If you have been battling unwanted pounds or gained weight over the holidays, you are not alone. There are many reasons we maintain unwanted pounds and even gain weight – all of which are within your control. More people die from feasting than from famine, so its important to remember that overeating is a crime against yourself, your health and your overall wellness.

In this New Year, it’s time to understand how to gain control of your food choices and the reasons that go into those choices.

10 reasons we keep gaining the FAT

Emotional eating. Often it is not the food, but the emotion behind it. The food fills a void we have not yet learned to deal with in a healthy way. As children, we are taught to either talk about our feelings or bury and feed them, and often, we carry this into adulthood.
Control issues. Growing up we may have been told to clean our plates, been forbidden to eat certain foods or made to eat others. When we become adults capable of making our own decisions, “the rules” no longer apply. If you try to follow a diet, you fail, because you’re looking at it as another set of rules. However, if you can change the game and say to yourself, “These are my guidelines and should I choose to follow them, I can be in control of my foods. I am sick of my foods controlling me.” This tends to reset your brain and allows you to feel in control which enables you to better follow your food plan.
Eating too much. Bottom line, if you’re eating more than the calories you’re expending, you will store the excess as fat. Your body cannot break down too many calories in one sitting. Everyone is different depending on the calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars you need, but if you’re not using the calories you’re eating, you’re storing the calories you’re eating as FAT.
Waiting too long in-between meals. You need to work with your body’s natural metabolic rate, not against it. If you’re only eating one or two meals a day, your metabolism will slow down to accommodate; however, fasting at night (say, 7pm to 7am) is a good idea to give your digestion time to rest and heal.
Not eating enough calories for your expended energy. If you exercise extensively and restrict your calorie intake, your metabolism will slow down to accommodate and your body will burn muscle first and store fat. Your body needs the calories to maintain muscle for energy expenditure.
Not eating correctly. If you go on fad-based, packaged food diets that are full of chemicals and preservatives to keep them shelf stable, you’re wrecking your health. If you eat too much protein and not enough complex carbohydrates, you will store fat and burn glycogen in the muscle – so you become a “thinner fat person.” You also put undue stress on your kidneys, additionally damaging your health.
Not drinking enough water. 65 percent of your body is water. If you’re in a constant state of dehydration, your body will hold onto fat and burn muscle first. Water is stored around fat cells, so burning fat will not occur if you’re dehydrated. Being in a state of dehydration will also increase your risk of heart attack by 50 percent. Without water, your body will perish, so drink more water.
Hormone changes. You can address this through your diet and natural hormone creams. Once addressed, your body can operate as normal again.
Not providing needed nutrients. Your individual body may need certain vitamins, minerals and enzymes to help it heal health issues you have developed over your lifetime. Once you give your body the correct nutrients it needs, you may find you no longer need unwanted medications as the body starts to heal and operate as it should.
Simply over-indulging. Eating or drinking too much alcohol will create imbalance in the body which will be stored in places you do not wish to see it.

Change your diet; change your life. If you continue to eat and drink all the things that brought you to where you are now – frustrated, overweight or underweight and unhealthy, then take the time and make the choices you need to create change. The definition of insanity is to continue to do what is not working and expecting change to happen. Little consistent changes will create bigger and more remarkable changes. Moderation is a key element and, initially cutting out incorrect nutrients while adding correct nutrients, will allow the body to change and heal. This doesn’t mean you will never eat certain foods again; it just means once you reach your goal, moderation will be your friend.

Happy New Year, Everyone! Wishing you a happy, successful and great 2020!

Dr. Beckner is an author and owner of Your Body Code in Palm Desert which offers personalized nutrition and wellness programs. For more information, visit www.yourbodycode.com or call (760) 341.2639.