5 Fat Loss Mistakes Keeping You Stuck

Reason #1: You aren't eating enough. This is one of the hardest concepts for most people to grasp because we are constantly fed the message "eat less, exercise more." Oftentimes, though I find that a lot of people live in a state of caloric restriction. Fat-free, low calorie, 100 calorie pack, reduced sugar, light... these are terms a lot of Americans think are "healthy." Or maybe you've been yo-yo-ing between intermittent fasting, Whole 30, or Weight Watchers. If you can't remember the last time you WERE NOT restricting food, then you most likely are not eating enough. It might be that you don't eat until the end of the day or you find yourself eating only 1 or 2 meals. Just because you are full doesn't mean you are necessarily eating enough for a healthy metabolism. 

You see, when we eat less than our Energy Requirements over an extended period of time, our body naturally adapts. This is called metabolic adaptation. Think about it this way: you go for a 3-day hike and realize that you only brought one day's worth of food with you. If you are smart, you would ration out the food, conserving some, knowing the food supply is limited. Your body responds the same way when it is not receiving enough food. The human body is extremely adaptable, so if you are knowingly (or unknowingly) restricting calories, your body's survival feels threatened, so it conserves body fat and resources. It "holds onto it." Rather than being an efficient fat-burning machine, it holds onto the fat, not knowing when it will start getting enough calories. You've maybe heard this referred to as "starvation mode." 

Obviously, there is a place for being in a caloric deficit, as it is the most successful way to lose weight. But, you have to establish a solid foundation of eating ENOUGH in order for your body to feel safe to let go of stored body fat. 

Reason #2: You are just trying to "eat clean." You watched Gamechangers or talk to a friend that is doing Whole 30. You decide its time to "clean up your diet." You feel motivated, so you go and buy a juicer and throw away all the junk food in your house. Your new diet staples include avocados, eggs, grass-fed beef, ghee, nuts, berries, and vegetables! Maybe you lose 5-10lbs and are feeling great! As more time passes, though, you notice that your weight loss stalls OR your new health endeavor is becoming too challenging to keep up with. While there are tremendous benefits from "cleaning up" your diet, it lacks direction and strategy. As someone who appreciates data, clean eating doesn't tell us how much protein, fat, and carbohydrate you are consuming in relation to what your body actually needs. I find that when people focus on "clean eating" they often times overeat healthy fats and undereat protein and carbohydrates. These 3 things can make losing body fat an uphill battle.

Reason #3: You are chronically stressed. Under stress, our body pumps out a hormone called cortisol. Stress is a NATURAL response to protect our body's from danger. When activated too often or too long, stress can damage your brain and other organs and cells throughout your body. Cortisol can increase appetite. It tells your body to replenish your body with energy-dense foods such as high fat and high carbs. Our bodies were made to handle stress. Our bodies were not intended to experience prolonged, chronic stress.

 Reason #4: You aren't getting enough N.E.A.T. N.E.A.T stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.  Basically, it is a fancy term for any activity that you do that is not considered exercise. Some examples would be cleaning the kitchen, taking your dog out to use the bathroom, walking up and down the stairs. The majority of Americans sit behind a computer most of the day and maybe go to the gym for an hour a couple of times per week. Exercise only accounts for 10-15% of the calories we burn each day, versus N.E.A.T, which can account for 20-30%! Even if you are making it to the gym for an hour a day, you are not tapping into the calorie-burning potential of N.E.A.T. Some suggestions for increasing N.E.A.T: 

• Take the stairs.
• Park further away from your destination.
• Go to the restroom that is located in the furthest part of your building.
• Take your dog for a short walk. 
• Take a short walk at lunch.
• Get up and stretch every hour.
• Take multiple trips to unload your groceries.
• Stand or walk around your house when you are on the phone. 
• Take a family walk.
• Stretch before you get started for the day.

Reason #5: You only do cardio. 

By neglecting strength training, you are missing out on some major fat-burning potential. Muscle is more "metabolically active," which means a person with more muscle will burn more calories at rest compared to their non-muscular counterpart. While cardio has wonderful benefits for improving endurance and cardiovascular health, too much cardio can actually make losing body fat hard. Remember the "starvation mode" that we discussed with under eating? Well, overexercising in the form of cardio can have the same physiological effect. Our body senses that there is a stressor (why else would you be running for 90 minutes straight?) so it down-regulates your metabolism (i.e. slows down "fat-burning") Not only is muscle more metabolically active, but you also have a higher EPOC (exercise-post oxygen consumption) or "afterburn" with strength training compared to cardio. This means that you continue to burn more calories post-workout with strength training versus low-impact cardio. 

Do any of these common mistakes ring true for you? 

An important first step to fat loss is setting a solid nutrition foundation through establishing your macronutrient (macro for short) requirements. With this information, you can learn how much fuel your body needs to be healthy! After this has been established, if your body is in a place where it feels safe to lose weight, you can initiate a caloric deficit. 

If you are curious about what your macro requirements are, you can download my free Macros Workbook here.