• Decide to lose weight.
• Engage in extreme calorie deprivation and punishing workouts.
• Lose some weight.
• Relax and enjoy life.
• Regain the weight.
• Repeat.

Doesn’t this fall under the popular definition of insanity - doing something over and over and expecting a different result? It’s not only insane, but it’s making us miserable. And it might even be making it harder to lose weight in the long run.

Clearly this diet approach isn’t working as well as we had hoped. The reason it’s not working is weight loss is much more complex than just simple calorie math. We also have to take into account hormones, habits, stress, toxins, sleep, nutrition, meal timing, and food sensitivities. This list might make you want to run screaming, but the good news is that although the biochemistry is complex, there are simple nutrition and lifestyle solutions that can really help most people permanently reach thinner peace.

If you think about it, it’s kind of funny how most of us make the same resolutions every year. Come January 1st, we feel renewed passion for healthier eating, exercising more, and losing weight. We’re really going to do it this time! But a mere few weeks later, most of us are back to business as usual, and not making progress on those goals. So why do we do it? Are we unrealistic optimists? Do we have ADD? Are we insane? Einstein might think so.

The reality is that we’re complex people, living in a complex world. We’re busy. Life happens. Schedules get disrupted. Our energy and enthusiasm ebbs and flows. We get confused by conflicting information streaming at us from every direction. Sometimes we just want to throw our hands in the air and give up.

When ultra processed, nutrient devoid foods started becoming standard in our diet, we naturally needed to worry about getting enough of some nutrients and too much of others.

Scientists have spent lifetimes calculating the nutrient needs of the average American. Although these numbers are interesting to know, precise measurements of nutrients are only really important in extreme situations like hospital or institutional diets.

In regular daily life, if you eat a variety of whole foods and pay attention to your hunger and satiety cues, nature takes care of the calculations for you - with nutrients, metabolism, and hunger/satiety! Switching from highly processed foods to natural whole foods provides you with all of the nutrients you need for excellent health - the perfect ratios and amounts.