{"id":4515,"date":"2014-01-25T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/?p=4515"},"modified":"2022-08-25T22:24:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T03:24:51","slug":"weight-gain-temporary-defeat-or-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/weight-gain-temporary-defeat-or-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Weight gain: Temporary defeat or failure?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t<a href=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/diet.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Start diet today\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7220\" height=\"199\" src=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/diet-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/diet-300x199.jpg 300w, http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/diet.jpg 425w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Recently I gained a few pounds, enough to go up almost a whole pants size.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d be lying if I said it didn&rsquo;t bother me, especially since I teach weight loss, so what did I do?\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tLet&rsquo;s start with what I <em>didn&rsquo;t <\/em>do:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\tcall myself a loser with no willpower\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tpanic\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tengage in <strong>negative self-talk<\/strong> about how I have no self-control\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\thit the gym excessively and cut out all my favorite foods\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\ttell myself <strong>I&rsquo;m a slob who&rsquo;s fat, ugly<\/strong> and lazy\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tgo to a diet center\n\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\tget depressed\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tGaining weight was a clue my body was giving me to get my attention. &nbsp;About what though? &nbsp;Therein lies the rub&#8230;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThings were out of sorts, but I wasn&rsquo;t fully aware of it. &nbsp;I&#39;d been going along blindly, not realizing what was happening around me.&nbsp; As much as I know about losing weight, through my own experience and that of my clients, I find that there is always another layer if we haven&rsquo;t figured it out yet.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn this case, there were a number of factors at play that were influencing my results.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; My body desperately wanted me to move more so it used weight as a way to get me to notice. &nbsp;Straight up, I just wasn&#39;t doing enough. &nbsp;Anything really! &nbsp;I need to move. &nbsp;I require it. &nbsp;It feels good when I do, but sometimes &#8211; especially in the winter &#8211; I get lazy. &nbsp;I&#39;m more of a hermit, and all I want to do is stay in. &nbsp;Which for me, means <strong>curling up on the couch<\/strong> with a book and my cat, and doing nothing!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I had more sugar in my diet than I was willing to admit.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t3)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve been dealing with metabolic syndrome for years and didn&rsquo;t know it.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t4)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I started eating gluten and dairy again. &nbsp;I&#39;d been triggered emotionally, and didn&#39;t catch it, and I wanted comfort;&nbsp;both are comfort foods for me, but they make me bloat. &nbsp;(This is a big one, especially the emotional aspect!)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t5)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I was stuck in negative thought patterns about what I was saying to myself when I was eating certain foods, <strong>trying on clothes and how I felt in them<\/strong>, and my fear about gaining weight.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t6) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I was eating too fast.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t7) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I need to detox.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t8) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;My&nbsp;digestion was off due to the emotional turmoil I felt.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t9) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;It became obvious that<strong> my summer romance had triggered<\/strong> an unconscious negative reaction that threw me into an old pattern of using weight for protection.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSo I got to work.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI started with the most simple steps, so I cut the gluten and dairy again.&nbsp; It was obvious by how my body reacted that it was pleading with me to not eat them.&nbsp; I wasn&rsquo;t so convinced eliminating them had done me any good, so <strong>I did a food challenge<\/strong> on each one and found that my body just can&rsquo;t handle them, especially dairy.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNext, I upped my protein and fat intake which helped curb my sugar cravings, and got myself on an <a href=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/coaching\/\">enzyme protocol<\/a> to address metabolic syndrome as well as proper protein and fat digestion.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI&#39;ve been walking more. &nbsp;A&nbsp;lot more.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI paid attention to how fast I was eating &#8211; again, and when I was skipping meals which caused aggressive hunger.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI&rsquo;m starting a detox in February, and not just with food, but with particular&nbsp;people and places too.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI ended my relationship once I became aware that <strong>I had attracted in someone <\/strong>who jolted me on a subconscious level and I wound up feeling unsafe and&nbsp;uncertain.&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNote: This one can be super sneaky, but once it became obvious, I began to rely more on my mind for protection instead of&nbsp;my body, in the form of fat, however this skill can only be accomplished with awareness of your&nbsp;core emotional drivers and often times requires <a href=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/coaching\/\">coaching<\/a> to master.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAnd lastly, I became extremely cognizant of what I was saying to myself in regards to ANYTHING related to food and my body, and I realized that <em>this<\/em> was the #1 culprit!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tI had been walking around my whole life saying things to myself such as, &ldquo;This carb is bad,&rdquo; &ldquo;I feel&nbsp;fat,&rdquo; &ldquo;Fat scares me,&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not safe to be thin.&rdquo;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAll of it was mostly subconscious, and&nbsp;when I started to really examine my beliefs, it all started making sense why I would go up and down with my weight.&nbsp; Every time I lost weight, <strong>I was afraid I would gain it back,<\/strong> not to mention the fact that my body felt too vulnerable, so I would sabotage my eating and exercise routine and do exactly that &#8211; gain weight!&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tTo the contrary, when I was overweight, I kept thinking I needed to lose weight, but the energy associated with my thoughts was very negative, or resistant, to losing weight which would prevent it no matter what I did or how hard I tried. &nbsp;It was only every so often that I would break through and allow weight loss to happen, therefore it would, until I got so close to my goal that my subconscious kicked in, I&#39;d self-sabotage again, and I&rsquo;d shoot back up again.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tDevilish little bastard&nbsp;that subconscious!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNow, I could have looked at my recent results as a failure, because, after all, I got exactly what I don&rsquo;t want &#8211; consciously.&nbsp; But very little has to do with our conscious beliefs.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s much more about our subconscious, which is really in the driver&rsquo;s seat and is based on old programming instilled from youth and early adulthood.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn the past, I would&rsquo;ve definitely believed myself to be a failure, and yet this time, I chose to see it as <strong>an opportunity to learn something new<\/strong> and really find out what my body was trying to tell me, and it worked.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tMy body has already started changing.&nbsp; My clothes fit better.&nbsp; And I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">refuse<\/span> to think one negative thought about any of it.&nbsp; If I do, I immediately interrupt it and think a new, positive, more empowering one, because there&rsquo;s no chance my subconscious is going to outwit me this time!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t(Once you have awareness, you have no excuse.)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAm I losing it all overnight?&nbsp; No, but I didn&rsquo;t gain it overnight either.&nbsp; And I&#39;m ok with however long it takes my body to respond.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s its way, not mine, and I fully trust it will respond accordingly if I take the steps to fix things&nbsp;when it send me symptoms.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">Most people see weight gain as failure, just like I used to, but now, I see it as just temporary defeat. &nbsp;It&#39;s rea<\/span><span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">lly only<\/span><strong style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\"> a&nbsp;minor setback<\/strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\"> that&rsquo;s easily correctable once you pinpoint the exact cause,&nbsp;or causes.&nbsp; As with anything holistic, I&rsquo;m always in search of the big why, and so it goes for weight too. &nbsp;I get now&nbsp;that gaining weight is truly the best opportunity around to forge a new relationship with your body, and to get right with yourself.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Headshot 150x150 6 Truths I Learned (or Re Learned) This Year\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-5164\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Headshot-150x150.jpg\" style=\"border: 1px solid rgb(187, 187, 187); margin-top: 0.4em; display: inline; margin-right: 1.625em; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; padding: 6px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238);\" title=\"How to stop sugar cravings in 3 easy steps\" width=\"150\" \/>Angela Minelli is an Emotional Eating Coach and Digestive Health Expert, author, speaker and founder of Angela Minelli International, a heart-based global business serving purpose-driven women entrepreneurs whose self-image and weight issues are inhibiting their confidence and blocking them from pursuing their life&rsquo;s passion.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t<span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">Angela&#39;s joy is in taking a stand for women who are living less than ideal lives, stopped by<\/span><strong style=\"font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">&nbsp;<\/strong><strong style=\"font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">unnecessary fears that prevent them from stepping into their power<\/strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">&nbsp;and delivering their God-given genius to the world. &nbsp;As such, her&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/coaching\/\" style=\"font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(25, 130, 209); text-decoration: none;\" title=\"coaching\">coaching<\/a><span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">&nbsp;programs and&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/store\/products\/\" style=\"font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(25, 130, 209); text-decoration: none;\" title=\"products\">products<\/a><span style=\"line-height: 1.6em;\">&nbsp;are designed for women with complex lifestyles yet allow for powerful transformation to take place within a small segment of time. &nbsp;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs a natural health practitioner, Angela&nbsp;specializes in helping men and women naturally balance hormones,&nbsp;overcome emotional eating issues,&nbsp;stop sugar cravings, reverse adrenal fatigue, Candida, and optimize&nbsp;digestion&nbsp;through&nbsp;holistic,<span style=\"border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">&nbsp;non-invasive&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">protocols.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I gained a few pounds, enough to go up almost a whole pants size.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d be lying if I said it didn&rsquo;t bother me, especially since I teach weight loss, so what did I do? Let&rsquo;s start with what I didn&rsquo;t do: call myself a loser with no willpower panic engage in negative self-talk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15,17,20,26,28],"tags":[310,458,663,719,757,779,780,781,788,820,870,875,1188,1189,1332,1334,1335,1338],"class_list":["post-4515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emotional-eating-2","category-holistic-health-and-wellness","category-inspiration-2","category-overcome-overeating","category-stop-sugar-cravings","category-weight-loss","tag-control-emotional-eating","tag-emotional-eating-tips","tag-healthy-ways-to-lose-weight","tag-how-to-avoid-emotional-eating","tag-how-to-lose-weight-naturally","tag-how-to-stop-emotional-binge-eating","tag-how-to-stop-emotional-eating","tag-how-to-stop-emotional-eating-and-lose-weight","tag-how-to-stop-sugar-cravings","tag-i-need-help-losing-weight","tag-lose-weight","tag-lose-weight-naturally","tag-stress-and-emotional-eating","tag-stress-eating","tag-ways-to-stop-emotional-eating","tag-weight-gain","tag-weight-loss","tag-weight-loss-cleveland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14829,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions\/14829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}