You know , it ' feels' like you're doing EVERYTHING right with your nutrition / diet plans but nothing has changed since you've started , or even worse , you've gained some weight ? As a coach , I often have clients / friends coming up to me , ranting to me about this particular issue . It is rather frustrating because they've put so much effort into planning their meals , tons of money spent into their weekly groceries , tons of time put into prepping their meals ahead , all the party / gathering they went and just sat there not having that slice of pizza.. You get the point !
Well, here is what MIGHT have went wrong ;
1.Under estimating how much you eat and still eating at your maintenance calorie / or surplus
In the end of the day , if you want to lose weight , you have to be in a calorie deficit . Doesn't matter how healthy or clean you eat . Calorie out ( meaning calorie you burn through exercising , daily activities ) has to be more than your calorie in ( meaning calories that you consume throughout the day through food / drinks) . There is no other way to it .
But how much do you need to be in a deficit ? Now , let's do some maths.
IF your maintenance calories are say , 2000kcal per day , to lose ( in a safe and controlled manner , because no one likes crash dieting ! ) you should be taking in 300kcal lesser , if you are looking to gain weight , it should be the other way round.
2000kcal - 300kcal = 1700kcal ( this is what you should be consuming )
To find out what your maintenance is at , head on to https://tdeecalculator.net
What to do instead -
Download myfitnesspal
Key in your daily calorie goal into the app ( the one you get from the link above)
Start tracking !
2. Are the food you are eating really "clean"?
The amount of 'health food' sold in the supermarket is crazy which can be misleading and confusing to those that have just started eating clean . One mistake that I've made when I was a newbie in this was that I will buy all the granola bar , protein bar , zero fat yogurt , fit cereal , and fit into my daily meal . Little did I know , those seemingly harmless bars are filled
with an insane amount of calories and or / sugar that we do not need ! Especially if you are not tracking your macronutrients , you would've easily consume it without knowing how calorie dense these ' health foods / snacks' are! From what I see, this is one of the biggest reason why people fail to lose weight.
Oh ! Not to mention , the very instagram worthy Acai smoothie bowls overloading with toppings , be it fruits or nuts or coconut flakes etc..! Yes of course it is filled with sugar and carbs ( not saying that carbs are bad but if you are looking to lose a few kgs , it is not necessary an essential macronutrient for you right now ) plus 2 hours down the road , you will be hungry again !
What to do instead - this will need more effort but it will pay off!
If you have a sweet tooth ,DIY your own protein bar / smoothie / açai bowl with the ingredients that will fit your daily macronutrients . Information and step by step instructions on how to make them are literally bombarding instagram !
If you insists of getting it from the store , make sure you read the. nutrient label behind the product , you can easily scan the barcode through myfitnesspal and see if it fits in your daily macro !
Carbs are not evil . If you are a carb monster and will go crazy with super low carb , you can replace your regular white rice with couscous , cauliflower rice , quinoa and tons of high volume vegetable ( vegetable are carbs too btw) . Generally , complex carbs keeps you fuller for a longer period of time and does not spike your insulin level like how simple carbs does.
3. Daily energy expenditure is not high enough
Going back to calorie in and out , very often , a person that is sedentary that has a 9-5 desk job really does not require any extra movement . Let's say , they work out 3 times a week ( sometimes 1 -2 depending on how their week goes ) for about an hour , daily steps are not more than 5k ( don't be surprise ! This is often what happens ) and on top of that , eyeballing their diet , of course they won't be able to lose weight ! Making sure you do your part in staying active plays a huge role in losing weight . There's no such things as 80% diet , 20% exercise . Both has to be 100% effort .
What to do instead -
1. Make sure you hold yourself accountable . Set a plan that YOU can stick to. Nothing too extreme because if it is not attainable , you will go back to square one . 4 times a week consistently (45mins - 60mins ) is ideal . Work on a fully body routine every time , hitting the bigger muscle group (hence bigger energy expenditure ) would be more efficient for your goal and your time.
2. Move ! Take the effort to walk around at the office , at the park , use the stairs , walk to the grocery stall , take your dog for a walk , play with your kids etc.. Get your steps in ! You will be surprise how much you burn JUST by doing daily activities like these. I would usually recommend clients to start by hitting 8k steps a day and slowly bump it up ! If you don't know how to track , get a fitness tracker . It is a good investment and they are everywhere now selling in a pretty decent price .
Here are the three main reason why people can't seem to lose weight after months of eating clean. We need to pay more attention to small details . I know it's a hassle to track your food and blah blah blah but hey , if you want to succeed , these are the measurement that we need to take . Don't give up , stay discipline , consistent and good luck!
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