Why are you overweight? Be honest
The other day I put a question up on Facebook: ‘‘For those of you who feel you are overweight, what do you honestly think the reason is for you being overweight? No judgment here, I’m just interested in the answers.’’
I received more than 150 answers and in these answers was a level of honesty I hadn’t expected. Facebook is such an open forum, so I didn’t know if people would want to reveal their struggles. I was wrong. These people shared some amazingly honest insights into why they battle with their weight.
One of the interesting things about the different answers was that there wasn’t one main theme that came through. There were more like eight or nine. Here are some of the key themes with some of the answers I received:
❯❯ Lack of control: ‘‘Made excuses for and to myself. Lacked/ (maybe still) lacking willpower when it comes to food and wine, and a definite lack of balance in life when it comes to prioritising exercise.’’
❯❯ I don’t prioritise my own health: ‘‘Change in lifestyle and becoming a mum. My wee man takes priority now and I’ve taken a step back so not as much time to train, and grab food on the run rather than prep for myself.’’
❯❯ Poor planning: ‘‘Laziness with cooking (not my fave activity) especially at the weekend. I’m good during the week, all meals planned out and measured, but lose the plot Friday night, and then it’s wine time.’’
❯❯ Health reasons (both mental and physical): ‘‘Depression – alcohol – weight gain – boredom – alcohol – weight gain.’’ Another example: ‘‘An under-active thyroid.’’
❯❯ History of bad habits: ‘‘Eating habits as a child are very hard to break as an adult.’’
❯❯ It’s so hard to change: ‘‘I make bad food choices and I am lazy! Want to exercise but procrastinate all the time. Want to start running again, just need to get motivated.’’
❯❯ Lack of activity inmy life:
‘‘Lack of motivation to exercise
(more so in the winter).’’
❯❯ Aweakness for certain foods: ‘‘Hungry Jacks is evil, I tell yah. EVIL!’’
❯❯ I’ve tried and it’s just so
hard: ‘‘You try, you get so far, then some shitty thing happens and it all goes back on. You feel defeated, you think stuff it, why bother. You get so low that the idea of starting again is embarrassing and people will laugh at your failures (current status as we speak).’’
Many of the answers were a combination of more than one of these examples. Also many people expressed the dissatisfaction they felt due to being overweight: ‘‘I really need some inspiration to get back to my old self as I am struggling.’’
As I was reading these answers, I wished I could have gone back to each individual with a solution that guaranteed that they could achieve change. A solution that they could instantly embrace and implement in their lives with ease.
There is no one reason for why people are overweight. There is also no one-size-fits-all solution. The reason this question is important for those who are overweight to honestly explore is we need to truly understand what our cause is to try to find an answer.
I was speaking to a girl a couple of months ago who was on a weight loss journey. From what I remember, she had been as big as 150kg. When Iwe talked she was down to around 120kg. She had achieved so much but at the same time there was still a long way to go on her journey, a journey she had been on for nearly six months.
She told me her weight loss journey was hard. It was about day in, day out assessment, refining, learning from mistakes, trusting that she will get there, and getting back on the horse when she has setbacks.
It took effort, an effort that I think I would struggle to maintain for such a long period of time, but she was getting there. She was changing her life which was changing her weight.
If we want to create change, an important place to start is at the root cause. If there was any value in my question, it was it may have helped people honestly see what they need to work on.
There is no one reason for why people are overweight. There is also no one-size-fits-all solution.