Weight loss brings us a lot of benefits. From the physical perspective, it relieves a lot of stress from our internal organs a bit and the risks of various health illnesses are significantly decreased. Regarding the emotional effect, losing weight can improve our mood and boost our confidence.
Still, if you have started your journey towards losing weight, you need to be prepared to some aspects that could frustrate you along the way. It’s better to be prepared for certain bumps on the road – it will prevent you from giving up. So, take a look at what you can expect while losing weight and increase the level of success.
You will experience strong cravings
You will notice that the moment you decide to cut back on certain unhealthy food, you will start craving for it. This is completely normal. When you eat junk food or sweets, namely food full of sugar, fat and carbs, they release endorphins in our bodies, making us feel happy (but only for a short amount of time). When you deprive your body of these foods, it’s normal that it will react like you are an addict – which you are in a certain way. You will feel a strong urge to eat food you have cut back on but try your best to resist it. It will stop after some time and your body will adapt to healthy food only. If your cravings are very intensive, then use a substitute – eat a bit of dark chocolate instead. It will ease the need.
You may get nervous and moody
It’s completely understandable to feel bad from time to time while on a diet. It is a sign of a low blood sugar, which means you need to change your eating habits. Glucose, as a form of sugar, is what your brain uses for fuel. When you make too big of breaks between the meals or simply don’t eat enough nutritive food, it will cause fatigue and irritability. Basically, your blood sugar will decrease and you will feel either highly moody or even depressed. So, make sure you eat enough nutritious and healthy food throughout the day. The point isn’t to starve yourself and feel weak and irritable all the time.
You’ll go to the toilet more often
Starting a healthy diet usually means eating a lot of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. These types of food are rich in fibers. Your bowels are probably not used to this level of fibers, so you will probably feel gassy and you’ll have to visit the toilet much more frequently. No need to be alarmed – your bowels just need some time to adapt to the increased number of fibers. After some time, you will start feeling normal and your visits to the toilet will become less frequent. Still, if you are gassy to the point where it is unbearable, then you are eating way too much fiber.
The results may be visible after some time
Don’t get frustrated if you are not making progress as fast as you have expected. Every person is different, meaning your body type, the diet you are following and the excess weight you have will contribute to the speed of losing the weight. It’s not like you’re not going to lose weight – maybe you will just be losing it at the slower pace. In general, people that have only a few pounds to lose will notice changes much more slowly than people who have a lot of excess weight. In case you decide to undergo a simple procedure like gastric band surgery, it’s normal to expect that your body will need some time to heal and adjust. Of course, it will affect your eating patterns, and you can expect to go back to eating regular food after three months or so. So, just be patient – nothing is achieved overnight!
You could get stretch marks
In case you are losing a lot of excess weight, you could notice the occurrence of stretch marks on your body. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but be prepared. If you had cellulite before going on a diet, don’t expect all of that cellulite to disappear. It may go away to a certain extent, but not completely. Still, you can help your skin by using coconut oil – it will make the stretchmarks less visible and prevent some of them from appearing at all.
You may get a smaller shoe size
Obviously, losing weight means some of your clothes will be too big for you after your diet. But did you know that your feet size can also change, sometimes a whole shoe size? If you lose a lot of weight, your body will get rid of fat from every part, including your feet. So, be prepared to buy new shoes after some time! It’s not that horrible, right?
All in all
The truth is – weight loss is hard. You have to be really disciplined most of the time in order to achieve results. You have to mentally and physically commit yourself to the goal. Your whole mindset needs to change – you need to understand that eating healthy food needs to be a way of life, not just a whim you will stop after some time. It also means accepting the fact that you will have to occasionally indulge yourself with unhealthy food or sweets. It’s not the end of the world! The important thing is not to deprive yourself completely of certain food types. Our bodies need to have a wide choice of nutritive food. Accept all the negative aspects as a part of your journey towards a healthier lifestyle. After all, you will feel much better about yourself when you know that you have achieved your goal despite all the setbacks thrown in your way. It’s the victory that was difficult to achieve that we enjoy the most!