Weight Loss Success Linked to These 2 Things

Not Losing Weight? 4 Reasons Why That Happens (Even When You’re Doing Everything Right!)

Losing weight can be a difficult and emotional process. It can be very frustrating when you feel like you are doing everything right to lose weight but don’t see any results. Why am I not losing weight? You’re probably eating too much.

First, breathe. It’s important to exercise regularly and eat well, but there are many other factors that can affect weight loss. According to obesity expert Matthew Weiner, MD, the rate of weight loss will depend on the person’s starting weight, age, and gender.

It’s important to set reasonable goals for yourself. Dr. Weiner estimates that diet and exercise can help you lose 10% of your body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds and want to lose weight, you can expect to lose about 15 pounds by changing your diet and increasing physical activity. Losing more weight than what your body is comfortable with can be difficult because your body will naturally try to hold onto fat and energy stores.

If you are a younger adult and looking to lose weight, Dr. Weiner notes that you could potentially lose up to 20% of your body weight by eating right and working out. For postmenopausal women, exercising at the same intensity as younger women will only improve their fitness by five to seven percent.

Women generally make slower progress than men. According to Dr. Weiner, though men may initially lose weight faster than women, the overall difference in weight loss between genders is not as significant as one might believe. This suggests that on average it takes women about twice as long as men to lose 10 percent of their body weight.

Even if you only drop 10% of your body weight, it is a lot and you will need help to reach your goal. This stuff isn’t taught in school, so it’s understandable if you use weight loss methods that aren’t completely effective.

The following are some of the biggest reasons why your weight loss goals may not be achievable, as well as how to fix them.

1. You’re way overestimating your muscle weight.

If you’ve ever stepped on the scale and thought “I’m still losing fat, I’m just strength training really hard and gaining muscle,” raise your hand.

The majority of us have attempted it, but as Dr. Weiner points out, it does not work in that way: Muscle mass is just as dense as water (whereas fat has a higher density), so it is not a direct exchange. This means that if you don’t change your weight-loss strategy, you will not lose fat.

He continues, “A can of soda will take up way less space in your fridge than a pound of muscle.” A good thought experiment to compare the density of muscle to other objects is to compare it to a can of soda. Dr. Weiner explains that a can of soda is much less dense than a pound of muscle and takes up less space in your fridge. If you added a lot of muscle to your body, you would be able to see it.

In other words, you would notice yourself actively building more muscle, so if you look the same, think about something else. Try changing your diet slightly to create a calorie deficit to help you lose weight, or try HIIT workouts to get your heart rate up and burn fat.

2. You’re eating less, but still picking unhealthy foods.

Dr. Weiner claims that if you consume less calories than you use, it is possible to lose 10% of your body weight. But if you want to lose more, you can’t just keep cutting calories. “You need to consume different types of food,” he states, ” concentrating on the caliber of calories instead of the amount.

Keri Gans, RD, the author of The Small Change Diet, explains that foods digest differently in our body—some slower, some more quickly. She says that sugary foods are digested quickly, which means that you will feel hungry again sooner than if you had eaten foods that are rich in fiber. Foods that are high in fiber can help you to feel full and can be helpful in losing weight.

If you consistently order delivery for dinner every night, you will eventually stop losing weight unless you switch to healthier lunches, made with fewer oils, dressings, etc. If you improve the quality of your calories, you will naturally eat less and help weight loss continue.

Even if you’re trying to eat less, be aware of the quality of the calories you’re consuming, Jessica Cording, RD, CDN, advises. I encourage people to eat foods that are nutrient dense as opposed to ones that are simply empty calories. For example, you’ll get more bang for your buck, nutritionally speaking, by eating a slice of whole grain bread as opposed to white bread. “The nutrient value will carry you much longer.”

3. You’re not keeping track of what you’re eating.

In other words, Dr. Weiner is saying that people tend to see themselves in a more positive light, glossing over their bad decisions and focusing more on their good ones.

Translation? You’re more likely to berate yourself for eating two bowls of B&J for dessert on Tuesday than you are to pat yourself on the back for eating a salad, even though the salad is a healthier choice. You are more likely to stick to your diet if you track your caloric intake in a way that you can see, like in a food journal or on an app. Dr. Weiner says this eliminates the bias we all have toward ourselves.

4. You’re not eating enough plant-based protein.

Protein can help you feel fuller for longer, as well as helping to build muscle, skin and bones. Different types of protein can have different effects on your body and your weight loss goals. Dr. Weiner is warning against consuming too much animal protein, as it can lead to weight gain and other health problems such as diabetes.

Plant-based proteins are found in legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. They are different from other proteins because they are not derived from animals. According to Dr. Weiner, you don’t have to worry about negative effects on your health from eating larger amounts of certain foods. The speaker has never seen a study that suggests that plant proteins, like nuts, cause weight gain.

Weight Loss Success Linked to These 2 Things

#1 They record what they eat.

When we first started out as registered dietitians, we had our clients keep a food diary to launch our business. The ones that were most successful in losing weight were the ones that did. After people had met their weight loss goals, the author checked in with them at different intervals. The people who had kept the weight off were the ones who had been successful.

Here’s why keeping a food journal of what you eat helps you double your weight loss success:

First, it makes you aware. It’s not uncommon for people to eat without paying attention to how much they’ve eaten or even realizing they’ve eaten at all. If you start recording what you eat, you will no longer have this problem. You will be much more mindful of what you are eating. Recognizing that you’re eating can help you to realize you may not even need fuel or be hungry, which can help you to avoid swallowing extra calories.

In addition to the health benefits of maintaining a weight loss food diary, you may also be able to start to identify eating patterns that are preventing you from achieving your weight loss goals. For example, you may be able to figure out what makes you overeat. This is something we help our clients with. We help our clients to understand why they may eat (or overeat), even when they’re not hungry, and sometimes without realizing it. We provide strategies to address these issues and prevent them from interfering with weight loss (or health) goals.

Use your eating patterns to create weight loss strategies…

You can examine those patterns and see what’s happening. We work with our clients to figure out what is causing their cravings. ” As you examine your patterns, you can examine the reasons behind your choices, such as “Am I eating because I’m stressed?” ” Do I eat when I’m bored? Do I eat when I’m happy? Sad?” You get the idea. With this information, you can develop plans for losing weight.

Here’s an example: You tend to eat a candy bar or some other form of comfort food at 2 PM every day. However, upon further inspection, you realize that sometimes you’re actually hungry at that time, and other times you’re not.

You may realize that you are eating candy bars every afternoon because you didn’t have a sufficiently filling meal earlier in the day. This could be due to a lack of protein or fiber, which would lead to feelings of hunger and a need for an energy boost. A more satisfying lunch could have prevented this.

Perhaps you will come to realize that you are having a candy bar in the middle of the afternoon because you are seeking a reward after a hard day at work. You may find that you should be eating a candy bar at that time– perhaps you haven’t had anything sweet all week and would rather have the candy bar than ten other things. The answer to sustainable weight loss is not avoiding foods you like or never allowing yourself to enjoy them. What a relief!

A Nutrition Twins fact…

We first recorded what we ate when we were in college and studying to become registered dietitians. We were taking our first nutrition class and we had to pretend to be one of our clients and record what we ate. We didn’t want to bother recording everything because we thought it would be a pain, but we realized it would be beneficial. After we completed our project, we were going to help a classmate by figuring out what changes they could make in their nutrition and lifestyle habits to improve their health.

We were discussing something that excited us when Tammy grabbed a handful of nuts. After finishing her meal, Lyssie asked her host if they planned to document what she had consumed.

Tammy said, “Oh, yeah! I would’ve forgotten!”

Yep, she would have forgotten! And that’s the thing. We’re so disconnected from the food we eat in today’s society. Recording our thoughts and experiences makes us more aware of them.

#2: The second thing our weight loss clients do that’s linked to long-term fat loss success…

They don’t focus on cutting out anything. Clients who are successful in losing weight know that sustainable weight loss is not about cutting out certain foods, like carbohydrates. It’s not about which diet is better, the keto diet or the Paleo diet. Weight loss success is about them feeling satisfied. And feeling satisfied long-term. It’s about what they do eat.

This means that they are eating healthy carbohydrates 99% of the time. They’re eating protein. The foods they are eating are helping to fuel their metabolism and improve their enzymatic pathways. These foods also provide nutrients that can help with weight loss and reducing body fat, including belly fat.

When they focus on nourishing foods instead of restrictive lists, they feel empowered and energized. If they avoided foods, they would feel drained. Focusing on food lists to avoid is not satisfying! How long do you think you’ll be able to keep that up? For most people, the answer is- not very long!

Cutting out an entire food group may help you lose weight at first, but it’s not sustainable in the long term. Our clients who have tried this in the past find that they eventually miss being able to eat what they want when they want.

Deprivation doesn’t equal lasting weight loss success.

Halleluyah! Because who wants to live in deprivation anyway?

Successful weight loss clients know that relying on willpower and motivation will not lead to long lasting fat loss.

List-based diets that make you feel bad for eating certain foods are expecting you to be perfect, which is unrealistic. There is no such thing as perfect. Our successful weight loss clients know this! Try not to be too hard on yourself if you can’t stick to one of these restrictive diets! That plan wasn’t right for you. Anyone who says it is not right to eat dessert every day has not lived life to its fullest. Life is too short to feel deprived all of the time. We can’t lose weight and be healthy if we’re eating pasta, burgers, and cookies all the time, but we should be able to eat our favorite foods on occasion and still lose weight. After all, helping our clients do that is what we’re all about!