In case you missed part 1: click here to read
- What to do after you track your food/macros for 7 days
- How to then figure out what calories you need for weight loss/gain/maintenance
- How to start a diet
In case you missed part 2: click here to read
- Macro splits
- I’m having a hard time eating enough
- How to make sure you’re being realistic about your goals
- How long does it take to see change?
- Diet sustainability
In case you missed part 3: click here to read
- I’m exercising lots and not seeing progress
- “No, no, I swear my metabolism is slow”
- What’s a reverse diet
- How to do a reverse diet
I’m exercising so much and not seeing progress
If you are on the other side of the spectrum, someone who is over-exercising, training twice a day, not taking rest days, have been dieting for months (or god forbid, years) and not seeing results then it’s time for a different approach. Please keep in mind this also includes under eating. Under eating can affect your concentration, cravings, energy levels, and can result in vitamin deficiencies, headaches, irritability and anxiety. If you can relate to any of the above then it is time make a change because they either aren’t working or you aren’t happy, but probably both.
You might consider the following:
- Incorporate more resistance training (weights)
- Reevaluate how you’re tracking your progress. If you’ve started a new workout routine, added in resistance training or changed something in your diet you could be seeing fluctuations on the scale while in reality you are actually shedding body fat.
- Focus on non-scale victories (how your clothes fit, your energy levels, how you look)
- Lose the “Goal Weight”. Focusing on reaching a certain weight prevents you from celebrating other victories that are actually much better indicators of health.
- Consistently tracking your calories when you think you’ve hit a plateau. Chances are you are actually just eating more than you realize and assuming you are burning more calories than you are.
- Make sure you’re being realistic about your weight loss. I use to think I’d be happy at 130 pounds. And yes, I was pretty darn close a couple years ago. When I got married in 2012 I weighed 133 pounds. Yet, I was constantly thinking about what I could and couldn’t eat. I would binge on ice cream and chips. I would go through periods of intense exercise yet I had no muscle and I struggled to find any kind of balance. Clearly I wasn’t close to being “healthy” at all. I’m now 150+ pounds, eat intuitively, have built lots of muscle and no longer label foods “good” or “bad” and am leaner than before. I even enjoy the gym which I didn’t think was possible.
- Already weight training, change things up? Change your reps/sets and weights. Increase the intensity of your workout, throw in some HIIT, push a little harder
- Living at the gym? Take a deload week or reduce your training intensity
- Stop over estimating your calorie burn. That elliptical and smart watch are lying to you about how many calories you actually burned. (I wrote a whole post on fitness trackers which I’ll link at the bottom)
- Check in with a doctor. If you’re truly diligent about everything and still not seeing any changes it could be the result of a hormone imbalance. This is definitely not something to jump to right away but something like a thyroid disorder could definitely effect your weight loss.
We all have a body fat set point. A level of fat where our bodies are happy at and try to maintain. This is why if you eat the same and maintain the same activity level, your weight normally remains consistent. This is not to say genetics pre-determine your ability to change your body. With hard work, time and consistent efforts people who are “hard gainers” are able to put on muscle and size, just like people who may have always felt a bit bigger can also lose weight. Our set point is also why it is pointless to compare yourself to someone else. If four individuals were to train and eat in an identical manner, they would all likely experience slightly different outcomes.
Our bodies are super clever. Their desire for homeostasis is why you can’t just cut your calories once and expect to lose fat forever. Your body will adapt to less calories and your weight loss will plateau. Simply put, our bodies get really good at running on less calories when in a deficit. And while that’s super impressive, it’s not great for weight loss..and also why you can’t and shouldn’t diet for super long periods of time (I’m talking beyond 12 weeks as a general rule) or drastically cut your calories. I know finding out you eat 1800 calories might be scary, but cutting down to 1200 overnight certainly isn’t going to help you long term.
Your body in a calorie deficit
When you diet for long periods of time you reduce your BMR (basal metabolic rate) or how many calories you burn if you did nothing but lay in bed all day. That means if your BMR was 1200 and you are in a calorie deficit your BMR can drop ~10-25%. This is your body’s way of protecting itself. Your body also starts to breakdown muscle tissue as it tries to sustain itself and minimize nutrient deficiencies.
Another option
First of all, I’d recommend you stop over training. If you really want to see progress really spend the time take a look at what you’re eating. Most people assume they are in a crazy calorie deficit but they are still binging (even if it is on healthy foods), or depriving themselves week days and going nuts on the weekend. Think about a reverse diet. This means slowly increasing your calories. Yes, I said INCREASING your calories. No, no, don’t stop reading. I’m not being ridiculous or trying to sabotage you. Some of you that have been under eating may even argue, but every time I eat more I actually gain weight. Yup, this is probably true. Your body wants to hold on and store any nutrients you provide it because its constantly in starvation mode aka. a calorie deficit. However, a reverse diet is a slow and controlled way of increasing your calories and mending your metabolism. It can still sometimes lead to some weight gain but it will not be as bad as you think!
If you are someone who has been dieting for years I recommend the following video as it talks about the reality of a reverse diet, the different outcomes it can result in and the how challenging it can be for someone who has dieted for years. It also talks about how to reduce the amount of cardio you’re doing. In the long run though, it can be beneficial to increase your metabolic rate.
Slowly increasing your calories will give your body time to adjust to more food. When I say slowly I’m talking about increasing your daily calories by around 80-100 every week …or two weeks, depending on your body. The number of calories you can add weekly may even be as low as 60 per day if you have been in a calorie deficit for a long period of time. But by tracking how your body responds to increased calories you can slowly begin to eat more without putting on the pounds.
You may still gain weight, but taking the time to repair your metabolism and provide your body with nutrients will actually benefit you in the long run. Also, if what you’re currently doing isn’t working, maybe it’s time to try something different. Giving your body a break from dieting is sometime just what it needs and requires to break a weight loss plateau. Increasing your calorie consumption and helping your body to get out of “starvation mode” can actually help you to lose weight. This method does however take time and patience.
The above tips are great if you are someone who learned via tracking your food for a week that you eat more than you realize, you snack more than you intend or that you consume a lot of your calories in liquid form.
No no, I swear my metabolism is slow!
I’m not going to argue with you. But please read one or both of the article below. You can only blame your “metabolism” for so many things before you need to take ownership and make a change.
Some people feel like they eat a minimal amount of food or are never hungry yet somehow can’t seem to lose weight. This can also be true for individuals that consider themselves quite active. So, let’s talk about NEAT. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It refers to energy that you use to do things like walking, grocery shopping or raking leaves.
Quick review:
BMR – how many calories you burn without doing anything
NEAT – how many caloreis you burn moving throughout the day
So the number of calories you burn on any day is based on these 3 things PLUS exercise
Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) + NEAT + Energy you use to digest you food = calories burned (without exercise)
Based on my personal experience I have learned a couple important things.
- People/myself included often over estimate how many calories they burn working out. They then reward themselves with a treat or meal out and consume more calories than they actually burned. No hate for treats and eating out, but…this is one reason why people also don’t lose weight and in fact gain weight (that isn’t muscle).
- Eating in a calorie deficit (or indulging too much…food baby and unzipped pants) usually makes people feel super lazy and unmotivated. The reduced calories (or heavy/greasy food) means you don’t have as much energy and moving around usually seems undesirable. I experiences this a lot during my cut. I generally try to walk as much as possible and average between 10,000- 14,000 steps a day on average. However, during my cut my energy levels were a lot lower than usual and my laziness levels higher than usual. So, sometimes we actually reduce our energy output as a result, which means less calories burned than usual.
- We start to think, I worked out or I’m going to work out so I don’t need to take the stairs today. Being sedentary 23 hours of the day and working out 1 day will only get you so far. Moving as much as possible will get you results far faster even if its not at the gym!
- Some of us sit a lot! If your job is sedentary it is extra important to make sure you increase your NEAT energy by walking and moving as much as possible. All those little steps add up!
Have a look at this great article from Dr. Axe later. All About Your Metabolism
Want to know more about reverse dieting?
So much so that I’ve put together a list of things you can read to show this is true.
4 Reasons a reverse diet might be your best diet
The ultiate guide to reverse dieting
What’s Reverse Dieting and Why You Should Try it
At the end of the day, if what you’re doing isn’t working, don’t be afraid to try something new!
How to reverse diet:
Below is one resource on how to do a reverse diet. Obviously the more you read the easier it will be. Either way, you’ll still have to play with things and strategies along the way.
Are Fitness Trackers Helpful?
You can read my post on it here.
Questions?
If you have any other questions please email me so I can address them in next week’s newsletter.
As always,
These tips are absolutely not intended for anyone struggling with any kind of eating disorder or chronic diseases. If you’re struggling with any of these seeking a medical professional is extremely important.