Finding nutrition... through weight loss

Looking back on all the years of hard work now after reaching my goal of becoming a dietitian reminds me of why I started on this path in the first place. My passion for nutrition sprung from being able to shed quite a few pounds, which gave me the first glimpse of all the good that proper nutrition can do.

When I was a teenager, I was playing volleyball and exercising a lot, which kept me in shape. When I went to college, the “freshman ten” became an unfortunate reality. I had moved out and started eating a lot more, especially sweet things, because now no one was watching. I did continue to play volleyball, but much less than before.

A young exchange student right before starting
to lose weight

One day it hit me: I saw a picture of myself and noticed these rolls around my waist that shocked me and made me decide on that moment to change my habits. I started counting calories and began to understand the differences between different foods. I realized that vegetables had almost no calories at all, and I could fill my stomach with those instead of mashed potatoes or macaroni. Not only did I lose weight, but also started feeling better! All those vegetables made a huge difference and induced a sense of well-being I hadn’t felt before. To this day, I have lost a total of 20 lbs and have successfully maintained my lower weight for years.

This story makes it sound like it was really easy for me to shed those pounds. This is not the case however – I have always had a sweet tooth and I did yo-yo a little bit between eating too little and eating too much. I do know what it takes to make a big lifestyle change, and can relate to anyone who is attempting to do the same.

A few years later after
weight loss - you can see it in
the cheeks!

There were a few key reasons why I think I was successful: firstly, and most importantly, I felt very motivated. I admit that in the beginning I was motivated by wanting to look better, which sounds quite shallow, but I now believe that it doesn’t matter what motivates you when the endpoint is something positive. Secondly, I had a friend who was losing weight, too, and together we were able to help each other out. Together we also pigged out a number of times, which brings me to my third key to successful weight loss: not becoming discouraged when you slip and backtrack, even back to square one. Every time I had too much ice cream and popcorn and candy (this is what we liked to eat the most), I would also feel physically bad afterward. That bad feeling put me right back on track, and in fact, it motivated me to work harder. Fourthly, I have been able to keep my weight stable through making actual lifestyle changes, and not thinking that I could succeed with crash diets or short-term changes. It took me a while to understand this (hence the yo-yo effect early on), but once I realized this, it has become much easier to stay at a certain weight.

Interestingly, a systematic review from 2015 (1) identified motivation as one of the best predictors of successful weight loss. The other two were self-efficacy (believing that you can do it), and self-regulation ability; the former I had, and the latter I developed through motivation.

During my internship I had a chance to work at the weight loss clinic. My preceptor there said that most people that come there do not lose weight, and in fact, more than 85% of these people are not successful. This, I think, is not because we physically can’t lose weight, but because people often don’t have the motivation to make the necessary changes. Yes, it is hard, but not impossible: find a friend to help you and support you, write down what you eat, and if you can, show your food diary to a dietitian, who can also help you develop self-efficacy. Most importantly, find your motivation, and remind yourself of that every day, and every time you are about to give up. This doesn't apply only to weight loss, but to any change you are trying to make in your life. You will succeed!

Joyfully,

Anna-Kaisa

References: 

(1) Teixeira, P. J. et al. Successful behavior change in obesity interventions in adults: a systematic review of self-regulation methods. BMC Med. 2015; 13: 84. Doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0323-6.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4408562/