THE REAL REASON YOU AREN’T LOSING FAT

Have you been struggling to lose fat despite being on a low calorie diet and exercising multiple days per week?

There are always exceptions, but if you’ve been trying to lean down and aren’t making any real progress despite feeling like you’ve tried everything, the answer is probably the simplest and most obvious one that is staring you right in the face…

Your overall daily calorie intake just isn’t as low as you think it is.

You might think you’re taking in, say, 1800 calories a day, but I can almost guarantee that if you’ve been consistently failing to lose weight, you’re actually consuming quite a bit more than that without even realizing it.

I’ve been doing fitness coaching in some form or another for over a decade now, and I can honestly say that in almost every case where someone tells me they can’t lose fat despite being on a “low calorie diet”, it turns out they were never even on a low calorie diet to begin with.

When I sit down with that person, break up their entire day step by step, and then add up all the calories they’re actually eating, they’re usually landing pretty close to their calorie maintenance level as opposed to a calorie deficit.

And make no mistake – without a consistent calorie deficit in place, you quite simply are NOT going to lose any noticeable amount of body fat.

It doesn’t matter how “healthy” you eat throughout the day or if your diet is made up of nothing but lean protein, high fiber carbs, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats…

Fat loss is only going to occur at a significant rate if the number of calories you’re burning is greater than the number of calories you’re consuming over a consistent period of time.

calorie deficit

If your calorie intake is right on par with your calorie expenditure, your body has no need or incentive whatsoever to burn its stored body fat in order to obtain a source of energy.

This is the most fundamental baseline factor in your entire fat loss plan, yet most people simply don’t put forth enough effort to properly monitor their eating habits and ensure that they are in fact in a calorie deficit.

There’s actually a fair amount of research available on this topic as well, and the consensus is quite clear…

When people on a weight loss diet are left to their own devices, they’ll very often under-report their calorie intake, and by a pretty significant margin.

These are just a few of the available studies that have examined this topic…

Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects.

The validity of self-reported energy intake as determined using the doubly labelled water technique.

Systematic errors in middle-aged women’s estimates of energy intake.

Undereating and underrecording of habitual food intake in obese men.

Validity of self-reported energy intake in lean and obese young women.

Psychosocial predictors of energy underreporting in a large doubly labeled water study.

This issue of caloric under-reporting happens for a few main reasons…

A) The individual just isn’t bothering to track their food intake with very much precision.

can't lose weight

They may simply be eating what they consider to be a “clean diet” throughout the day, without realizing that their individual food choices won’t make any difference at all if their overall calorie intake is too high to begin with.

As a result of not monitoring things closely enough, they still go overboard on total calories despite eating mostly “healthy” foods.

B) They are attempting to track things properly but are making small errors with their food choices and measurements that are adding up throughout the day.

weight loss plateau

When you consider that a typical calorie deficit for fat loss is usually around 500 calories below maintenance, all it really takes is a few mistakes throughout a given day for your calorie deficit to be significantly reduced or erased altogether.

For example, if what you think is 1 tablespoon of peanut is actually 2 tablespoons (this is a very common measuring error), that’s 100 extra calories right there.

Other items that get added into your plan without much of a second thought can also add up big time in the overall picture if you aren’t careful.

An extra glass of fruit juice… a handful of almonds… cream and sugar in your morning coffee… cooking oils… small high-calorie snacks added in here and there…

All of these small choices can amount to a significant number of calories by the time the day is over and can mean the difference between consistent weekly fat loss or complete stagnation.

C) They’re taking the concept of “cheat meals” and “cheat days” a bit too far, and this is impacting their overall net calorie totals.

cheat day

Another very common mistake you’ll see is in those who do stick to their diet very closely during the week, and then reward themselves with an all out “cheat day” on the weekend where they go ahead and eat any foods they want in whatever amounts they want.

There’s nothing wrong with so-called “cheat foods” eaten in moderation, but unmonitored binging on the weekends can easily offset a good portion of the calorie deficit you created during the regular week.

If you ate at a 500 calorie deficit Monday through Friday (a total of 2500 calories under maintenance), but then ate an extra 1000 calories above maintenance on both Saturday and Sunday, most of your overall deficit has gone to waste.

Can’t Lose Fat? Here’s The Dead-Simple Solution

how to lose fat

The bottom line is that if you’re trying to lose body fat but aren’t seeing results, you simply need to be honest with yourself and recognize the simple fact that you’re probably just over-eating.

There are always exceptions where other factors may be coming into play, but in the majority of cases this is really all that it comes down to.

If you have a true calorie deficit in place then you will steadily lose fat, so if the results aren’t showing up then you simply aren’t in a calorie deficit to begin with.

If you’re one of the many people out there asking “why can’t I lose weight?”, the solution is very simple…

Sit down and honestly take a look at what you’re eating throughout a given day and in what amounts, and add things up to find out how many calories you’re truly taking in.

You can check the labels on the foods you have at home, and you can use an online nutrition database like CalorieKing.com for items that you aren’t sure about. Another option is to use a calorie-tracking app such as MyFitnessPal.

If your weight has been generally staying the same, then the amount of calories you’re eating right now roughly represents your current calorie maintenance level.

In order to create a calorie deficit and stimulate fat loss, subtract 500 from that number and make that your new daily calorie target.

Then, moving forward, start tracking your diet with more precision to ensure that you’re landing somewhere around that number each day.

weight loss plateau

Your basic goal should be to aim for an overall weight loss of around 1-2 pounds per week, and you ultimately just need to find whatever daily calorie target lands you in that range.

It is possible to lose fat faster than this, but for the majority of people, 1-2 pounds per week is a safe range that will allow you to drop fat at a reasonable rate while keeping your appetite, energy levels, mood and training performance in check.

You might think that calorie counting is tedious or “too obsessive”, but if you’re serious about losing the fat then it’s just something you have to do, at least in the beginning stage until you get yourself on the right track.

If you simply eat “on the fly” out of instinct, you’ll almost always revert back to eating at your calorie maintenance level (or in a surplus), since that is what your body is naturally programmed to do when food is constantly available.

Besides, tracking this stuff isn’t nearly as hard as most people think, and it will quickly become something you don’t have to think too much about once you get the hang of it. (This is especially true if you’re like most people and tend to eat a relatively similar diet from day to day.)

Also keep in mind that you don’t have to be 100% dead-on with your calorie numbers every single day in order to get great results.

Fat loss is ultimately all about what you do in the big picture, and if you do go a bit over on some days it’s really not a big deal as long as you’re coming reasonably close on average throughout the week.

At the end of the day though, all this really comes down to is an issue of being more disciplined with tracking your food intake.

Fat loss is not nearly as complicated as most people make it out to be, and it’s really just a matter of creating and sustaining a calorie deficit over time.

Combine that with 3-4 weekly weight training sessions and some additional cardio, and you’ll be well on your way to consistently dropping fat every single week.

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how to protect your hormones

If you care at all about your body and health, I'm sure you already know to avoid the obvious sugary cereals like the flakes with sugar frosting, the fruity sugar cereals with artificial colors, the frosted wheat biscuits, or the marshmallow cereals that so many parents are poisoning their kids with these days.

However, even most breakfast cereals that aren't frosted in sugar are marketed heavily as "heart healthy", "rich in fiber", and "a good source vitamins & minerals"... Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth!

As a Nutritionist that's studied the biochemistry of nutrition for over 25 years, and how certain foods affect the cells of your body, there are at least 10 important reasons to be extremely concerned about what cereals are doing inside your body.  I'll touch on a few of the important details in this short article...

Most cereals (even "whole grain" or "high fiber") cause extreme harm to your hormones and create runaway blood sugar in your body

One of the WORST things about most cereals, even so-called "whole grain" cereals is that they ALL cause a significant spike in your blood sugar (regardless of whether they are wheat, rice, or corn based) to dangerously high levels, which results in a cascade of fat storing hormones to be released in your body, and causes more carb cravings later in the day. 

This is NOT the way to start your day if you care about your waistline or how much belly fat that you have.

In fact, even cereals that have added fiber (such as bran flakes or raisin bran) have been found to cause just as much of a massive spike in blood sugar as the low-fiber cereals such as rice or corn based cereals.  Remember that the starches in wheat, corn, or a bowl of rice cereal break down quickly in your body into SUGAR and immediately do as much harm to your blood sugar regulation system as if you ate 40-60 grams of pure corn syrup or pure table sugar.

Those massive spikes in your blood sugar essentially damage your cells in your body through a process called glycation, which accelerates the rate of aging in your joints, skin, organs, and even your brain.  Ouch...  That tiger on the cereal commercials is never going to warn you about that!

And speaking of hormones, another effect of high blood sugar is that it blunts the ability of your body to release growth hormone (aka, the youth hormone), so if you want to look and feel younger, cereals are NOT helping you in that department!

Note:  Regarding the claims that cereals are a "good source of vitamins and minerals", this is actually FALSE... The majority of vitamins and minerals in most cereals are not naturally occurring, but rather, are synthetically added vitamins, which have been proven to be less absorbed than natural vitamins and potentially even harmful in some cases.  As an example, synthetic vitamin E is shown in some studies to be harmful to us, while natural vitamin E is beneficial.

Crunching your way to Diabetes and belly fat every morning?

Think about this next time you're gobbling down that bowl of bran flakes, rice puffs, or wheat biscuits while you're running out the door in the morning...

The more cereal you eat, the more you constantly stress your pancreas and other organs involved in controlling your blood sugar.  Insulin levels surge every day to try to control your massive blood sugar attacks from all that cereal, and eventually, your insulin sensitivity suffers, leading many people to type 2 Diabetes, and a life of injecting insulin with needles and stabbing your fingers every day for blood tests every day of your life.

Not only that, but causing high insulin levels in your body every morning by eating cereal also triggers your body to STORE body fat.  So if you want to be lean, cereal is directly going against your goal, and only making you fatter!

Gut Inflammation and even gut damage?

More bad news about cereal...

Any cereals with wheat ingredients in them can possibly cause gut inflammation and long term gut damage from too much gluten and lectins, even if you're not officially gluten intolerant or gluten sensitive. 

Think those corn-based cereals are better than wheat?  Think again!  Corn-based cereals are almost always made with GMO corn, which has many scientists very concerned about long term health threats, since there are no long term studies on the effects of GMO corn to your health, as well as your children's health.

And rice-based cereals (krispies, etc) aren't much better, as they cause just as high of a blood sugar spike as pure table sugar... Ouch!

Cereal causes CRAVINGS for more carbs later in the day, leading to excess calories

The blood sugar spike and subsequent insulin surge from your morning cereal makes your body to try to get all that sugar out of your blood and into cells (usually fat cells), and that causes a big drop in your blood sugar hours later.  This makes you CRAVE more carb-based or sugary foods later in the day.

The result of this is a constant wild roller coaster ride of blood sugar and insulin all day long, leading you to eat more calories in any given day.

I recently read a study about people that ate egg-based breakfasts vs cereal-based breakfasts...  Even though the people that ate egg-based breakfasts consumed far more fat in the morning, they ended up eating much less calories throughout each day because they didn't have the wild blood sugar swings, hormone imbalances, and subsequent cravings.  Egg breakfasts are proven to CONTROL your appetite, while cereal breakfasts are proven to INCREASE your appetite for more food, particularly more starchy and sugary carbs. 

Cereal makes your body a carb-burner instead of a fat-burner

The more carbs that you eat each day from foods such as cereal and breads, the more you train your body to rely on carbs for energy.  So when your blood sugar dips again, you need more carbs again, or you'll have a major energy slump.

On the other hand, the more that you get most of your calories from healthy fats instead (avocados, coconut oil, grass-fed butter and cream, olive oil, nuts, seeds, eggs, and pasture-raised meats), the more you train your body to be a fat-burning machine.

This is called creating a "fat adapted metabolism" and you do this by reducing your overall carb intake and simultaneously increasing your healthy fat intake.  This doesn't mean you need to go extremely low in carbs like Atkins, but just a LOT lower than the average carb addict, which is pretty much everyone eating a modern diet.

By relying mostly on healthy fats for energy instead of carbs, this balances your hormones and gives you VERY stable blood sugar levels throughout each day, allowing you to also have VERY stable energy levels throughout each day without the typical spikes and slumps in your energy that most carb addicts feel every single day.

Another benefit of creating a "fat adapted metabolism" in your body is that you will naturally lose body fat easier!  There is no magic ratios of macronutrients that's perfect for everyone, nor do I think you need to obsess over exact calories or exact ratios of carbs to fat... However, to give you an idea of how far off most people are... Most people currently eat a diet that is in the range of 60% carbs, 20% fat, and 20% protein.  What I'm describing to you in order to create a fat adapted metabolism would be more around eating 20% carbs, 60% fat, and 20% protein. 

Basically, as you can see, it's like flip-flopping the typical western diet ratios of carbs to fat. 

Healthier alternatives to cereal that are still QUICK (helping you to be a fat-burner instead of carb-burner)

Instead of the typical cereal in the morning (that's slowly killing you and making you fatter), try a bowl of plain greek full-fat organic yogurt (which is loaded with healthy gut probiotics, healthy fats, AND protein) and add in a handful of fresh, organic berries (or frozen wild blueberries), a handful of nuts such as either almonds or pecans (more healthy fats), and a little stevia or vanilla protein for a little added sweetness if you need it. 

This breakfast will leave you leaner, keep your blood sugar, energy levels, and hormones balanced for the day, and prevent cravings for more starchy and sugary carbs later in the day.

Another option is simply any combination of eggs, veggies, avocado, and even organic breakfast meat if you want.  One of my favorite quick breakfasts is to cook up a couple eggs over easy real quick and slice a half of an avocado on a plate. 

I chop the eggs and avocado together with some hot sauce and a couple slices of turkey, and voila... a quick 5-minute breakfast that's incredibly delicious, yet MUCH healthier than that bowl of cereal, and will help balance your hormones for the day instead of creating hormone imbalances and energy crashes like cereal does.see more

3 KILLER CHEST TRAINING TIPS FOR THICK, POWERFUL PECS

So you've been cranking out your chest pressing movements with full intensity down pat... and your chest still isn't growing the way you want it to? You're not  alone. While proper chest training may be simple on paper, the real key to explosive chest growth is in the execution. And this is an area where most trainees, quite frankly, royally screw up. Most people know that the core foundation of any effective chest workout is heavy pressing; barbell presses and dumbbell presses performed on either a flat, incline or decline bench. (Wide-grip dips also fall into this category) But as you probably also know, chest pressing is a compound movement that involves more than just the pecs. Your triceps and anterior delts (the front of the shoulder) are also heavily recruited. The key to effective pressing is to minimize the involvement of the triceps and front delts while maximizing the involvement of the chest. Yet, this is precisely the opposite of what most trainees do in the gym. By using incorrect pressing technique, their triceps and front delts get absolutely hammered, while their chest receives moderate stimulation and thus, moderate growth. The good news is that all it takes are 3 simple shifts in your form to immediately direct that muscle stimulating tension OFF of your triceps and shoulders and straight onto your chest. Apply these 3 tips below and you'll be amazed at the difference you feel... Chest Workout Tip #1 Keep your shoulder blades retracted throughout the movement. By pinching your shoulder blades together and keeping them there as you press the weight up and down, your pecs end up taking on more of the load. You can test this out for yourself right now as you read this... Perform a regular pressing motion with your shoulder blades completely flat. Now perform one with your shoulder blades retracted. Feel the difference? Chest Workout Tip #2 Keep a small arch in your lower back. If you go overboard on this you'll actually end up bringing your lats into the movement, but a small arch in your lower back will further increase the stimulation on your pecs. Chest Workout Tip #3 Push through elbows rather than your hands. This one takes a bit of getting used to but will make a huge difference in your ability to limit tricep/delt involvement and maximize chest stimulation. The simplest way to describe this is to pretend that your hands and forearms don't even exist. Instead, place 100% of your focus on simply pressing your elbow up and across your body. When you press through your hand, your triceps become heavily involved in the movement. By pressing through your elbow, triceps involvement is minimized while pec involvement is maximized. Get this one nailed down and the difference you'll feel in your chest will be like night and day. That's all there is to it. Retract your shoulder blades. Arch your lower back. Press through your elbows. Greater pec stimulation, greater pec growth. I should note that if you do employ these techniques as outlined you will have to scale back a bit on the amount of weight you're using. That's because when you execute these tips properly, most of the stress  is placed onto the chest while the surrounding muscles are largely taken out of the equation. This is completely fine and should not be something to concern yourself with. Bodybuilding is about exactly that - building your body. And building your body is a direct function of the amount of overload you place onto the target muscles and NOT about the objective amount of weight you're lifting. If your primary concern during a chest workout is to impress the girls at the gym (who, by the way, could care less about how big your bench press is) then that's up to you... But if you really want to build your pecs with maximum efficiency and pack on as much muscle size as possible, leave your ego at the door. Instead, put all of your focus on maximally recruiting your pecs through proper form (as described above) and a good mind-muscle connection. Happy chest training. If you found this information helpful  get more here