Losing weight is a difficult task for those that know they need to embark on the journey - and it is difficult for more reasons than one. A lot of times, effort is not a problem - at least for those that are truly motivated to make a change. The bigger obstables come from the psychological hurdles - both the emotional side and educational side.
People don't know what they don't know. That is what this article is going to help with. I am going to give you some tips and insights to bring some awareness to things that can unknowingly shoot people in the foot and sabatage their weight loss efforts.
TIP #1: BUY A FOOD SCALE
Before you freak out, don't worry - I am not saying you have to measure everything out all the time. However, for someone that has never actually measured portions of their food and can see exactly how much they are eating, this is a very enlightening practice.
Use this for a few days and measure out what you are eating - then look it up online and see what the macros and caloric content of what you're eating has. You may be very surprised.
TIP #2: SEEK AND DESTROY...FAT
Fat is not inheriently bad - just like carbs are not bad. In fact, fats have a lot of benefits and are essential to have in our diets for optimizing our health. However, there are two factors pertaining to fat that can be problematic - especially for those with the goal of losing weight.
The first being the fact that fats are the most calorie dense macronutrient. While protein and carbohydrates only consist of 4 calories per gram, fats consist of 9 calories per gram. While some fitness professionals like to believe the calorie war is all that matters when it comes to losing weight (it's not), it does play a significant role. That being said, calories are still something we need to be aware of - which means we need to be aware of the macro that brings the most calories into our body.
Which brings us to the second factor with fats - they're sneeeaky.
Fats very easily sneak their way in our diets in ways people are completely unaware of. It is not uncommon for me to discover hundreds of hidden fat calories in people's day to day intake of food. When you compound this over the course of days, weeks, months and years, then it is easy to discover how the scale continues to creep up over time - or in the case of those trying to lose weight - why the scale refuses to budge.
This does not mean I am telling you to cut fats out of your diet - as I mentioned before, they are imperative for optimal health. However, we need to seek out the uneccessary fats that are adding calories that we don't need. Some of the most common hidden fats that set people back are saturated fats found in animal products (meats, dairy, eggs, etc.) and oils (cooking oils, salad dressings, butter, oils added to processed foods, etc.).
Saturated fats are essential and there are some extrememly healthy oils out there, however, it is finding balance between ingesting what we need in order to gain the benefit of what our body needs and not going overboard to where we find ourselves in a mega caloric surplus.
TIP #3: DOWNLOAD A CALORIE TRACKER
Much like tip one, don't freak out - you don't have to obsessivly track every meal every day. But tracking your normal meals for a few days is a great way to get a feel for what your caloric intake looks like under normal circumstances - especially when you become aware of hidden fats. Tracking your meals in conjunction with using a scale is a great way to begin to educate yourself and train yourself on proper meal construction and portion control - two very good skills to have when trying to make body composition changes.
There are many calorie trackers out there that you can easily download for free on your phone. My Fitness Pal, Macros First, and Cronometer are among the most popular. Check some out and use whichever one is easiest for you to use.
CONCLUSION
Losing weight is not easy - there is a lot that can go into it. There is a reason that 50% of all weight loss pursuits come up short - and that's just the initial attempt. If you look at long term weight loss pursuits and peoples ability to keep weight off long term, that failure rate gets even higher.
Give these tips a try and try to gain awareness of things that could be setting you back. If you are interested in getting even more information as to how you can lose weight, check out my 100% FREE webinar on weight loss - The Weight Loss Blueprint - being held December 12th, 2023 at 7pm EST.
Join me live and receive the program I have successfully implemented for clients for over a decade to help them lose weight as well as have the ability to ask me questions along the way.
I hope to see you soon!
C-Roy
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