Is unwanted weight a nutritional deficiency?

Naturally Nic plant-based Dietitian purchasing a red capsicum
Naturally Nic plant-based Dietitian picking a red capsicum

Is blaming your unwanted weight on a nutritional deficiency another distraction like blaming your midlife hormones for weight that won’t budge?

Just like there are dozens of reasons why we get a headache there are a plethora of reasons why those kilos have crept on over the last decade or two.

It could be a wonky thyroid, perimenopause/menopause, years of dieting (metabolism), medications, alcohol, or just plain old excess calories to requirements.

The nutritional deficiency theory is complicated because even your seemingly healthy diet could be nutritionally deficient…but how would you know?

Even people who have a healthy body weight can have a nutritionally deficient diet.

So I definitely encourage my clients to get an annual blood test because it’s the only way to truly know if what you’re eating is giving you what you need.

However, why don’t we start by increasing the nutrients in your diet…like now?

Only 8% of the Australian population eat enough vegetables…are you a part of the 8?

Well done if you are part of the elite 8%.

To be honest most women are more concerned about losing weight than making sure they get all the vitamins and minerals they need…

And I don’t blame them – feeling frustrated because your weight won’t budge is no fun.

But it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Losing weight while you learn how to nourish your body is what I teach.

Getting those kilos to shift can be challenging because our mid-life hormones and slowing metabolism do work against us.

However, this is not the core issue.

In the majority of cases, unwanted weight is because women are trying their darndest to eat healthily, but in reality, they’re simply consuming too many calories.

Now before you give me the flick…

I DO NOT COUNT CALORIES – BUT I KNOW WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM

We’ve been misled into thinking that because healthy fats are well…healthy… we can eat them without restraint.

Can you see yourself splooshing olive oil over salads, roast veges, in your cooking, grabbing handfuls of nuts throughout the day, and eating avocado for breakfast lunch, and dinner?

And in the meantime, 92% of people aren’t eating enough vegetables.

And it’s never going to be the vegetables that are responsible for your gradual weight gain.

Vegetables contain 150 – 400 calories per pound, whereas oil is 4000 calories per pound…see how easy it is to consume too many calories when using olive oil ad Infinitum.

I know when I say eat more vegetables, you automatically think of steamed vegetables – so I spent some time in the kitchen and did a series of 10 vegetables, with 4 recipes for each.

You can check out my Vegetable Recipe series on my YouTube channel here http://bit.ly/NaturallyNicYouTube and go to the PLANT-BASED RECIPES playlist.