There’s nothing more frustrating than not losing weight, putting the effort in and getting nowhere. I should Know. I’ve been there.
But there’s good news. You can lose weight. You just need to make sure you’re not making these 5 mistakes.
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Mistake 1- You’re Underestimating The Amount Of Calories You’re Eating
If you’ve used a calorie calculator like the one linked below.
Then you’ll have a good estimate of how many calories you should be eating to lose fat.
Work out your calorie deficit using the article above and then use the https://www.myfitnesspal.com app to track your calories and protein.
Are You Weighing Your Food?
If you’re not weighing your food there’s a good chance that you’ll be going over your calories. This is because eyeballing your portion sizes can be difficult. Even for the most experienced people.
This is why its best to use a scale to track you’re food portions.
Especially for very high calorie foods like nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, oils, etc.
If you’re not weighing your food and not losing weight then start by weighing out your portions and doing everything you can to make sure you’re In a calorie deficit. Which means that you’re eating fewer calories than you burn.
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Mistake 2 -You’ve Incorrectly Calculated Your Calorie Deficit
If you’ve used an online calorie calculator, then you’ve probably worked out a good estimate for being in a calorie deficit. But sometimes these estimates will be wrong. And if you calculate a wrong estimate for your calorie deficit and you also wrongly count your calories you’ll have an incredibly tough time losing fat.
To get over this problem I recommend that you make sure that you’re tracking your calories properly, using a scale, and also consistently hitting your calorie deficit. The reason for this is because if you’re haphazardly tracking your calories then your estimate could be way off.
If you’re hitting your calories fairly accurately and you’re still not losing weight after a week or two you simply need to put your calories down by 100.
For example, if you thought you needed to eat 2000 calories to lose fat and after one week you didn’t lose weight.
The next week simply put your calories down by 100 to 1900 calories.
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Mistake 3- You Think Doing Cardio Is Going To Make You Lose Weight
As a personal trainer, I see this all the time. The same people come into the gym and go straight to the treadmill, bike or cross-trainer.
Yes, this will burn calories but it’s going to achieve nothing if you’re eating too much.
Instead, focus on getting your calories and diet in check and then only focus on cardio as a bonus. As far as fat loss goes, you should prioritise strength training over cardio so that you can maintain or even build muscle while you lose fat.
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Mistake 4- You Think Fat Burners Or A Meal Replacement Diet Is Needed To Lose Fat
To effectively lose fat you don’t need to take supplements, or drink meal replacement shakes, what you need to do is get the big rocks in order, things such as getting your diet, training and recovery in check. Once you do this you can focus on fat burners and I think meal replacement shakes are completely unnecessary if your goal is to lose fat.
If The Methods Aren’t Sustainable Then Neither Will The Means
You may have heard of unsustainable diets that advocate the use of meal replacement shakes, but the fact is they’re not practical. Most people would much rather eat their calories than drink them.
This is because eating your calories is much more satiating then drinking them.
When You Start A New Diet Ask Yourself ” Will I Be Able To Sustain This In The Long Term?”
If the answer is no then, in my opinion, the diet isn’t worth trying in the first place.
Why You’re Not Losing Weight Mistake 5 – You’re Eating “Clean” But You’re Paying No Attention To The Quantity Of Calories You’re Consuming
Are you eating healthily? cutting out sugar? eating lots of fruits and vegetables but still not losing weight? Well if this is you then instead of labelling foods as good and bad. Start tracking the quantity of the foods you’re eating.
Because nuts are healthy, olive oil is healthy and so is dried fruit. But they still contain lots of calories. And calories consumed in excess lead to fat gain.
Use an app like my fitness pal to track your calorie intake. And aim to get 80/90 per cent of your diet from healthy, nutritious foods and 10-20% of your calories from foods that aren’t so nutritious. Foods that you find enjoyable. That’ll make the diet sustainable
Pay Attention To High Calorie “Clean Foods”
High-calorie clean foods include foods like peanut butter, dried fruits, olive oil, avocados and more.
Don’t be fooled by these foods high nutritional value, they still contain lots of calories. And just because they’re certainly healthy foods. That doesn’t give you the licence to eat as many of them as you want.
No Matter What, If You Want To Lose Weight You Must Be In A Calorie Deficit
You simply cannot get around this. To lose fat you need to be eating fewer calories than you burn.
When you eat in a calorie deficit your body then needs to make up for that energy deficit.
So what does your body do?
Well, the body is smart. It uses the fat that you store as energy.
And if you continue eating in a calorie deficit your body fat percentage will get lower and lower.
Creating a leaner, healthier version of yourself. Especially if you go from a high body fat percentage to a healthy body fat percentage.
Many Health Benefits Come With Losing Weight If You’re Currently At A High Body Fat Percentage
If you’re are currently at a high body fat percentage then you should know that there are consequences.
Such as insulin resistance:
This causes diseases such as diabetes, hyperglycaemia, inflammation and more. Simply getting to a healthy body fat percentage of 10-20% for males and 20-30% for females and consistently engaging in a resistance training program and paying attention to your recovery is enough to fend off poor health.
Stop Looking For Quick Fixes ( There Aren’t Any)
Getting in shape is laughably simple. You just need to strength train, eat in a calorie deficit (until you get to your desired body fat percentage) eat a majority of whole foods and then be ruthlessly consistent.
Thats it.
Don’t be fooled by different fad diets, meal replacement shakes or overly restrictive diets. They’re not sustainable.
Train And Eat To Live, Don’t Live To Eat And Train
You probably think that you need to make training and nutrition your full time job to get results.
Well, you don’t. You merely need to change a few things and stay consistent with the aforementioned fundamentals. That’s enough to lose fat and weight.
The Bottom Line
- Losing weight is laughably simple. But it can be easy to make the aforementioned mistakes. Especially if you’re new to dieting.
- As long as you focus on being in a calorie deficit and stay consistent it’s literally impossible for you to not lose weight.
- Don’t look for quick fixes there isn’t any.
Thanks for reading!
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