Oct 20, 20213 min read

Episode 83: Why You Feel Stuck

Summary:

This episode of Weight Loss for Food-Lovers provides insight into the tough times during a weight loss journey – the feeling of being stuck.

Though being stuck may be frustrating, Molly shares ways in which an individual can assuage these feelings and paths for success. During the episode, she shares three general reasons why individuals become stuck in their cycle of overeating or inability to lose weight: (1) an individual’s habits of overeating is unconscious; (2) people are usually unaware of how much food is required for an ideal weight and are not using the correct metrics to gauge their improvement; and (3) being in a state of denial in which food still exists as an escape due to underlying emotional issues.

Ultimately, Molly addresses the importance of listening to your body and understanding your mind better – these two key pieces will help you toward success. However, she emphasizes a third piece that is of utmost importance – seeking out a coach that can help guide you through this process. A coach will help you stay proactive, keep you accountable, and empower you as you progress in your weight loss journey. You are not meant to go through this journey alone, so finding this support is extremely helpful.

Updates about the launch of Molly’s next 12-week course in September can be found here.

If you’re interested in the support or accountability a one-on-one coach provides, you can set up a free discovery call with Molly here.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes

Topics Covered

Molly shares that navigating obstacles are virtually the same across most people:
- Beliefs about ourselves
- Thoughts about food
- Way in which we manage our feelings
It’s not enough to know what to eat or what not to eat – it’s deeper than that.
We don’t know how to manage our brain
Shares three main reasons why people normally get stuck in a cycle of overeating and the inability to lose weight:
- Habits of overeating is unconscious – patterns of eating more food than we need. This occurs because we give into the foods we crave, such as fatty foods.
- Unawareness of how much food is needed to be at an ideal weight – eating too much and/or eating the wrong foods.
- Unwillingness to admit that food is still existing as an escape – an overarching emotion that could be contributing to food being an escape from the problem.
  - Overwhelm – feelings of too much to do in the day
  - Anxiety – worrying about future events
  - Excitement – unable to just be excited without pairing this emotion to food
The importance of making decisions ahead of time to be strategic in losing weight. Being precise and using metrics to gauge whether you are on the right track or not.
Having a coach will help you objectively see what is happening in your own brain and your relationship with food.
Encourages the listener that having these feelings of being stuck does not define you, nor does it indicate that you will fail.
Understanding yourself is the first step to solving the struggle with weight.
Reiterates the emphasis of having a coach and not going through this journey alone – by staying accountable, being committed to yourself, and using tools to help you succeed, you will feel more empowered to continue improving and losing weight.

Key Quotes

“My goal is to address the common ways I see people getting stuck in a cycle of overeating and not being able to lose weight.”
“The hard part is never knowing what to eat, the hard part is knowing how to stay committed to yourself.”
“Oftentimes, when people are in the habit of overeating, unconsciously they’re also in the habit of not weighing themselves. Because when you weigh yourself, it’s forcing you to be conscious at a certain level of the result of the habit of overeating.”
“What I see is that people are not willing to pay even closer attention to the signals that their body is giving in the moment in terms of food they actually need.”
“The easiest way to figure out what’s working and what’s not working is keeping track of what you’re actually eating and what the scale says.”
“A lot of times people don’t realize that their eating because they’re excited about something.”
“You’re still escaping those feelings by eating, instead of actually processing the feelings.”
“What I want you to know today is that feeling stuck doesn’t need to define you.”
“Understanding your mind and the power of your brain is really the permanent solution to ending your struggle with weight – it’s just that most of us aren’t taught how to do that.”