Weight loss & nutrition: how our perception of our physique can lead to poor food choices

Did you know that how we feel about our figure can have an immense impact on the foods and fluids that we choose to consume? In order to highlight how our perception of our physique can push us to make poor food choices, here are three weight related worries that can hinder our health for (very) different reasons...

 1. Specific body dissatisfaction. 
Although we can't spot reduce fat, those who frequently feel self-conscious about the squishiness of specific parts of their physique (think tubby tummies and thicker thighs) are particularly prone to drastic dieting - an action that regularly results in them neglecting their nutritional needs (self-starvation/skipped meals etc) and resorting to foods and fluids that (they feel) are 'healthy' yet fail to satisfy them on a psychological and physiological scale (we're talking the so-called slimming shakes, soups and sugar sweetened snack bars that leave us feeling famished, fatigued and failing to fight the flab in the long-term).

 2. A 'bigger' body - overweight and obesity.
Despite drastic dieting being a common consequence of feeling self-conscious about our shape and size, those with weight worries can also turn to energy dense/nutrient deficient food sources in an attempt to find comfort in calories - a prevalent problem that has a tendency to tempt them towards the tasty 'treats' (think calorific cakes, chocolate and confectionery) that further tighten their trousers whilst triggering toxic thoughts of guilt, shame and self-loathing.

 3. Slimmed down silhouettes. 
Although successful slimmers are still susceptible to subjecting themselves to self-starvation and drastic dieting when their weight fluctuates for the worst, many become besotted with ensuring that they only eat the most 'health enhancing' foods and fluids available in order to avoid accumulating additional weight again - a seemingly sensible choice until we consider that many so-called 'healthier' foods and fluids can still be high in salt (meat free substitutes), sugar (smoothies) and saturated fat (coconut containing sources such as coconut oil). 

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