The Struggle To Lose Weight Is Real, Even for Some Plant-Based Eaters + Drop It Club Can Help

Our present-day human bodies are biologically designed to hang on to excess calories because, for most of human history, we were in a state of feast or famine. Thousands of years ago, before the age of agriculture, the body’s ability to store excess calories when food was plentiful and use those calories when food was scarce was a survival advantage that could have meant the difference between life and death. 

Fast forward to today: We have the same bodies as our ancient ancestors, but most of us don’t have to worry about going days or weeks without food. Calories are accessible, cheap, and available 24/7. Having such easy access to food is new to human history, and our bodies haven’t evolved to compensate for the excess. Our environment has changed at warp speed—our bodies have not. 

To top it off, we’re wired to prefer calorie-rich foods because back in the feast or famine days, they would keep us going for longer. This survival mechanism is why we’re drawn more to calorie-rich foods than nutrient-dense foods even now. The next time you have a plate of food with several items on it, notice how you naturally go for the richest item on the plate first.

All this to say—if your body is carrying extra weight, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

Again, for the people in the back, there is nothing wrong with you. 

You aren’t flawed. 
You don’t lack willpower. 
You aren’t bad or wrong.
You aren’t less than or hopeless. 

Your body is having a perfectly normal response to an abnormal food environment. 

In order to reach a natural weight for our frames (which is a different number for everyone), we need to adjust to our current day environment because evolution hasn’t done that yet. 

The struggle to lose weight is real.

We’re going up against human evolution, which has us storing every excess calorie that enters our mouths and biological wiring to choose the most calorie-rich foods. That would be fine if we were eating the food of 13,000 years ago, but we are definitely not surviving on twigs, berries, seeds, roots, wild greens, a few nuts here and there, and the occasional animal that fed the whole tribe. Today, it’s a much different food story. A story where there’s an estimated $14 billion spent annually on marketing ultra-processed foods* to consumers in the United States alone. It’s no wonder that between 2021 and 2023, the CDC estimated that 40.3% of all adults living in the U.S. were obese. 

I’m not in the camp of skinny = beautiful. That’s just dumb. Beauty has nothing to do with body size or shape. I am in the camp of living the healthiest life possible for as long as possible, and what we know is that statistically, the more overweight a person is, the more likely they are to have a whole range of health complications, from arthritis, to diabetes to cancer*.

The human body is designed to hang on to excess calories, yes. But it is not designed to be overweight. Once our weight is above what’s best for our frame, health problems are more likely to creep in. 

I see so many people struggling with weight, even in our community of plant-based eaters. I want to hug all of them, sit them down on my porch swing, and say it’s not your fault! Between evolution, biology, and the accessibility of food, of course you’re struggling. Take my hand. Let’s tackle this together once and for all. 

Sure, there are countless ways to lose weight. Diets, weight loss drugs, exercise, and different ways of eating, but if you’re going to go through the process of losing weight, you may as well do it in the healthiest way possible, with the best chance of keeping it off. And that just so happens to be with a plant-powered approach. Why? One of many reasons is that plants are packed with fiber, giving them bulk, so we can eat more of them while naturally eating fewer calories. This means your body will have less to cling to for dear life and you won’t feel constantly hungry. It’s a win from every angle.

After years in the making, I’m beyond excited to tackle this together with our upcoming signature membership, Drop It Club.

We’ll work together to help you lose weight for the last time. Check out all the details here and snag an exclusive pre-launch deal!

I would love to have you in the Club. ❤️

Sign up now, and I’ll see you in January. 

Xo
Molly

Sources:

• CDC: Selected health conditions and risk factors
• UConn Research on Food Marketing