3 Reasons Why You Are Not Losing Weight
There are times on your weight loss journey when progress can come to a halt. Days or weeks can go by without you seeing movement on the scale, and it can get downright frustrating. After working with hundreds of clients, we’ve noticed certain patterns that can cause this weight loss slowdown. Below are the three most common mistakes.
1) Eating more than you think you are.
Most people underestimate the volume of food eaten per day and consequently, underestimate the number of calories consumed. By understanding what a serving size or “portion” of food looks like, you can better estimate the amount of food you are eating. Keep in mind, when it comes to weight loss, you need to take in less calories than you burn each day.
To give a visual, a portion of meat (3 oz.) is the size of a deck of cards and a portion of carbohydrates (1 cup) is the size of a tennis ball. While it is beneficial to have visuals, we recommend ALL clients weigh and measure their food (invest in a food scale and measuring cups!)
Also remember to fill up on non-starchy vegetables – they are full of nutrients, have very little impact on blood sugar, and contain little in the way of calories.
2) Not eating frequently enough.
It is a social custom to eat “three square meals” a day. While this may do for social purposes, for weight loss, you will want to aim for more frequent meals. It is recommended that you consume a minimum of 5-6 small meals each day. By doing so, your body gets the signal that food is abundant, and there is no need to conserve energy.
Additionally, frequent meals maximize your metabolism, as your body is constantly busy, burning calories by digesting your meals. By not letting too much time pass between meals, you stabilize blood sugar levels since they never really get the chance to drop. By keeping your blood sugar stable, your hunger levels are minimized, decreasing the chances that you will be tempted to overeat at your next meal.
3) Choosing to drink your calories instead of eating them.
This is a very common problem among those attempting weight loss, due to the abundance of “healthy” diet smoothies, protein concoctions, and weight loss shakes. There are 2 factors to keep in mind when relying on these liquid meal replacements.
First, many of the liquid diet shakes on the market and all fruit smoothies have an abundance of sugar. This causes an immediate surge in energy followed by a huge crash due to the release of insulin to control the blood sugar rise. This dramatic shift in blood hormone levels (particularly insulin levels) is something you want to avoid, both for health reasons and for weight loss.
Secondly, most weight loss shakes are lacking fiber. Fiber is one of your most precious allies when you are dieting. It helps you feel full and blunts the rise in insulin levels when all that sugar hits your bloodstream. While fruit smoothies do contain some of the fiber from the pulp of the fruit, a better strategy would be to eat the actual fruits contained in the smoothie.
Finally, the number of calories that can be concentrated into a shake or smoothie is far greater than the equivalent volume of actual food. A 16oz fruit smoothie may contain as many as 600 calories, and will not fill you up all that much! On the other hand, eating 600 calories of fruit will prove to be much more than the typical person can manage in a single sitting (at least, I personally don’t know anyone that can eat more than 2 pounds of bananas at a single sitting).
By incorporating the above recommendations with an exercise regimen that includes cardio and weight training, you will be on your way to achieving your desired results much faster!
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