The Hidden Fat-Loss Saboteur (how to find and eradicate him so you can lose fat for good)

Paul Salter:

Hey, I’m registered dietician Paul Salter, and you are listening to Screw the Scale Radio. If you’ve been losing and regaining the same 20 pounds and struggling to have a positive relationship with food and a loving relationship with yourself, you’re in the right place. Ready to get out of your own way and truly feel and look your best? Buckle up as I dive deep beyond the nutritional Xs and Os to teach you how to build massive amounts of self-confidence, self-love, and self trust so that you can not only lose the weight you desire and keep it off for good, but truly feel your best.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Screw the Scale Radio. My name is Paul Salter and I’m very grateful that you have chosen to listen yet again to another episode of this podcast. And if you’re a first time or even a new listener, welcome back. I’m incredibly grateful you are here. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for people like you. This is episode 255. We are coming up on five years in the making and I sincerely appreciate you continuing to tune in every single Thursday. This episode, funny enough being the exception as I’m a bit behind and made a mistake in my scheduling coming out a day late, but usually every single Thursday, they are published at 5:00 AM Eastern time. And today short, sweet to the point. Really want to offer you a new perspective when it comes to what you choose to prioritize as you approach your fat loss goal, specifically as you approach maybe a fast fat loss goal and of course the most important aspect of your goal, a sustainable fat loss goal.

And I’m not going to focus on this perfect calorie distribution amongst the macronutrients, this perfect nutrient timing type of diet, way to eat, supplement, exercise routine or anything like that. I’m going to focus simply on the hidden saboteur that exists for every single one of us that doesn’t get enough attention or credit when it comes to sabotaging your fat loss efforts. And the underlying reason you are struggling to lose body fat, the underlying reason you are struggling to lose body fat and keep it off for good is unmanaged stress. You can have a nutrition plan, you can have a really good nutrition plan, one that is simple, sustainable. You can pair it alongside a consistent exercise routine. You can even have a great group of gym buddies, workout partners, a good support system at home.

But if you are chronically stressed, your veins are just rich in cortisol, that stress hormone and your thoughts moving a million miles per minute as you try to navigate big waves of emotions and you have no outlet or opportunity to displace or remove work through those emotions to quiet your mind, you are not going to lose the body fat you desire. Sure, in the short term, because you are literally in a calorie deficit, you’re going to see movement on the scale. Maybe a little bit of body fat comes off, but at the end of the day when your reality is chronic stress, when your thoughts are moving a million miles an hour, you have no intentional quiet time. You’re struggling with emotional management. You’re simply not going to lose the body fat you desire because when this is your reality, your nervous system is locked into a sympathetic state. That fight or flight response, it’s overly taxed and continuing to work over time, continuing to try and go above and beyond.

And losing body fat, which has an ancestral connection to the literal survival of our human species is nowhere close to the top of the sympathetic nervous system’s priority list. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. We were really conditioned in order to survive over the centuries to store as much body fat as possible. And when we are stressed due to a calorie deficit, our body works in miraculous ways. Many, many of them do conserve energy, minimize waste, and store as much body fat as possible, any chance a calorie surplus opportunity is provided. But what I really want to make clear here today is that on a subconscious level, when you are chronically stressed and you are not managing that hidden saboteur, your body does not feel safe letting go of body fat. If it constantly feels like it’s under attack, it’s not going to want to let go of body fat because there is an ancestral connection between body fat and survival.

The last thing it’s going to want to do when it feels like it’s under attack and you’re struggling to manage stress is let go of body fat and it’s lack of safety. Well, it manifests in several ways, some of which you’ll come to eventually label as either self-sabotaging behaviors or just unfair opportunities happening in life. There might be instances in which you feel compelled to believe that life is unfair. You always look this way, feel this way. This always happens. Why me? And you get stuck in this vicious cycle of telling yourself that things have happened to you rather than happened for you. If you are serious, and please hear me on this, if you are serious about wanting to lose body fat for good, you need to slow down and tend to the major stressors in your life, tend to cultivating peace of mind, tend to cultivating an attitude of gratitude, a default positivity.

You need to develop a collection of habits, strategies, and tools to help you mitigate stress because it’s not until you’re able to better manage your stress that your body will begin to feel safe letting go of body fat. And yes, eating well and exercising regularly can absolutely play a role in helping you mitigate stress. But more often than not, especially when you and your partner both work full time, you’ve got kids, you’re running around, which some days feels like you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off, they’re not enough. And especially during certain periods of time when it feels like life has thrown you one too many curve balls. So what does that mean? It means you need to get incredibly clear on multiple tools or strategies to mitigate stress. And that might be meditation, journaling, asking for help, seeking therapy, playing, spending more time in silence, spending more time with family, friends, getting outside, walking more, laughing more.

Go find the memes, the funny YouTube videos. Talk to that hysterical friend. And how I recommend you approach this if this is a message that has resonated with you, is you cultivate a list of at least three daily non-negotiables and one weekly non-negotiable that you know are specifically stress mitigating action steps you can take. And that might be five minutes of quiet meditation or breath work, whatever your practice might look like in the morning. A journaling routine, writing down three things you’re grateful for, taking your dog out to walk outside, getting some of that nature therapy, those good vibes, high frequency vibes, and just positive energy and sunlight, asking for help, doing little things on a daily basis, and then investing a little bit more time on a weekly basis, whether it’s a therapy session, self-care in the form of massage, a trip, walking in nature, hiking in nature, another kind of self-care activity, getting your nails done, your haircut, spending dedicated time with family, friends, completely distraction free, no devices.

All of these are ways to help recharge your batteries, to bring stress down. And if you continue to prioritize building your stress management practice on a daily and a weekly basis, I think you’re going to find how much easier and more effortless it feels when you do commit to a diet phase to lose that body fat and keep it all for good. And if this is something you are struggling with, you’re struggling to get out of your own way because you have such high levels of unmanaged stress, I invite you to connect with me on Instagram at Paul Salter coaching. Send me a DM that says stuck or stressed. And I’m glad to have a conversation with you, jump on a call if need be to learn more about where you feel stressed, why you’re struggling to manage that stress, and how I may be able to potentially help you unstuck yourself so you can get out of your own way and feel, look, and be the best version of you.

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. I hope you found it timely. I hope you found it valuable. Get clear on your stress management daily and weekly non-negotiables and go take action. And of course, if you found this episode valuable, you feel you know someone who would also benefit from today’s topic, please, it would mean the world to me share this episode with him or her, help them to unlock a more stress-free life. Well, thank you so much for being here. Have a wonderful rest of your day. And as always, screw the scale.