It seems there is a key to lasting weight loss

Are you tired of trying diets that give you a sleazy promise of slim and trim bikini body’s? Or that magic pill from South America that makes you burn off your muscles and suppress your appetite while dehydrating your brain!! Fast forward 4 weeks later you end up starving, grumpy and feel like a failure for not having the will power to keep it up. You are not a failure let it be known that will power is out……Set point weight is in and it has the science to prove it.

We all have a set point, which starts around our 20’s. The set point is controlled by our body’s hunger and full (satiety) hormones. These are managed within our reward centre of the brain. This controls our signals of appetite regulation , food related motivation and the calorie value of foods. Every time we diet the set point becomes higher, which is why most people end up putting on more weight than they started with.

The set point is set higher in overweight and obese individuals and our goals in weight loss is to lower the set point in order to keep weight off for good.

Can we really be addicted to some foods?

Some foods release dopamine which makes us feel good, it triggers a reward, and can override the set point. This leads to hedonic overeating. In which we live to eat, not eat to live. The foods that are the worst addiction offenders are a combination of high carbohydrate and high fat. Fluffy foods such as doughnuts, croissants, brioche, and pizza. Funnily enough people pay more for these types of foods that have a combination of high fat and carbohydrate. Even just seeing or smelling a Krispy Kreme donut can send off these dopamine signals to the brain, the person eats the food, body releases dopamine, they feel good after eating, body craves it again, cycle repeats itself.

Which foods are most addictive?

The top ten most addictive foods are chocolate, ice cream, fries, pizza, cookie, cake, potato chips, popcorn buttered, cheeseburger and muffin. This hedonic form of overeating can not only effect your weight but can contribute to inflammation within the body and can effect your mood, energy, motivation and confidence.

So how do we shed the kilos and keep it off?

It’s all about learning how to lower your set point to lose the weight. There are 6 principles to reaching your set point and they are all fun and easy to adapt into your busy lives. You get regular emails in fact 3 a week, to help you with food ideas, and a healthy mindset. Once you have followed the program for 6 weeks, the fun option begins. Long term weight loss is associated with diet breaks. In a study with overweight and obese individuals, the ones that took a diet break for 2 weeks on and off their diet, lost more weight than people that continued their diet. The breaks allows the body to keep your metabolism on track and still burn calories. Having a diet break also allows you to stay motivated throughout your weight loss journey and not feel so restricted as yo yo dieting has been in the past.

If you would like to keep weight off long term and reap the benefits that you and your family deserve, then I would love to help. I am now taking new appointments for the Weight Loss

Program, and only have a few spots left in November. If you would like a chat first please email me on alysiaraftery@gmail.com or call the clinic on 9753 2507 to make an appointment.

Alysia Raftery has been practicing clinically for 10 years as a degree qualified Naturopath and Myotherapist specialising in Hormones and Weight loss. Alysia understands each person is unique to their weight loss journey and is dedicated to find out what makes each person thrive and remain motivated throughout the program.