So you want to lose weight? It’s a commendable goal, and the benefits are plenty (self-esteem, energy, quality of life, preventing disease, longevity, and lower health costs, to name a few). But in the midst of an epidemic of obesity, people are looking for ways to either obtain or maintain a healthy weight—yet their goals are being hijacked. Many of the saboteurs are controllable and easy, but they’re elusive.
Here are seven reasons you may be struggling with weight loss.
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You’re Not Eating Enough
It seems easy enough: Eat less and exercise more. In a vacuum, you may be correct. But the body is a finely tuned, intelligent machine. When slashing calories, be careful not to cut too many. Leaving too many calories on the plate can be as detrimental to weight loss as eating too much. When you decrease calories too much, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism crashes.
A sluggish metabolism is the quickest way to stop weight loss. What typically follows is frustration, starvation, lethargy, and even depression, resulting in a binge. Binging in conjunction with a slow metabolism is a surefire way to lead to more fat accumulation. Try making subtle drops in calories between 200 and 500 calories per day, depending on your current intake.
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Portion Distortion
We get it, counting calories and tracking macronturients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) can be tedious. For those not accustomed to it, it can even be intimidating or overwhelming. But there are tools to help you. MyFitnessPal and Fat Secret are great smart phone apps with recipes and bar code scanners, and they can also interact with many of your favorite restaurant chains.
Take a week to weigh and measure all of your foods so you get an idea of portion sizes and the macronutrients and calories each food contains. Most people severely over or underestimate the amount of food and calories they consume per day, so you may surprise yourself.
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Condiments
Hold the barbecue sauce. Say no to ranch. Get dressings on the side. It may not seem like a big deal, but many of your favorite condiments pack 100-200 calories per serving (which can be as small as a tablespoon).
There are low-calorie and calorie-free options to choose from, such as mustards and hot sauces you can use to enhance your foods. I frequently pack my own when dining out, and order my foods plain. It gives me the enjoyment of eating out, yet I can oftentimes cut hundreds of calories. Even ketchup contains 15 calories (4 grams of sugar) per tbsp. That adds up in a hurry when you’re using 2-3 servings a day over time.
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You’re Drinking Your Calories
The fastest way to accrue calories with no satiation is to drink them, especially since liquids will not make you feel full. It’s double jeopardy because you will still eat enough calories to make you feel satisfied. Fruit juice, soft drinks, sports drinks, and alcohol will destroy your weight loss goals. So ditch ’em. If you must have them, opt for sugar-free or diet varieties, and limit alcohol to 1-3 drinks per week. For many people, this can create a major caloric deficit and cause a jump in weight loss alone.
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You’re Doing Too Much Cardio
It’s true, you must burn more calories than you are consuming to lose weight, and cardio is the fastest way to burn those calories for most. However, there is a point of diminishing returns for most. Spending hours and hours on cardio can be tedious and cause unfavorable metabolic adaptations. Your body adapts to cardiovascular/aerobic exercise quickly.
If running for 20 minutes at 6 mph burned X amount of calories at the start, it will eventually burn X-Y calories. One must continue to increase either the intensity or duration to continue reaping cardio’s weight loss benefits.
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You’re Not Strength Training Enough
Your answer to the previous dilemma is weight training.
Weight training produces a phenomenon called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). In a nutshell, this means that your metabolism is going to stay elevated after you exercise, so you continue burning calories even after you’re done training. Sometimes, the metabolism stays elevated for up to 72 hours after an intense weight training session. EPOC is the gift that keeps on giving (in terms of body fat reduction).
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Not Planning Ahead
Preparation is your biggest ally in the battle of the bulge.
All the healthy eating and exercise in the world will not make up for that three-day weekend getaway during which you plan on downing pints or sucking down whipped cream-infused strawberry daiquiris while devouring typical vacation fair. I’m not advocating fully abstaining from enjoying a drink or two, or even a couple of cheat meals, but not planning ahead typically leads to poor food choices for an entire day or weekend. Take some time to plan it out.
Plan your cheat meals out and adjust your calorie intake for the days before, after, and during those cheat meals. The apps mentioned in the second slide of this gallery can help you to balance your caloric budget for the days preceding and following your getaway. Also, plan ahead day to day and week to week. It’s hard to resist that office potluck, or the boss buying pizza. But knowing what you’re going to feed yourself will help you eliminate those temptations. Not having healthy options, or a plan, to fall back on will lead to indulging in the things you’re trying to avoid. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
