• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

FREE video: Get your gut feeling better today!   Get the video »

Katie Vigesaa RD

Online Nutrition Course to Restart Your Metabolism

  • About
    • Meet Katie
    • Work With Me
  • Best You Plan
    • Best You Plan: 2021
    • Best You Plan: Men’s Beta
  • Blog
  • Favorite Things
  • Contact
  • My Account
    • Login
    • Best You Plan
    • Holiday Thrive Challenge
    • Inner Circle
  • My Account
    • Best You Plan
    • Inner Circle
    • Login
  • About
    • Meet Katie
    • Work With Me
  • Best You Plan
    • Best You Plan: 2021
    • Best You Plan: Men’s Beta
  • Blog
  • Favorite Things
  • Contact
Best You Plan - Individual Access

Weight & Hunger: Not a Willpower Problem

February 18, 2021 //  by Katie Vigesaa, RD//  3 Comments

Tears of Desperation

She sat there in tears, desperately trying to explain how she was TRYING to lose weight. She had been struggling with obesity for years and wanted so badly to be healthy and at a normal weight. She was sticking to her calorie-controlled diet but the scale wasn’t dropping fast enough, and if she was being honest, she was so hungry and constantly thinking about food. She felt miserable. She left the office feeling hopeless and my heart broke for her. I believed her. 

The woman I was working alongside turned to me and said, “she’s not telling the truth, you know. She says she’s sticking to the diet but I guarantee she’s sneaking more food than she is telling us.” 

“Oh” I said. That’s about all I could muster. I didn’t really know what to think. I was a dietitian student, after all. Maybe our patient just needed some more willpower?

That experience changed my path

Little did I know it at the time, but that experience changed me. There was a seed that was planted in that moment that would shape my interests, research, and ultimately, who I wanted to help in this world. That day in the office, I saw myself in that woman’s eyes. Even though I wasn’t “category: obese”, I had struggled with my own weight and felt the same things she was talking about. 

What was really going on?

I couldn’t stop the questions in my brain. For years my brain would think through things like: 

  • Why can some people effortlessly push dessert away and not feel the urge to keep eating
  • Why do I eat less (and attempts at healthier) than my friends, but yet I am the one who struggles with weight?
  • Why do some people go out to dinner, and 1 hour later, feel hungry again?
  • Why does reducing calorie intake make some people feel exhausted, cranky, and starving?
  • Why do some people gain 10+ pounds a year despite trying to diet, while others eat whatever they want and stay the same?
  • Is energy imbalance (calories in vs. calories out) really the ONLY reason why people gain weight?
  • Why when some of us try to lose weight by counting calories, do our food cravings SKYROCKET?
  • Do people with weight struggles (myself included) simply lack willpower? That’s the message I’ve been given. 
  • WHAT IS GOING ON!?
Individual Nutrition Consultation

It’s not a calorie problem, it’s a hormone imbalance problem

Now we’ve come full circle. After dietitian school, then years of counseling clients 1:1, leading me to research, podcasts, books, more clinical experience, trial and error on myself, and teaching others through my Best You Plan, I know that for those of us who struggle with our weight (I’m not talking you gained a few pounds and would like to lose it, I’m talking overweight and obesity) we are up against hormonal imbalances in our body. Hormones our powerful. They are the drivers of hunger and obesity.

 The insulin and leptin connection

Hormones, namely insulin and leptin, are at the center of the struggle. If we can start using nutrition therapies that target the hormonal imbalances, then guess what? We can start to control our hunger and our metabolisms.

Want to learn more?  Stay tuned for part II by signing up for my newsletter.

Share
Pin
Tweet

Category: Everyone Should Read This, Health, Intermittent Fasting, Metabolism

Previous Post: «Protein Hot Chocolate + Peppermint Whipped Cream 3 Protein Hot Chocolate + Peppermint Whipped Cream

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa Wold

    February 18, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    Katie, you have the greatest ability to explain things in a way that makes perfect sense to people like me who are not that nutrition savvy.

    Reply
    • Katie Vigesaa, RD

      February 18, 2021 at 8:46 pm

      Very glad it’s helpful, Lisa! You’re doing a great job 🙂

      Reply
  2. cayleen

    February 24, 2021 at 8:18 pm

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing, Katie!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

Weight & Hunger: Not a Willpower Problem

Protein Hot Chocolate + Peppermint Whipped Cream

Is lack of planning creating a frozen pizza habit?

Savory (or Sweet) Breakfast Waffles

I need to get something off my chest…

Diets Don’t Work: 3 Things You Can Start TODAY to Change Your Metabolism    Get the Guide »

Hey there! My name is Katie Vigesaa.

I get what it’s like to struggle with your metabolism. You see, I’m not one of those naturally thin nutritionists. The ones that tell you to eat how they eat because well, they are thin, and the assumption is if you eat like they do, then you too, will be thin. Looking back, though, I think my stubborn metabolism has been a blessing!

I’d love to get to know you better! Read more »

 

Site Footer

Instagram Inspiration

But how do you REALLY get a healthy gut? Do you ha But how do you REALLY get a healthy gut? Do you have to be bloated forever? Listen, The body works together and the gut is one of the primary foundations. Get your gut healthy and the rest of your goals will tag along. Looking for some digestive support? My free training is linked in my bio. Let’s get that gut health in tip top shape for 2023 🎉
Since mid-November up until last weekend, we’ve Since mid-November up until last weekend, we’ve moved through heartache as loved ones have moved in and out of the hospital, to hospice, to heaven. We’ve lost not one, but two of our favorite people in life. My wonderful dad and sweet grandma joined Jesus in heaven. 

Frankly it felt weird and inauthentic to keep posting nutrition content when we just walked through such a big change. Until heaven, dad and grandma. We love and miss you here.
If you’re at your wits end trying to figure out If you’re at your wits end trying to figure out why you keep having all these digestive symptoms, and honestly, you just want to feel good again! Let’s get you signed up for a 30 minute nutrition strategy session. You share where you are feeling stuck, and I’ll give you some insight where to put your focus. Click the link in my stories or DM me “support” to get on my schedule.
Have you been told to eat more fiber for gut healt Have you been told to eat more fiber for gut health only to feel bloated, uncomfortable, or experience other digestive symptoms? It’s not the food, it’s the bugs! (Gut bugs)

Bifidobacteria species living in the gut are the horsepower to digest fibers and long chain carbohydrates. The bifidobacteria is what helps you do the digestion. If you’ve always felt bloated eating certain foods that should otherwise be healthy, consider a couple things.
1. You likely need to increase your good bacteria (and just taking probiotics isn’t the full answer)
2. There’s an order of operations to getting your gut stronger and able to utilize fiber.

Share this post with someone who needs encouragement their gut health can be improved! I have many clients who would tell you it’s possible ❤️
Here’s some more “how-to” when including app Here’s some more “how-to” when including apple peels to improve gut health. 
1. Start with 1/2 an apples worth of peel, as tolerated (meaning no extra digestive symptoms), work up to 3 peels worth in the mornings over a weeks time.
Do for 15-20 days.
2. Why? Akkermansia is a beneficial bacteria in the gut that can be hard to feed, but apple peels are a good food source. As it proliferates with feeding, it is part of cross-reactions to heal and seal the gut.
3. Can’t I just eat the whole apple? Well, sure, but since we are working up to 3 apple skins, better off just doing the skin since that’s what we are after (psst: save the apple flesh for applesauce or apple pies at thanksgiving!!)
4. If you have a very sensitive digestive system (bloat easily, don’t tolerate fibers, remember it’s not YOU that can’t tolerate fiber, it’s the bugs. You need more good bacteria to help you digest) - start very slow with the peels or find an apple peel powder
See More Posts Follow Katie on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 Katie Vigesaa, RD · All Rights Reserved    |   Privacy   |   Terms

Website & Course Portal by Imperative Co.

Individual Nutrition Consultation 2


By submitting this form you are agreeing to receive emails from Katie Vigesaa, according to our Privacy Policy and Terms. You’ll receive a few emails a month with marketing information about upcoming courses, and educational health info. No spam!


There is hope for your  health! I know that you can lose weight and inches, and experience a transformed mindset and metabolism.

Get your free guide: “Diets Don’t Work: 3 things you can start doing TODAY to change your metabolism.”

  • Hidden

By submitting this form you are agreeing to receive emails from Katie Vigesaa, according to our Privacy Policy and Terms. You’ll receive a few emails a month with marketing information about upcoming courses, and educational health info. No spam!


Introduce Yourself! 3

We’re looking forward to the call coming up! Submit your question below and we might be able to cover it during the live session.

  • Hidden