STRONG friend, are you finding that your fat loss progress has stalled? Or you haven’t seen much progress? I say that lightly though. How long has it been before you say you’re not making any progress? 

Fear not; there is a solution if you haven’t seen any changes.

In this blog, we will look at the potential reasons why you may or may not be losing.

Fat loss is simple, but not easy. 

There may be things you are doing or not doing that you may have yet to realize are hindering your fat loss progress. Make sure that your actions are in alignment with what you want to achieve!

It’s all fixable. You’ll just have to get really clear and honest with yourself.

So, let’s dive in and take inventory of your fat loss phase.

1️- You’re inconsistent with the deficit. Inconsistently consistent!

Some days you’re on, and then you’re off for too many days. 

You also give up when you’ve had a bad day. Sis, just pick right back up! There will be bumps in the road.

No one wants to spend forever in an energy deficit. However, a lot of people do it either unintentionally or intentionally. That doesn’t mean you should.

Sis, get in and get out. Don’t spend your life in a deficit. If you are gonna do it, commit to it. Don’t do it half-assed! If that’s 12 weeks, do it; 16-20 weeks, honor that time. Don’t extend the diet phase longer than needed.

And if you still have weight/fat to lose post-fat loss phase, take a break, then go back into another cut. You probably won’t lose all the body fat you want in one phase.

As a matter of fact, you won’t lose all the body fat you want in one cycle!

Still, be mindful and smart about how much time you spend in subsequent cut phases. Get in and get out!

2 – You’re inactive – You’ve been relying on your workout as your only form of movement:

This may be news to you, but your workouts only account for 4-5 percent of your total daily energy expenditure, aka calorie burning. This doesn’t mean your workouts are useless, so don’t get it twisted. Our workouts are for longevity, muscle building, retention, mental health, etc.

So, what are you doing the rest of the 24 hours of the day? A quick FYI on TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) – We actually burn more energy at rest – approx. Seventy percent, and daily movement accounts for 15%. So, let that sink in. And lastly, we use about 10% of our daily expenditure digesting our food.

Not that we want to add more exercise for the sake of adding more exercise. More isn’t better; better is better. Including the right type of movement/activity is key!

An hour-ish of workout time 3 or 4 times a week is still considered sedentary. Sis, you gotta move outside of your workouts.

Movement outside of your planned workouts helps with losing body fat in a big way!

Walking for daily movement has entered the conversation…

Walking is the Robin to your Batman. They go hand and hand. 

Walking helps you… The benefits of walking are astronomical, and here’s why:

• Walking helps you recover from your training sessions.
• Walking lowers the stress hormone cortisol.
• Help with energy expenditure without increasing your hunger. It will not increase your appetite or cravings the way higher-intensity workouts tend to do. 
• Walking helps with digestion and gut health.
• Walking will also improve your insulin sensitivity! In addition to walking, strength training aids big time in improving insulin sensitivity.
• Walking also helps with weight management!

You can’t go wrong with walking, aka getting more movement or steps throughout the day. You’ll have a much better shot at dropping body fat without having to decrease your food. Well, at least not at first!

3️ – You don’t track accurately:

BLT’s anyone! BLT stands for Bites, Licks, Tastes, or you’re tracking things incorrectly. Or you forget to track something altogether.

We all do it from time to time. So no shade. Underreporting what we eat happens often; even your coach does it.

If it has calories in it, you have to account for it!

“Clean foods” need to be tracked too. They’re not calorie-free either!

You have to track your bites, licks, and tastes and build out your recipes in your tracking app – don’t just look up something similar. 

Condiments & sauces can be sneaky too.

Again, if it has calories, you better account for it.

Other culprits:

Liquids, alcohol, juices, creamer, kombucha, etc., have to be tracked as well. They’re not free of calories!

Snacking/grazing or finishing foods off your kid’s plates can getcha too. Account for these things as well!

Are you weighing in ounces or grams? If not, you should be. Cups, tablespoons, etc., aren’t as accurate. We want the weight of the food, not the volume. So, be sure to weigh your food in grams or ounces!

Cooking at home vs. Eating out:

Eating out often can hinder your results as well. While guesstimating here and there is fine, if you’re eating out several times a week, you’re leaving fat loss progress on the table. 

We don’t know exactly how many calories are in the food because we didn’t cook it. We don’t know if the cook used one or two tablespoons of oil or how much cream sauce they used. Be super mindful of that. 

So, minimize your out-to-eat meals and cook more of your own meals. And if you do eat out often, do manage your expectations and be realistic about your fat loss progress! Of course, it will be a little slower, and that’s okay!

If eating out regularly is a part of your lifestyle, make it work with your fat loss phase and manage your expectations. Every single meal doesn’t need to be a party. Put some guidelines in place and stick to them when out to eat. Do your best at accounting for the calories and such.

Here are some best practices for tracking/logging your food:

• Pre-log your food the day before. Put in your food ahead of time, you can always adjust it, but at least you have a skeleton or a framework to work with.
• If you’re not logging it beforehand, don’t wait until the end of the day to put your food in. We are human, and we forget. Log your food post-meal, at least.
• Log exactly what you ate.
• Account for all carbs, not just the net carbs!
• Make sure when you scan the barcode of a food item that it matches what’s in the app. If not, adjust it. Every tracking app should have a modify option for the calories/macros.

Remember this, if you’re not tracking, you’re guessing!

4️ – You’re not actually in a deficit:

I hear this all the time… “I’m in a  deficit, but I’m not losing weight.”

No, you’re not. If you’re not losing weight, inches, or change in your clothes, then you’re not actually in a calorie deficit. You’re most likely not in a deficit if you haven’t seen any movement in those areas.

Ensure you are tracking accurately, and if you are and there is no change, then you’ll need to decrease your calories.

Ensure you have been consistent with the calorie deficit long enough, not just a week or two – see reason number 1!

The number one key to your success will be adherence and consistency!

You won’t get far if you cannot adhere to the deficit. So, if the deficit calories are too low or if you started off with not enough of a decrease in calories, adjust accordingly.

Something to ponder….

Can you adhere to the deficit, or is the deficit too low? 

Are you overeating on the weekends? If you are, you’ll likely wipe out the deficit you created throughout the week. More on this in reason number five!

Also, make sure you aren’t eating your calories back. Make sure that the app feature is turned off. We don’t want to add calories back when in a deficit.

So, once you have ruled everything out, you have a few options moving forward…. 

One, keep your current numbers and ensure you’re adherent and tracking correctly, adjust your deficit if all the boxes are checked, or take a break from dieting and eat more. #dietbreak

5️ – Your weekends are blown out: 

I mentioned this in number four. If your weekends are free for all, then you know the rest. Fat loss progress will stall. Many people want to treat themselves on the weekend because they feel they have been so good during the week. 

If your weekends are derailing you, it’s up to you to figure that out. Or keep on spinning your wheels. There are a few things you can do to remedy the situation. One, don’t be so restrictive during the week. Two, incorporate foods or treats that you enjoy in your daily calorie budget. Third, give yourself higher calorie days during the weekend.

If weekends are derailing your fat loss progress, here are a few tips to keep things on point…

• Stay active during the weekend – do your daily walks like during the week.
• Instead of taking your rest days on the weekend… train on Saturday and Sunday. Place your recovery days during the week.
• Limit your alcohol and stick to your guns about the amount you’re drinking. Also, stick to lower-calorie alcoholic drinks.

* Fun fact – fat burning stops when drinking alcohol. The body processes that first over fat burning because alcohol is a literal toxin to the body. Plus, it affects your sleep, uses a lot of calories, affects your training performance, muscle-building, and your hunger and cravings.

• Give yourself more calories during the weekends to work with.

* So if your calorie intake is 2200 – you’ll figure out what you’ll have calorie-wise during the week and then what you’ll have for one or two higher days on the weekend. 

• Plan your meals just like you do during the week. Have ingredients ready to go to prep your meals. 
• If you find that you run out of food and usually shop on the weekend for the next week. You may want to start shopping on Thursdays or even Wednesdays to have food on the weekends. Having a plan is so essential so that you don’t just say eff it! Fail to plan, plan to fail!

Bonus:

6 – You haven’t given it enough time to see results. Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Many folks don’t give things enough time – the fat loss process takes longer than you think! Everyone wants results yesterday. Fat loss takes time. Progress will not be linear, even if you are 100 percent consistent.

Drop the timeline. Get out of the outcomes and results and get into what you can control. 

You can’t control the scale, the inches lost, how fast you lose body fat, etc., but you can control your behaviors, actions, and habits. You can control how consistent you are!

So keep going, stay consistent, and stay patient.

Whelp, that’s that STRONG friend. Be open and honest with yourself. If you want to drop body fat, do it right and well. You shouldn’t spend forever trying to lose body fat. Also, ensure you are in an excellent place to do a fat-loss phase.

If you are ready to get STRONG and build muscle, and feel your best… book a STRONGER Way Connection call to learn more about my One-On-One Coaching services!