Weight Loss
Weight loss coaching is about helping a person to lose weight. There are many, many programmes and plans out there. I have looked at many of them and have found that the vast majority are very unhealthy. Most of them start with a starvation phase. This actually works counterproductive as research has shown that this sets you up for greater weight gain after having finished the programme. This is not what I want to offer my clients. I want them to have lasting benefits. They only work short term. There is a whole host of research out there that shows that a starvation phase causes a permanent increase in the levels of insulin and a decrease in the levels of leptin. This is exactly the opposite of what you need to keep losing weight. High levels of insulin and low levels of leptin set you up for weight gain and cravings.
This causes that most people end up with the very well known yo-yo effect and end up gaining the weight they have lost right back and add a couple of kilograms on top of it.
This should be avoided. Therefore the way I coach people to weight loss is to first improve their health, as that is the most important and crucial point. From there weight loss can happen. It is important to eat a nourishing diet. A body that is not well nourished will keep putting on the weight as your body is in need of nutrients that it is not getting, so you will keep getting signals to eat more.
For more specialised programmes have a look at Diet Cure Coaching and Cravings Cure Coaching.
As you may have guessed from browsing through my website, weight loss is not the primary aim of my services, however as many people are struggling with their weight, I will certainly not turn them away. I’m all about health and healthy eating so I can do quite a bit for people struggling with weight without having to compromise and put them on unhealthy weight loss diets that cause more problems in the long run.
I do have a unique way of going about weight loss, this is very different than the majority of other health / weight loss coaches. I am not a weight loss coach, but a health coach. Therefore my unique and lasting way to weight loss is to first improve health with traditional, nutrient dense, wholesome foods. From there on in the majority of cases weight will come off naturally as the human blueprint is not one of people being overweight / obese and unhealthy. Our blueprint is that of healthy people, else we would not have been able to make it this long as a species. This does not mean that you will end up super skinny. The human blueprint is not like that. But you will end up on a healthy weight for your body.
For some people there is a component of trauma / abuse that prevents them from losing weight. So this is a big point in the weight loss coaching plan. We will figure out whether trauma / abuse is a potential reason for your problems and when that may be the case this will need to be addressed by a qualified counsellor, preferably someone who is well versed in EMDR and / or Somatic Experience.
The way we look at weight loss is a dual one. One where trauma needs to be addressed and where eating nourishing foods needs to be addressed. Both will work better when they are addressed at the same time. Counselling works much better with a well nourished mind. And it becomes much easier to use a nourishing diet when through counselling blockages get treated and overcome. Therefore it is a win-win situation.
During the sessions we will first start with changing the diet to a diet of nourishing foods. And once health has been recovered we will address losing weight.
There are several ways to go about weight loss. During the sessions I will share these options with you and you can make the choice that suits you best.
In short the ways that can be used are:
- Rest, nutrient dense whole foods and exercise. This is an adaptation of RRARF (rehabilitative rest and aggressive refeeding by Matt Stone). With this nothing is excluded as it is a high everything diet. But that said, I am working from a background of nourishing traditional foods, so processed foods are in my version excluded.
This programme is mostly suited for unhealthy and obese people. - Health recovery through healthy whole foods and exercise, which will result in weight loss. This is based on Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon & Mary Enig. This way of recovering health and achieving weight loss is based on a diet that is high in fat and low(ish) in carbohydrate intake. It is not a real low carbohydrate diet, simply not high in carbohydrates. Unfortunately this is the recommended diet of various governments these days, but only makes people more and more ill.
This programme is mostly suited for people who want to recover their health and are also overweight. - Healthy whole foods, intermittent fasting and exercise. This has given many people great results.
This programme is mostly suited for relatively healthy people who need to lose a bit of weight. - Healthy whole foods, calorie counting and exercise. This is based on the book A Life Unburdened by Richard Morris. The programme and exercise start very slow and builds up to slowly move you forward towards health and weight loss.
When you are in a bad place, this has usually been built up over many years, therefore it will not be possible to change it overnight. It will take time.
This programme is mostly suited for very unhealthy and obese people.
Anyone who is overweight and / or obese and wants to lose weight by first addressing becoming healthier while utilising wholesome traditional nourishing foods.
The primary goal is to become healthier and the secondary goal is to lose weight.
The goal of the coaching sessions is to keep you moving forward and accountable, so that you get healthier and slowly but carefully start losing weight.
The coaching will help you stay on track. You have email access to me between our appointments, so you can talk to me about issues you have. In general I think 1 meeting a month is likely enough, but when you feel the need for more frequent meetings, this is no problem at all.The benefit for you will be that you will end up feeling healthier, happier and more fit. You will gain body tone and look much better, even when you have not really lost a significant amount of weight yet. You will also lose weight. But the weight loss will not happen when health recovery is not addressed first. You will be able to acknowledge stress and deal with it better. You will know more about the toxins in the world and food supply, how to avoid them, minimise the impact of them on your health and wellbeing and much more.