Question

Hi
A few years ago I fasted for 6 weeks, only drank water and rooibos tea (i know, not healthy, but I was desperate to lose weight, and while I felt terribly fatigued throughout the fast, I did lose 30kg)

The problem is, once I started eating again, I gained about 10kg back, and I stayed tired! Now I feel stuck in that yo-yo syndrome; I can only lose weight when I eat nothing, but then I feel so tired that I try getting some energy through eating sugar, which cause me to have an immediate sugar rush, followed by a zombie-like state. And the sugar causes weight gain!

Do you have any advice as to how I should break out of this cycle? I'm irritable, moody, demotivated and my skin is bad.

Answer

DETOX

I suggest you take a good look at why you are so desperate to lose weight? Think about it. You need to start adopting a different attitude towards your weight and your body. Accept that you need to make some changes. And focus on making healthy changes. What one thing could you do on a daily basis that will move you closer to your goal?

Imagine yourself strong, healthy and glowing with energy, imagine yourself in control of what you eat. Now what one thing could you start changing in the way you see yourself?

You have to love and respect your body and provide it with nourishment and care. Yo Yo dieting is very bad for your body. My advice to you would be to start eating 8 small meals a day with snacks in-between. I want you wake up in the morning and start your day with some fruit and pro-biotic yogurt to start restoring the healthy bacteria in your stomach. Eat healthy salads and lean meat such as free range chicken, turkey and tuna and alternate with baked potatoes and whole-wheat bread for lunch. Snacking on lightly salted nuts and drinking at least 1.5L of water a day. If you find drinking water difficult, mix half water and half juice to break the taste.

There are plenty of resources on the net on eating healthy. Buy a healthy recipe book and start cooking exciting and wholesome meals. Your body has shape unique to you. If you are overweight, you need to identify what's bad in your diet and cut it out. Replace every negative thing in your diet with a positive food choice. I have had many clients who think starving your body will aid in weight loss when in fact your body starts to eat away at your muscles and tissue to keep itself alive, your body also goes into starvation mode and starts to store fat and slows down your metabolism which results in slower digestion and break down of food. As you may already have noticed this will not be healthy weight loss and will do more harm than good. Your body will respond better and you will begin noticing weight loss by eating a well balanced diet with plenty of fiber and water. Add a tablespoon of oils such as avocado and olive oil including nuts to your diet. This has been proven to help assist weight loss.

Start exercising on a daily basis, walk, run, Pilates, yoga, whatever your prefer but start doing something. STOP losing weight the lazy way and start taking care of you. If you find this is something you cannot do on your own, find a friend and do it together, the support will encourage and motivate you to change. Most of all if you think this is problem that you cannot control, seek help before it gets out of control.

Let me know how you are progressing.

All the best.

- Debby Fisher