Real Fat Loss
So you have started dieting (eating less and moving more) in order to lose weight and the scale is starting to go down, brilliant work.
Now what happens when the scale stops going down, and even goes back up?
Do you get disheartened, slightly pissed off, and lose motivation to keep going?
Well you’re not alone.
This happens to nearly everyone along their fat loss journey.
The difference between those who succeed and fail can just be knowing the following information:
-> Fat loss is not linear, your weight will fluctuate up and down, but if the deficit is there it will continue to trend down over time. Keep going.
-> There are a whole host of things that cause weight gain/loss that are nothing to do with fat:
Water retention from eating carbs, from eating salty foods, from weight training.
Whether you have gone to the bathroom yet or if you've recently eaten.
Also for females, where abouts in your menstrual cycle you are can impact your weight.
Did you know for every gram of carb you eat you store 3g of water? Just think about that.
-> Try not relate the scale to how much fat you have, view it rather as how light/heavy you are that day due to the fat, muscle, water, food, poop etc that's in your body THAT day.
When tracking your weight it is important to track daily, so that each week you can calculate the weekly averages. The changes in your week to week average will tell you a lot more than changes in your day-to-day weight.
Because weight fluctuates up and down it is NO use weighing once a week as you cannot control whether the day you step on the scale will be a 'high day' or 'low day' and will not reflect your true weekly weight - unlike the weekly AVERAGE.
Seeing a plateau or rise on the scale doesn’t not mean fat loss has stopped. It just means that other factors are making you temporarily heavier that day (while your fat loss is still happening in the background).
This is why it is so important not to give up at these points.
This is what a real fat loss journey looks like when daily weight is taken.
Take note of all the times it temporarily rises before going back down.
This is where most people get frustrated and give up, but look at what happens when you remain consistent and stick to the plan.
Sometimes we lose motivation and in turn we reduce our calorie deficit (either by a reduction of movement or an increase of calorie intake) Does that mean we stop tracking or weighing ourselves? No! The process remains the same, keep going and motivation will return and fat loss will continue. Don’t just give up.
Perspective:
That is ONE POUND OF FAT that I'm holding!
There are 3,500 calories in 1 pound of fat!
So in order to GAIN 1 Pound of fat you need to eat an EXCESS of 3,500 calories above your maintenance calories!!! (You don’t do that without noticing)
Therefore that extra 2 pounds you're carrying today that you didn’t have yesterday CAN NOT BE FAT unless you over consumed by 7000 calories? It's simply water & poop so just breath and keep going.
Similarly, to lose 1 pound of fat you need to be in a deficit of 3,500 calories - which is a 500 calorie deficit EVERY day, 7 days per week, to lose 1 pound per week! So when you drop 3 pounds in one day of dieting - guess what - its water!!
Stop getting hung up on the day-to-day changes.
Focus on the BIG PICTURE and trust the process.
Action Steps:
Find out your calorie allowance and stick to it consistently (if you need help with finding this out mail us!)
Weigh EVERY day for one month.
Weigh each morning after you’ve gone to the toilet and before eating or drinking anything.
Log weight, forget about it and go about your day as usual.
Each week work out your average weight by adding all 7 morning weights and dividing by 7.
Watch the changes in weekly averages rather than daily changes.
And remember, DON’T GIVE UP.
The only thing that works when it comes to fat loss is CALORIE DEFICIT, CONSISTENCY & PATIENCE.
If you are confused about any of the above topics or need help in any area related to Fat Loss or General Health then just shoot me an email at katy@nikafitstudios.ie and we will get great results together.
Katy
At Nikafit Studios we are dedicated to an excellent standard of small group personal training. At Nikafit we deliver our results based personal training programs, in a friendly but focused small group training setting, allowing our clients to receive elite level personal training at a fraction of the cost of a 1-on-1 personal training session. Nikafit’s semi-private personal training is focussed on the needs of our clients and the small group personal training coach to member ratio at Nikafit Studios allow the best service possible. At Nikafit we are changing lives through fitness.
