like this?  What emotions came with that?

For me it was the feelings of frustration, stress, anxiety, irritation, followed by guilt after the binge.  Wow all the key emotions to turn on the cortisol levels in the body which equals NO Weight Loss for this Curvy Plus Size Woman.

So the first step to break this habit is to recognize hunger earlier.  This was so hard for me.  After years of diets, deprivation, fasting, bingeing etc… I had lost the intuition when it came to understanding my body’s clues.  I didn’t notice when I was hungry until I was at the crazy witch stage.

But, with a little bit of grace, patience and observation, I finally began to intuitively take in how my body was communicating with me.

Here are the main signals I noticed for myself (or for my plus size, over 40 private clients):

• a comfortable empty feeling
• a slight growl, rumbling
• light headedness
• lack of concentration
• slight burning in the stomach

Healthy Mind – Body – Soul Tip:  I found keeping a food journal not of my meals, but of my hunger signals very helpful the first 2 weeks.  This let me start to see the patterns of hunger in my day.  I also took the added step to record what emotions I was having when I ate.  This helped me to notice when I would over eat what emotions I was having, or when I made the choices I wanted to make and honored my hunger what emotions was going on at that time.  Making these observations can be a huge step forward on your plus size weight loss with out dieting possible.

⚖️Hunger Scale

Once I knew my hunger signals, I began to make those signals work for me.

I like to use a hunger scale to help me solidify this in my mind.  1 is just noticing hunger, 10 is starving

As as plus size woman, I found it key for my weight loss and to prevent bingeing to start to plan for food when I was at a 2 on the hunger scale.

So I strongly encourage you to begin planning to eat when you are at a 1 or 2 on the hunger scale. If you wait till you are at a 7, 8, or 9 to plan to eat, you’re more likely to eat faster, make poorer food choices, and keep eating past the “satisfied” point. 

Remember the goal here is not perfection but to learn to listen to your body.   It is made perfectly and it wants to tell you what it needs.  Teach yourself to appreciate hunger signals as a natural part of life, as a sign that you’re a healthy intuitive eater.

Craving Vs. Hunger

If your unsure if your hungry, then give your body 10-20 minutes to make its signals more clear. This helps If it was only a craving.  If 10 minutes goes by and you still have the urge to eat, you may be starting to get hungry and you need to begin planning to eat.  More on this topic coming soon.

Bonus:

• Uncover what’s been stopping your plus size weight loss, slowing you down or keeping you from having the body you want
• Develop a powerful vision for your Body Transformation, and what it will mean you and for your life
• Discover which foods and lifestyle habits are bringing your body down…and what to do about it
• Get crystal clear on a step-by-step plan to create plus size weight loss when your over 40 in 90 days or lessSchedule a free 60 min. Discovery Session to see if this health coaching program is a fit for you. Click here!   Lasting Habit Change is possible.

?EMAIL 

?PINTEREST

?FACEBOOK

?COMMENT Below! 

What My Clients are saying:

“I’m nearing the end of my 12 week program, and although I was hesitant to open up and dig deep, I’m glad I did this! Angela has helped me peel back the layers to discover what’s been holding me back in progressing in my health journey.

My mindset has done a complete 180! I don’t let food control my life, and it no longer hinders other areas outside of my health. I feel confident in making healthy choices, and that hasn’t always been the case. I’m beyond thankful for Angela and the encouragement she has given me. Putting all of her practices in place have truly helped me transform my health, and I’m thrilled for a healthier and happier me!” ~Kelsey