Keeping a food journal or tracking your daily food intake on apps like My Fitness Pal can be great for holding you accountable and conscious of what you are actually putting into your mouth every day. These methods may help you lose a few pounds in the beginning but for most people, long term, it just doesn’t work.

How many people do you know who have been counting calories or doing something like My Fitness Pal or Weight Watchers forever and they are still struggling with their weight? The truth of the matter is that it’s not as simple as eat less and move more. And using an online calculator to find your basal metabolic rate (how many calories you burn a day at rest) is not at all accurate.

So many people are frustrated by their lack of results. It’s not because they aren’t trying hard enough; it’s because there is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. Picking an abstract number or having a computer calculate a daily calorie count for you is not going to take into consideration how well your body breaks down, digests and assimilates the nutrients from your food. Nor are these methods taking into consideration how well your thyroid functions, how healthy your adrenals or hypothalamus are, or if your liver and cells are working efficient. These methods do not take into consideration your gut bacteria and how balanced it is. All of these important body workings play a vital role in what the body does with the food you eat: does it burn or store?

Working with a functional medicine practitioner who takes a proactive approach to health and can look at various factors like food sensitivities, hormonal imbalances, microorganism imbalances and various toxicities within the body to formulate a program that works with your body’s unique needs and getting to the root cause of health conditions is a great way to end the frustration and the constant trial and error approach and finally reach those health and fitness goals you deserve.

Erin Thole, CNHP

 Erin Thole, CNHP has been working in the health, nutrition and fitness field for over 11 years. To learn more and request a free consultation, email [email protected] or visit ErinThole.com. 

---

Erin Thole, CNHP - Minneapolis-St Paul, MN

As a natural healthcare practitioner, I see the body as one whole unit and am not interested in addressing symptoms; I am looking to get to the root of an individual’s health conditions. ... Read More »