Weight Management Is Complex

Let’s take a look at the factors that make weight complex

How many times have you heard “eat less, move more and you’ll lose weight”? Sounds simple, but how does that compare to your experience?  Not so simple.  Does it leave you thinking “what’s wrong with me, why is it not working?”.

It’s true that eating and activity are part of the weight management process, however they are just two of more than 200 different factors that influence your weight; factors you can control and factors you can’t. 

So, let’s look at the factors that make weight complex. 

Factors we have very little to no control over include genetics, hunger and reward signals, and medical conditions.  These factors have strong influence on weight. For example, 70% of your weight is influenced by genetics, and try as we might, we cannot change the genes we were born with.  We experience powerful hunger and reward messengers that have evolved over time to keep us safe from starvation.  We are only just beginning to learn how to manage these signals effectively with medication. There are also a variety of medical conditions that pose challenges to weight loss.

Factors we have more control over include medications, environment, and emotions.  Some medications taken for medical conditions are more weight gain promoting than other.  It may be possible to work with your care provider to choose a more weight friendly option.  

There is also the influence our surroundings have on our health.  Setting your environment – or parts of it that you control – up for success is key.  We don’t control our emotions, but we can control how we respond to our emotions.  If your emotions result in self-defeating behaviours, you can learn skills that stop you from reacting to your emotions in counter-productive ways. 

Factors we have the most control over include sleep, activity, and what we eat.  Ensuring positive self-care through good nutrition, movement and sleep takes work and requires skills and support. There is no one ‘right’ way to do this. With the help of a skilled team of specialists you can build an individualized plan that leads to lasting success.

Weight is not your fault.  It’s complex and there are effective treatments that build on nutrition and activity.