5 Reasons Weight Loss Doesn’t Lead to Greater Happiness

 

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Is weight loss the key to your happiness?

In this episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast, I’m going to talk about why weight loss won’t lead to greater happiness in your life. I’m going to share five reasons why it won’t make you happier. 

What I discuss:

  1. Weight loss doesn’t address your underlying emotions.

  2. Weight loss doesn’t solve your problems. 

  3. Restriction doesn’t lead to happiness.

  4. The societal pressure to conform to a certain body size and shape can also lead to body dissatisfaction and a negative body image, even after weight loss.

  5. Focusing on weight loss doesn’t allow you to live life the way you actually want to live it.

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Transcript:

Hey. Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal 5 minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with Me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real. Let's get it. Let's go.

So you think that weight loss is finally the answer to being happy? I get this all the time, hundreds of times on a monthly basis, whether it's in my programs, it's in my direct messages, it's in emails. I do I get this a lot. People still just have this underlying belief that weight loss is the answer to them feeling happier. And I want to challenge that belief.

I really am going to share five reasons why I personally don't believe that it will make you happier. I want you to have an open mind, an open heart, and I want you to know that I'm just a sister coming into your life, wanting to speak truth into your life, and wanting to remind you that weight loss itself is not going to lead you to greater happiness and kind of just give you some context to why I'm a firm believer in that. But before we dive in, I want to share this review comes from overall sacrifice serving and said beautiful, human, beautiful message.

Thank you for helping me change my mindset. I love this super simple review. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send this review and it genuinely means the world. I'm am grateful that this podcast is helping you change your mindset.

That's my hope and that's my prayer. And if you haven't already read it and reviewed the podcast or you haven't done it in a while, I'm going to ask you to scootch over to Apple Podcasts. I would love to know maybe a specific episode that has helped you or just in general, how this podcast has helped you. It not only helps us kind of just on the charts, which just in turn essentially just means we're able to reach more women, but it also helps me and our team know kind of what is helping you in terms of content on the podcast so that we can bring you more or less of something. So thank you. I appreciate you. You are amazing.

Let's dive in. Number one, weight loss does not address your underlying emotions. I think one of the main reasons that losing weight does not lead to happiness is that it often fails to really address the underlying emotional or physiological issues that are really driving us to overeating and weight gain in the first place. Like for many people, overeating and weight gain are coping mechanisms for stress or for anxiety or for depression or other emotional challenges, And losing weight may temporarily improve physical health. And for sure, no doubt it helps with your mental health. But I think that it really, you know, it won't solve the underlying emotional struggles that are driving you to under eat or overeat or whatever the issue is. And I think that it's important that we peel back the layers and ask ourselves, okay, what are the underlying emotions that are actually leading to this destructive behavior, this toxic pattern?

Number two, weight loss doesn't solve your problems. If you're feeling unhappy in your life, you have to remember that weight loss itself isn't going to solve it. Like it's not going to solve the messy relationship or the job that you hate or whatever it is. You have to get to the root of the unhappiness, because the thing is, if you don't get to the root of your unhappiness, regardless of where your body is, you'll still be in the same spot. If you don't fix that root cause, you're going to think, Oh, once I become exercise, then I'll be happier and X, Y, and Z, and then you'll get there, you'll get to that exercise or your you'll achieve your weight loss goals and you'll realize, oh my gosh, like I'm still unhappy. So I want to encourage you to really get to the root of the issue. If you hate your job, look for a new job. If you dislike kind of the friends that are around there, they're really negative. They're not a good impact in your life. They're not a good role model. Try to look for new friends. If you have relationship issues, what is the root underlying issue there? Like address the issue. Don't just try to put a Band-Aid on it, because I promise you, at some point you're going to have to rip off the Band-Aid. And I might as well you might as well realize that weight loss itself isn't the answer to everything. Like you've got to address your problems. And I know it's hard and I know it sucks and it's messy, but you're going to thank yourself when you actually take the time to address the underlying issue instead of just blatant putting this blanket statement like, Oh, if I just, you know, lose weight, then it'll all become better.

Number three restriction doesn't lead to happiness. Most often in the pursuit of weight loss can be very highly restrictive and very like have a disordered approach to eating. And this can lead to feelings of guilt and shame and preoccupation with food, which can have a very negative impact on your mental health. And I think that, you know, the overall restrictive nature of weight loss diets can also lead to a very distorted relationship with food. It can cause you to view certain foods as. Good or bad, and leading you to overeat on certain foods. I completely, you know, having this compulsive kind of just emotions around food or other like disordered ways of eating. And we just have to remember that restriction itself. It will never lead you down a path of happiness, ever, ever, ever. It will only ever lead you down. This this scarcity mindset that will 100% impact your relationship on your body and your food.

Number four, the societal pressure to conform to a certain body size and shape can also lead to high body dissatisfaction, which, you know, in turn leads you to negative body image even after weight loss. Like you could have your goal weight, but when you actually reach it, you might not still be happy. Like more times than not, you're you're still going to be very unhappy. You might even think that you need to lose more weight, so then you lose more weight and then you realize that you're still not happy and the cycle just continues. And this can be very damaging for women who are already struggling with low self-esteem or body image issues. The pursuit of weight loss can lead to this never ending cycle of weight loss and weight gain, causing, you know, individuals to become trapped in this cycle of self-criticism and disappointment. I know, for example, I'll give you just a personal example. When I was two days out from my last bikini competition, the last time I'll ever step foot on a stage for four five judges to judge me solely based on my body, I was at the lowest body fat percentage I'd ever been. I had a visible six pack on the verge of an eight pack. It's crazy. Like I didn't even know that my abs. I didn't even know that they could be like that. But I think back and I remember texting my coach, it might have been the night before the show, and I remember texting a picture saying, Oh my gosh, do I need to? What do I need to do? I feel watery. I don't feel like my best. I feel like I could still lose, you know, a little bit more in my midsection. Like, is this going to be acceptable for the judges? And I look back at those photos now and it like makes me so it makes me want to slap 2014 Julie like genuinely slap her and be like, what are you thinking? You were so lean. And yet I had this negative, distorted image of my body. And that was just a perfect example that you can have the most physically fit shower. But if you are not man prioritizing your mental health and your spiritual health, like it doesn't matter what goals you achieve, you will still struggle with it. You will still struggle with this dissatisfaction and it's super damaging. And so I don't want you to think like, oh, if I, you know, achieve X, Y and Z, then I won't have body image issues. I can promise you, if that is your sole focus of getting to exercise, you will have body image issues and they will be even worse than they were before. Like it will be so detrimental to your mental health. So please remember that.

And lastly, number five, solely focusing on weight loss does not and will never allow you to live the way that you actually want to live. Like, think about it. Would you genuinely live a life that you enjoyed, that life that you're proud of? If you are constantly in this weight loss mode? Like how many girls nights would you have missed? How many birthday parties or meals or anniversary meals would you have missed? Or maybe you're physically there, but mentally you're not there at all. Like you are so checked out because you have this goal. You have this fixation on like, I just need to be smaller, I need to get to this X weight. And I'm just telling you, like, man, you have to remember that when you solely focus on that, you will look back and feel so sad for the time and the seasons that you wasted. I look back in my college years and, you know, I'm grateful that I went through this experience because if I didn't go through this experience, I wouldn't be on this podcast sharing it with you. But I would have spent so much time, man, like with friends and family and I would have enjoyed meals and I wouldn't have been so stressed and it wouldn't have to lie like I wouldn't have had to lie my way out of so many different events because I was so scared on about food and about, you know, what food is there and what food can I not eat. And oh my gosh, I'm going to feel so, you know, so fat after I eat this like all these things. And I just want you to imagine what your life would look like if you didn't live in this weight loss mode. And just imagine. I didn't like how much more rich your life would be if you're able to focus on the memories and and time spent with loved ones so that you can get to the end of your life and be proud of the way that you spent your time.

I hope that these five points really showed you that weight loss is not everything. Like weight loss will not bring you the happiness that you might believe that it will. And I believe what will bring you happiness is actually focusing on what it is that is disturbing your peace, what it is that is leading to severe unhappiness, these underlying emotions and actually addressing them head on instead of just putting this blanket statement like, oh, if I was just smaller, this wouldn't happen to me. Or if I just, you know, lost this weight, it wouldn't happen to me.

And that's just not the case. Like, what will bring you Happiness is nourishing your body with what it needs and honoring your body with what it deserves. And then going and living the life that you want to live. Because I believe when you focus on just those two things, you focus on nourishing your body with what it needs and honoring your body with the movement that it deserves, then you're able to truly live your life. And as a result, those healthy habits over time, those stack and over time, the small disciplines of consistently nourishing your body and consistently moving your body and not depriving yourself of food and not feeling guilty when you eat X, Y, and Z or not move.

You know, just focusing on this consistent, imperfect action, you will come to find that you actually will achieve more than you could have ever imagined. And the most beautiful part about that is that once you get there, like and it never went to say like, man, like our goals are never just like we get there and that's it. And then we'll never have a goal again. Like it's constantly evolving. But once you achieve a specific goal that maybe you had, but you'll realize that over time you'll be able to achieve more than you have ever imagined. And that's the most beautiful part about it. And I want that for you. I want you to experience all these things.

I don't want you to feel punishment or guilt or shame. And I believe when you let go of that, and when you are truly able to release those things, you'll finally experience a deeper gratitude for the things in your life and you'll experience true joy. And it will no longer be attached to a certain pant size or a certain number on the scale. And instead, like you'll truly be able to live your life in the most vibrant version of yourself and balanced version of yourself. And it's beautiful.

So let me recap those five things that I talked about today. Number one, weight loss doesn't address your underlying emotions. Number two. Weight loss doesn't solve your problems. Number three, restriction will never lead to happiness. Number four, the societal pressure to conform to a certain body size and shape can also lead to body dissatisfaction, thus having negative body image even after weight loss. And lastly, number five, focusing on weight loss doesn't allow you to live the life that you actually want to live.

If you needed to hear this today, I highly recommend you go and check out Embrace your real on Instagram. This Instagram account has all the golden nuggets from each episode. So if you're like, Man, I really want to hear this. Like, are I? What was she saying about X, Y, and Z? It will will likely have a Instagram reel on there. I also post these reels on Pinterest, so if you're not following me on Pinterest, you can just type in Julie A Yes, yes. That's with an A in the middle Ledbetter, it's Julie A Ledbetter, and I hope that that podcast Instagram serves you and I hope that this episode served you and it gave you kind of a, you know, just something to think about.

Food for thought. I love you so dang much if you have a friend or a coworker or someone in your life that you feel like would benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram or social media platform that you are on. And that is all that I have for today. I will talk to you is the best thing for you. All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie. A Ledbetter. Yes, It's within in the middle for that daily poser about real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.

 
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