Achieving weight loss involves so much more than just nourishing ourselves with good food. It involves emotional, energetic and physical principles that all greatly influence our body’s metabolic processes. That is, the way it functions.
I’ve been reading Dr Chrstine Northrup’s book about Women’s bodies and she suggests there are 8 areas that take part so I thought I’d give my interpretation of why these factors are all essential to consider.
1. Emotions
Emotions sit at the top of the list because everything we do is driven by how we feel, especially when it comes to food. I really don’t believe we can separate food from emotions. We use food as comfort, we use food to celebrate, we use food to comfort, to nurture, to push down emotions under stress. And when emotions arise they can drive us to eat things we may not truly want to. The way we feel also affects how our organs function because we can literally tie ourselves in knots and if we are stuck in negative thinking, this has an effect on our physical body too because we are all connected.
2. Genetics
Unfortunately we can’t escape them so we have to come to terms with the fact that there may be certain things we simply can’t change. There may be things we have to deal with, and genetic factors will influence the way our body functions.
3. Hormones
Our endocrine system and the hormones that drive our bodies are such an overlooked yet essentially important factor when it comes to weight loss. Many of us are out of balance when it comes to hormones and this alone can prevent weight loss, cause more belly fat to lodge itself, or cause weight gain. It can also cause a whole array of other issues too. So we want to look at how we can balance the hormones through eating and lifestyle factors to maximise our health.
4. Macronutrient Intake (Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats)
We need to learn about what macronutrients are, how they may impact our bodies and work out what works for us best. There is no exact right or wrong way to eat but there certainly are foods that are less healthful, sugar for example. Inevitably if we consume too much sugar, our whole body is going to get thrown out of whack and this is going to affect all the other functions in our body.
5. Micronutrient Intake (Vitamins, Minerals & Phytonutrients)
Micronutrients are even more important than macronutrients in a way because it is really the micronutrients that are responsible for aiding all the body’s metobolic functions and processes. For example, we need B vitamins for energy production and protein metabolism, so if we don’t get them, things start to go wrong somewhere along the chain. We need to make sure we are getting the full array of micronutrients available to us, but often we are not.
6. Environment
Toxic environment, toxic body. Often we exclude the fact that many things in our environment affect our bodily functions but we are connected to our environment in an intimate way. All of the cleaning products, self care products, and other household products in our environment are absorbed by us in one way or another. We’re also subject to electromagnetic frequencies in our modern age and these can affect our metabolic proceses too. Our environment also includes our work place and where we live, and more importantly if we are happy in these places.
7. Relationships
Our relationships have direct impact over our emotions and our happiness and this in turn plays impact on what we eat, how we feel everyday, whether we think and feel positive or negative and so forth. We need to feel supported, loved and cared about in order to properly nourish ourselves. Poisonous relationships can poison us.
8. Exercise Habits
Some or none? This of course will influence your metabolism, your fat burning capacity, your hormones, your feelings, your physique. Our bodies are made to move for a reason as it helps us on so many levels to function properly, so get out there and move.
One thing to remember is that we can’t isolate one area of our life from the others. We may change our macro and micronutrient intake yet forget to address the emotions that drive us to food. That one thing will not only affect your results but most likely send you right back to where you started each time. Then you’ll just be beating yourself up instead of working on the root cause of the problem. ie: the underlying emotion.
The same goes with genetic factors, if we have genes up against us, we must accept them and do our best to work with them not against them. Taking a wholistic approach to weight loss and gaining health requires us to understand the connection between different aspects of our life and how they may influence the outcome we may be seeking.
What factors influence your outcomes the most?
I’d love to know so please leave me a comment below
Jedha 
All 8 factors are certainly important, but if I have to pick the most important ones it has to be Macronutrient Intake and Exercise Habits. Because at the end of the day, if you consume fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight 100% guaranteed.
With that said, if you have Genetics and Hormones against you, the battle will be so much harder (but not impossible).
Thanks for your comment Tomas.
We often don’t need as much food as we think that’s for sure
Hi. I have been keeping track of my calories for the past 2 months. And I have been eating healthier and 98% eating under my calorie intake, but still no weight loss. I’m totally getting discouraged. Any ideas to help me out. I’ve been struggling to lose weight for the last 10 yrs.
It’s NOT just about calories Carolina, the quality of the food you eat is far more important. You can eat 1600 calories of low fat diet foods or 1600 calories of whole foods and the result will be entirely different. Focus on quality over quantity, that usually works for EVERYONE!
http://goodfoodeating.org/5220/how-many-calories-to-eat-to-lose-weight/
http://goodfoodeating.org/613/calories-in-food/
Hi
I’m adding my comment just to give you an idea of different stages of my life when I had my weight better under control and times when I didn’t, and what I believed the factors were.
When I was a young teenager, I didn’t really have a weight problem, (other than developing puppy fat I guess) which was lost as I matured into later teens.
In my 20’s I was at my perfect weight, (around 60-65kg), and height of 170cm.
This is what I dream of going back to now, at the age of 47, and being again around 20kg over weight.
At the age of 22, I became pregnant with my first child, and gained during pregnancy, despite remaining incredibly active the whole pregnancy. After the birth of my daughter, I got slimmer quite fast, as I was breastfeeding and of course very busy.
I pretty much stayed slim though, until I had my 2nd child, (a son) at the age of 25, again I stayed reasonably slim up until my late 20’s early 30’s. This time was punctuated with lots more employment, being a single Mother, and studying also. I never had extra time to exercise, was always tired/stressed, and was always hungry, (being tired made me crave the wrong types of food).
Working a physical job helped me keep my weight at a manageable level, however as I began studying full time and had to drop off the physical work to take up other opportunities, my weight began to creep up again.
During this time, I gained around 10-15kg, and found it hard to lose it, again, being sedentary during the day, (sitting in a classroom) and my work in the evenings was sitting in an office environment, so I wasn’t getting enough physical activity, was so busy studying/learning I wasn’t home during the day being active/busy either. There was also the tiredness factor and wrong food choices thrown in once again.
In my middle 30’s I lost a bit of the weight and went down to around 73kg, but then my Mother died and my weight crept up, (emotional).
Around 2005, I moved to Australia, (from NZ) to live and work, with the weather here being hotter and sweating more, plus not feeling like eating, I lost over 10kg and felt pretty good for a while there.
Around 2007, I was doing a lot of nightshift and my weight crept back up again, to around 80kg. A year later I went to work on a mine-site, and lost 10kg with the heat and the hours of work, (quite physical). Since 2008, I have fluctuated by around 10-15kg depending on the type of work I was doing etc.
The biggest factors against me my whole life have been time, job and emotions. And once again, now at the age of 47, it is my job that is preventing me from losing weight I believe.
I have had one holiday since 2009, and probably about a total of only 3 weeks off work since then. My mornings involve very early starts, and my shifts are split, I have been subjected to huge amounts of stress, both in my job and in my private life at one stage, and that has added to my lack of overall energy/motivation/happiness levels.
Right now I weigh around 84kg, and I am not happy at all about this. But I seem to get stuck in downward spiral, making some progress for a week or so, and then it all piles back on again, up and down.
What do you suggest?
Hi Robyn, thanks for sharing your story. Our job and stress are 2 HUGE factors for many people so you’re not alone.
Here is a podcast on the stress hormone cortisol that explains this process well http://goodfoodeating.org/10412/what-is-cortisol-cortisol-and-weight-gain/
As for getting into a better cycle, you might find this 21 day habit routine helpful http://goodfoodeating.org/10353/21-days-17-habits/
The key is to take small steps, not try to do everything all at once. And stop focusing so much on the weight, start focusing on wellness. When you think about the right things, like taking care of yourself better, you will be more inclined to choose healthier foods. Mindset is a major factor.
I hope that helps. Let me know how you go