Do You Eat Healthy, But You’re Not Losing Weight?
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For years, I struggled to transform my body.
I ate “healthy,” but I never really saw any drastic changes to how I looked.
I ate quality protein, carbohydrate and fat sources, and I ate my fruits and veggies.
I didn’t really eat out, and I rarely had any junk food.
Still, I didn’t see the changes I wanted.
Does this sound like you?
When I ask someone about his or her diet, I inevitably receive the comment – “I’m eating pretty healthy, but I can’t seem to lose any weight. It’s frustrating.”
If that’s you, don’t worry.
I’m going to share two reasons why you’re not getting results despite the fact you’re eating mostly “clean” foods.
1. You’re not factoring in QUANTITY
In order to lose weight, you need to burn off more calories than you consume.
Period.
So if you’re eating healthy foods, but you don’t know how much of them you’re eating, you’re leaving weight loss up to chance.
Maybe you’re putting yourself in a calorie deficit. Maybe you’re not.
That’s why certain diets work for some people, but not others.
When one of your friends or family members did the ketogenic diet, Paleo or Whole30, he or she ate in a calorie deficit and had already been consuming an excessive number of calories.
So when he or she did one or more of these diets, he or she restricted certain foods from his or her diet. As a result, he or she was eating in a calorie deficit and lost weight.
Then, you try one of these diets and hardly lose any weight.
Why didn’t it work for you too?
It’s probably for a couple of reasons:
First, you likely weren’t eating in a calorie deficit.
Maybe your friend ate only two meals per day, while you ate four meals per day.
Even if you ate the same amount of food, your calorie needs are likely different than your friend’s needs. You need to factor in age, weight, height, gender, activity levels and a host of other things.
Second, your metabolism may have adapted to a low amount of food.
If prior to beginning a diet, your friend had been consuming an excessive number of calories for a long period of time, he or she will lose weight if he or she sticks to the diet because it will inevitably put him or her in a calorie deficit.
Now, if you had been dieting for a while and eating a low number of calorie prior to beginning a diet, you may or may not lose weight once you begin the diet.
Why?
Because you haven’t been eating many calories for a while, you may or may not be eating in a calorie deficit when you begin the diet.
Your metabolism may have adapted to a low calorie amount.
For example, let’s say you and your friend each began the ketogenic diet with the intent to lose weight.
Even though neither of you are tracking your calories on the diet, let’s say both of you eat 1,700 to 2,000 calories per day when eating the ketogenic way.
If prior to beginning the diet, your friend had been eating 2,500 to 2,800 calories per day on average, your friend would no doubt lose weight when cutting calories down to 1,700 to 2,000 per day.
If prior to beginning the diet, you had been eating 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day on average, you wouldn’t lose weight when taking in 1,700 to 2,000 per day.
Your body had adapted to a lower calorie amount. As a result, you may gain weight on the ketogenic diet.
That’s one of the reasons certain diets work for some people and not others.
Any time you begin a diet, you need to know the number of calories you’ve been taking in prior to the diet and you need to know how many calories you’re taking in during the diet.
Otherwise, you’re just guessing and hoping for weight loss.
2. You’re not ACTUALLY eating that well
Alright, it’s time for a reality check.
Be honest with yourself. Are you actually eating healthy?
Or do you just think you are?
When someone comes to me wanting to lose weight and we go through what he or she has been eating the past week, he or she almost inevitably tells me he or she ate well for a couple of days, but then had a bad two- or three-day stretch.
“Oh, this isn’t a normal week. I don’t usually eat like that. I just had a couple of busy days.”
Really – that’s not normal?
Or is that the reality?
How we think we’re eating compared to how we’re actually eating are often two different things.
Remember, to lose weight, you need to eat in a calorie deficit and put work in for a long period of time.
We’re talking weeks, months or (for some people) years of work.
Do you eat well Monday through Thursday, but not Friday through Sunday?
If so, you’re eating well only 57 percent of the time. Do you think that’s going to get you very far?
Do you eat well for a couple of weeks at a time, but fall off for a week or two at a time?
If so, you’re probably not going to get very far.
For these reasons, I always have people begin by logging their food in a diary.
Self-awareness is highly important when it comes to losing weight.
Numbers don’t lie.
When you begin tracking what you eat, you often realize you’re not eating as well as you thought.
Don’t believe me?
Log your food for a week, and you’ll be amazed what you see.
When you know what you’re actually eating on a daily and weekly basis, you truly have the information you need to make lasting changes in your nutrition.
