Last week I was sitting in my favourite coffee shop sipping on a nice warm beverage whilst working away on my laptop catching up with some admin.

I’d been there around 30 mins before a familiar face caught my eye – a friendly chap called Mike who I remembered from a few years back at a networking event…

…although I barely recognised him as he’d gained a significant amount of weight since I last saw him.

I wasn’t sure he’d recognised me, but as he was leaving and walking past my table, he spoke to me:

“Hey, Luke! How’s everything going with the business?” he asked.

“Great thanks, Mike!”, I replied before continuing the conversation and asking him how things were with him.

He went on to explain how his business was doing well but he was struggling with his weight and health – always feeling tired and overwhelmed and growing more frustrated at his increasing weight and waist line.

I try to help people whenever I can so I invited him to have a seat and discuss these issues further.

I asked a few questions before exploring a few potential solutions with him, focusing around his nutrition.

After some discussion Mike said to me “…but I just don’t have time to eat” before wishing me well and excusing himself to get back to his business loaded with a very large coffee in hand.

I’ve heard other people say this before as well and I can’t help but think it’s crazy…

In terms of keeping us alive, eating is pretty much up there with breathing, keeping warm and sleeping, I’m sure you’ll agree?

Why then do Mike (and many others) think they don’t have time to eat? What is it filling their days that’s more important than this essential human need?

Truthfully, it could be any number of things; stress, overwhelm, lack of priority, lack of education or understanding or a combination of the above.

Regardless of the cause, it’s not sustainable…

I know from experience that the vast majority of people who come to work with us are UNDER-eating when I analyse their food diaries.

This comes as a shock to most people, who think if they eat more, they’ll gain weight.

The truth is, by under-eating you are depriving your body of the nutrients it needs, FORCING it to adapt for self-preservation.

Essentially, your body thinks it’s starving and will do what it needs to do to survive. It’ll slow down the metabolic rate, hold on to fat and make fat burning (weight loss) nearly impossible…

Why would it burn fat for fuel during exercise if it thinks it’s starving? Fat is our energy storage for getting us through the lean times (when food wasn’t abundant).

Add stress, lack of exercise and other poor lifestyle choices to the mix, and you’ll find yourself struggling to lose weight whilst seemingly gaining weight very quickly…

Perhaps you’re nodding your head reading this?

It’s actually very common…

…and MOST exercise/diet plans won’t work for you without FIRST re-establishing a baseline; gradually bringing your calories back up to where they should be and creating a consistent, reliable eating schedule – convincing your body/brain it’s NOT starving.

I know this sounds complicated, but it’s very simple with a structured plan. We’re here to help and can show you how. Find out more here.