There’s nothing better than celebrating my clients’ wins when they not only lose weight, but FEEL better overall! Weight loss shouldn’t be about just looking good, I want you to FEEL like the powerful, successful gal you are! With that said, let’s discuss how you can start looking good and feeling better.
Let’s talk about WHY feeling good is just as important (if not more so) than looking good. When we FEEL like a million bucks, not only do we tend to be more confident, we tend to be inspirational and more social with others too. And though a good social circle and self-confidence is awesome, when we FEEL good we tend to be most in tune with our body’s needs…which is important for our overall health!
Our body’s needs are constantly changing each day based on how much sleep we get, our physical activity levels, and even stress! It can be hard to keep up with it all. So how do we know what our body needs? We have to listen to it!
Listening to your body can look like a lot of different things. But the key is remembering that health isn’t defined by your jean size, but recognizing what works best for you and your body.
So how can you listen to your body, look good AND feel better? I’ll let you in on the secret…
Focus on improving energy levels
Energy levels keep us motivated and productive throughout each day. More than that, energy levels tend to reflect our hormone levels and determine whether or not we feel up to working out today or trying something new.
Without good or consistent energy levels, we may skip a workout or look for quick fixes to boost our energy. These quick fixes tend to be snack foods high in calories, refined sugar or fat and definitely not a nutrient-rich source of food. Why is that a bad thing? Well, when we need an energy boost, we tend to resort to those foods because they will be digested the fastest and flood our cells with short-term energy.
Why is the quick fix a bad thing? Because it is a QUICK fix! As fast as your energy levels rise with that snack or by the foods you keep at your desk, those energy levels will fall just as fast too. When we turn our focus on improving energy levels for the long term, our body becomes better at regulating our energy levels so that we don’t hit the highs and lows as fast or as often. This helps us to stay focused throughout the day, hit our workouts with increased motivation, and even be more optimistic to challenges!
Focusing on energy levels requires paying attention, but you may realize it impacts a lot of your day… and how you feel!
Eat enough for healthy, happy hormones
Have you ever felt HANGRY? I know I have! And when you feel hangry or sluggish or unmotivated, you probably aren’t going to want to workout or put on those skinny jeans for a night out. More than anything, if you aren’t fueling your body enough, you won’t enjoy the benefits of glowing skin, good digestion, high energy levels, or gorgeous hair and nails!
Hormones don’t have to rule your busy gal life… by eating well and eating ENOUGH, you can promote a more healthy and regulated hormone levels.
Did you know that your hunger is related to your hormone levels of ghrelin and leptin? Ghrelin, the hormone responsible for increasing your appetite and letting you know when you are hungry is impacted by your eating habits. Similarly, leptin (the hormone responsible for inducing weight loss and satiety) is impacted by your body’s consistent energy balance. When you skip meals or go too far down the lane of restriction, you can disrupt the regulated levels of ghrelin and leptin. This triggers weight loss plateaus and hangry gals! By eating enough and consistently, you can promote healthy, happy hormone levels.
In addition to ghrelin and leptin are all the other hormones in your body that are responsible for bone growth, digestion, reproductive process, and muscle and tissue repair. Hormones are built and regulated by your body, which is fueled by food! When calorie restriction is too extreme or you tend to skip meals, your body can compensate by decreasing its hormone level efficiency. This can lead to weaker bones, thinner hair and nails, and even increasing your risk of injury or a disrupted menstrual flow. Not great, huh?
Our body is impacted A LOT by hormones. Fueling our body with good nutrition and ENOUGH nutrients is definitely the way to go!
Reframe your mindset to emphasize non-scale victories
How do we quantify how we feel? Certainly not by our jean size!
Should we measure our wellness journey only by the number on the scale or on our clothes tags? Absolutely not! My nutrition coaching program focuses on a well-rounded approach that includes non-scale victories as well as the numbers on the scale. I am a firm advocate that this is the best approach to your overall wellness journey because life (and you!) are worth more than the number on the scale.
So, if we can’t measure how we look or feel by the scale, how can we measure progress?
Wow! I’m glad you asked! The first step to looking good, but feeling better is reframing your mindset to emphasize non-scale victories. Just like I mentioned before, we cannot quantify how we feel based on numbers or a scale. What we can do is emphasize non-scale victories such as stress levels, energy levels, mood, sleep quality, and motivation levels!
All of these are so important not only in a weight loss journey, but also to reflect on our overall health status. When we tend to have healthy or increased levels of those non-scale markers, we also tend to be more physically active, maintain a healthy weight, and feel happier!
Reframing your mindset to emphasize non-scale victories can be tough. When you start to measure and accomplish non-scale victories, you gain CONFIDENCE. And what results from the confidence boost and improvement in all those non-scale markers? FEELING GOOD!
So How can you take advantage of the Secret?
There’s no better time to start than now!
Looking good, but feeling better is all up to YOU.
My nutrition coaching program is individualized to help you along the path to better wellness with both scale and NON-scale victories. But the only way to get there is by YOU taking action!
Now that you’ve learned all about the secret to looking good, but feeling better… are you ready to start learning how YOU can do it too?
Apply to work with me! We can build your roadmap for success that kickstarts you not just looking good, but feeling BETTER.
