The Psychology of Weight Loss: Coronado Health Coach Breaks it Down

What are the most important things to remember when you’re trying to lose weight and get healthy? Esther Avant, a local author and health coach breaks it down for us in her new book, To Your Health. Not only does Avant have 20 years experience in the health and wellness industry and has been featured in media outlets like In Style and Pop Sugar, she has helped guide countless individuals toward achieving their goals—both in health and beyond.

After all, the statistics are staggering. According to the latest reports, close to 70% of American women are overweight. Even more worrisome? Obesity rates for women have tripled since the 1990s.

But when many women try to lose weight, they aren’t successful. What gives?

“There are extremes, fad diets, and really bad options that won’t work the long term,” said Avant in a phone interview. “While I don’t believe that your weight is your value or your worth, there are many people who have reasons to want to improve their health. And if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it in a way that works and lasts.”

But there are some proven methods that women can use to lose weight and keep it off, without suffering in other aspects of their lives. Here are some of the tips she talks about in the book.

Living in the Messy Middle

First of all, don’t aim for perfection. Life happens, so it’s totally okay to live in the “messy middle,” says Avant.

“You might have a perfect plan and goals, but life happens,” said Avant.

For example, your baby keeps you up all night and your workout plans get derailed. But that doesn’t mean you need to drop your efforts altogether.

“There is so much emphasis on what’s optimal, and what’s the best way to do everything,” said Avant. “But we’re not robots living in a lab. People have dynamic lives with lots of things going on that we can’t really anticipate.”

The problem is, according to Avant, many people get stuck between wanting to do things perfectly, and giving up if those goals aren’t achieved. Just because you didn’t sleep and you’re having a bad day doesn’t mean you should abandon your weight loss efforts. You don’t have to do everything, but do something.

“The reality is that giving the best effort that you can, every day, given the circumstances, is going to be better than nothing,” she said. “Once you do this, you realize how much more livable it is. Once you develop the skills and self-trust to come up with a Plan B and you execute it, it’s always better than giving up on the whole thing.”

Coming up with Your Own Personal Minimum 

So, what do you do on the days when everything falls apart? Your workouts get scrubbed and you’re running out of time.  Avant says it’s important to develop your own, personal “Bare A— Minimum,” or B.A.M.

While it might be tempting to continually try to raise the ceiling and set your own personal best, sometimes that’s just not possible. Moreover, it can be damaging, because if you don’t consistently set new personal bests, you’re going to feel defeated.

“But if you focus on the floor, you can focus on the minimum that you can expect from yourself given everything that’s going on in your life, you’ll still feel like you’ve showed up for yourself in some way,” said Avant.

Avant says that some days, she knows that hitting 10,000 steps isn’t going to happen. But at the very least, she can commit to 5,000 steps, even if that means pacing around the house at the end of the day. The key, she says, is setting a realistic goal that you know you can accomplish no matter what life throws at you.

Then, little by little, you can start elevating the floor.

“You’ll feel a lot more successful and will have more momentum if you’re honest about your B.A.M. and then you can gradually elevate it over time,” said Avant.

Confront the Truth about Calorie Burn

Avant always considered herself a very active person as she works out most days a week. So, it came as a rude awakening when she learned that exercise represents only about 5% of daily calories burned. That pales in comparison to our non-exercise movement, which represents 15% of daily expenditure.

“Outside of my workouts, I was actually pretty sedentary,” said Avant. “I wasn’t taking walks for pleasure and I wasn’t doing active hobbies. I was pretty much sitting or lying around the 23 other hours of the day.”

What this means is that, although exercise is very important, there’s a big window of improvement when it comes to general activity that you can focus on.

“Especially somewhere like San Diego, where the weather is cooperative most of the time, you can get outside and take a walk. Whether it’s breaking up your workday and taking several ten minute walks a day, or maybe starting or ending your day with a walk, start thinking about looking for ways to increase your activity,” she said.

Avant suggests coordinating an active hobby with friends, instead of defaulting to coffee or happy hour or dinner.

“Don’t think about how to work out more, think about you can create a more active lifestyle that you actually enjoy,” she said. “This could be something like pickleball, or anything that gets you moving, ideally outside, that will help contribute to your non-exercise calorie burn without stealing your life.”

Eating more Protein and Fiber

Avant suggests focusing on protein when you’re trying to lose weight. It will help you with satiety and also help build and retain muscle.

“If you drastically under eat, you might lose weight rapidly. But it not only will it come back, but most of that weight lost on the scale is muscle, not fat,” she said.

And if you’re focusing on fiber, there’s a good chance you’re eating plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes, and naturally reducing the more highly-processed, hyper palatable snack foods, according to Avant.

“Most of us don’t get nearly enough fiber, so if you’re focusing on it, you’re already taking things in the right direction,” she said.

Avant suggests making it as convenient as possible to eat fiber and protein. She says she has things like shrimp cocktail, hard-boiled eggs and deli meat on the ready. She also has bowls of fruits or veggies, and often eats raspberries and avocado.

Cardio vs. Strength Training

While many women focus on cardio to lose weight, it’s better to prioritize strength training, says Avant.

“I don’t want to come across like cardio is bad or you shouldn’t be doing it, but in the women I’ve worked with, cardio is so over-emphasized and other important things are getting overshadowed,” she said.

Avant says that, if you enjoy it, it’s great if you want to run go for bike rides or other things you enjoy. But generally, we are steeped in the belief that when you exercise, it should be cardio-based and it’s for max calories.  But that means we’re often overlooking how important our daily movement is outside of our workouts, and the important role of strength training.

“If you’re constantly doing cardio, you aren’t making strength-training a priority,” said Avant. “So I recommend flipping that on its head, and make movement and strength training the priority of the week, and filling in the gaps with the other stuff that you enjoy.”

Essentially, she recommends three days of full-body strength workouts, which leaves you with the majority of the week to do other things, whether that’s yoga, Pilates or cardio.

“There’s room for it all,” said Avant. “But generally we aren’t intentional and strategic about it, which means we neglect strength which is one of the most important things.”

Sleep and Stress

While getting more sleep might not feel like it’s a step towards weight loss, Avant says that, for many women, it’s the best way to start.

“Lack of sleep, in the short term, might not be a huge deal. But in the long run, when you’re under-rested, it has a whole cascade effect,” said Avant. “When you’re tired, you’re less likely to exercise or move the rest of the day. You’ll also be more likely to crave hyper-palatable foods that don’t give you nutrients.”

You’re also more likely to rely on caffeine and then turn around and drink alcohol to help you wind down which impacts your sleep. Avant says lack of sleep can also mess with your hormones and keep your cortisol constantly elevated, which keeps your nervous system in fight or flight.

Which can lead to stress. Unfortunately, according to Avant, many women are in a chronic state of stress, which wracks havoc on bodies.

“You can do all the things, but if you address the underlying stress, it will make the process much easier and enjoyable.

Parting Words

While Avant doesn’t address weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic in her book—it was published just before they exploded onto the scene—she says they can help with weight loss for the right people. But at the end of the day, they’re just a tool.

“It’s important to develop the good habits first, and make sure that you’re not hoping for something that takes all of the responsibility off you,” said Avant.

She says she wants women to remember that they can lose weight through diet and exercise in a way that’s both manageable and joyful.

“Losing weight doesn’t have to be mean feeling miserable or deprived,” said Avant. “You can lose weight doing the things that you like and enjoying your life. And if that’s the case, that’s very good reason to start.”

The best part? The skills you will learn from working on your health are applicable in your personal life and career.

“If there’s one thing you can do to make your life better across the board, why wouldn’t you do it?” she asked.

Readers can learn more about Avant and her approach to healthy living and weight loss at her website, estheravant.com. Her book is for sale on Amazon.