Hi, my name is William. After rupturing my L5-S1 discover 8 years ago I was told that surgery and pain meds were my only option for a “pain-free” life. I made a choice as a fitness professional to relentlessly pursue the truth to whether or not exercise could truly be the secret to getting relief. After 10+ years coaching in the fitness industry I spend the majority of my time teaching people how to exercise pain-free and confidently build trust in their body and spine through strategic weight loss and exercise strategies. Aside from coaching you can find me on the Gulf Coast of Florida, surf fishing with my 2 kids and wife or eating my weight in Mexican food. For more info on me and what we have going on you can check out www.fitness4backpain.com
4 Mistakes That are Ruining Your Weight Loss Results
Photo by Steve Johnson
Let’s talk about the 4 mistakes that are ruining your weight loss results. These are some of the biggest mistakes you’re making when it comes to seeing the weight loss you want. Weight loss does not need to be difficult. We already know there are plenty of people who like to make weight loss a complicated topic but it honestly doesn’t need to be. In fact, my most successful strategy has always been to reverse engineer this over hype of finding the perfect “plan”. Instead of making it uber difficult to lose a couple of pounds, let’s look at some common habits that I find in most failed weight loss strategies as well as the 4 mistakes that are ruining your weight loss results.
Stopping too soon
If you have any history of yo-yo dieting this is one of the most common reasons I see weight loss attempts fail. It doesn’t matter what kind of dieting experience you have, whether it was pill driven, smoothie driven or some global program such as Weight Watchers or Atkins. It’s not about WHERE you come from but how often your body has seen different dieting attempts.
Weight loss is not a 30lbs lost in 6 weeks kind of thing like a lot of programs promise.
As humans, we want what we want as fast as humanly possible and there are products and people out their promising crazy results in record time. So, you jump onto the program and it’s either too intense, too expensive or too restrictive and after a few weeks maybe even a month you bail and look for the better fit. All while putting your body and metabolism through the wringer with all this inconsistent eating.
You have to quit quitting
Even if that means barely hanging on and sticking to small changes (more on this later).
A weight loss program that literally changes people’s lives takes time and requires consistency over time. If you give your body consistency it will automatically adjust and operate as efficiently as possible (which is what you want). What this looks like with weight loss is getting past that initial “adjustment” phase when you first start out. If your numbers are right and activity level is where it should be, your body will respond accordingly (in this case consistent weight loss). What I have learned to be true is that the more you jump on and off crash diets the harder it will be for your body to reset and settle into a healthy weight loss rhythm. Not saying it can’t you will just need to be more patient with your body as it settles in and starts seeing results.
The Solution:
Commit to sticking with your sustainable weight loss plan for no less than 2 months. If you are not seeing any results then start making adjustments to what you’re doing. Don’t just jump ship (unless your weight loss is pill or shake driven, then burn the ship and find a better coach)
If you are on the verge of throwing in the towel or life is just too crazy for you to commit to a plan then stick to one thing a week that you commit to focusing on. If one week you only focus on less sugar, that’s still better than nothing and going off the deep end. If you make it past that week working on sugar alone then either continue that into the next week or add one more thing you focus on. Maybe that’s portion control. So, for the next week to two weeks you are working on sugar and portion control
Repeat this until you are able to build a program that fits your life and lifestyle habits.
Photo by Perfect Snacks
Shift too much to convenience eating
Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing like a good Cookies-N-Cream protein bar. I mean some of these bars are pure heaven and super easy to throw back for some calories and to hit your protein numbers all while satisfying that sweet tooth.
The modern American is freaking busy. They are either at home taking care of full time parent stuff (which is absolutely one of the most underpaid jobs ever) or commuting an hour or more into their office, grinding their face-off to make things happen at work coming home to take care of their families, all while trying to get decent sleep, a good workout in and some QT with their loved ones. It’s hard and during those moments of crazy, we want simple and convenient.
This desire for convenience develops a dependency on those conveniences. Where they become a daily staple in your diet to the point where bars and liquid meals become your main source of nutrients. I have always been and will always be an advocate of chewing for weight loss. This means you’re cooking and chewing your food. Not scooping and shaking
The Solution:
Look over your diet and pick out the things you do out of convenience. Ask yourself this question: Is this meal hurting or helping my goal of consuming natural whole foods? If you’re looking at the half-empty bottle of fat burner pills, a tub of protein or empty wrapper of your favorite “healthy bar”. It may be time to reevaluate your strategy.
My go-to strategy: Cook for twice as many people in your current family. If your married cook for 4. If you have kids double your kids along with you and your significant other and cook for that many. You are already preparing a meal for your family for the evening so why not make enough to carry you into the next few days? You’re already in the kitchen cooking, what’s throwing a few extra chicken breasts in the oven and an extra bag of frozen veggies in the microwave?
Photo by asoggetti
Eating Too Much Fruit
Don’t worry that bowl of pineapple chunks you’re snacking on isn’t going to make you fat but it could be slowing things down (a lot). Despite the back and forth on this topic this has always been a no-brainer when applying it to my own personal clients.
High sugar fruits or high amounts of low sugar fruits dump sugar into the body which the body uses for energy. In a weight loss or calorie deficit setting you want your body to turn to stored energy for weight loss, not the fruit you have been snacking on all day. In this case, limiting your intake of fruit helps keep your body in a “fat-burning zone” and balanced when it comes to blood sugar levels.
I personally will only consume a small variety of berries (raspberries, blueberries and strawberries) once a day (if at all). If you want to know what fruits have the highest sugar content check out the list below.
- Grapes
- Mangos
- Palmagranets
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Kiwi
The Solution:
In my experience, the majority of fruit is consumed in a snacking environment. It’s easy, its cheap and it’s semi satisfying to the sweet tooth. Outside of that, it’s not a necessity (at least at the amount most people are consuming). So, before you fill up that snack bowl of diced fruit look at healthier low sugar options such as raw veggies, nuts or other sources of protein.
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel
Working out too hard
I don’t think I have ever been with a client and at some point, not talked about scaling back their schedule. Whether it’s going too hard inside the gym or going too hard outside of the gym. We are driven by results and there are a lot of areas in our life where we know if we work harder than the results could come faster. This is not necessarily the case for weight loss.
The body needs a balanced assortment of low intensity and high-intensity exercise. You need this for a healthy hormone balance in order to get stronger, recover faster and for your body to feel “safe”. The harder you push the more you start to put a strain on your body’s ability to regulate these hormones and energy supplies. This oftentimes brings weight loss to a screeching halt.
Weight loss does not have to be an abusive thing. If we know that weight loss is 80% nutrition why do we put so much energy and effort into our training to see weight loss? Refocus that energy to consistency and accuracy with the food you’re putting in your mouth and I guarantee you will hit your weight loss goals faster.
The Solution:
My perfect blend of training consists of both high intensity and low-intensity activities. For me and a lot of my clients, this typically consists of 3 days a week of weight training (whichever style you prefer) and two days of low-intensity activity such as walking, bike riding, hiking yard work, etc. That means there are two days I am taking off completely. On these days I may lay around and relax or be active but it’s typically outside of the gym and really low intensity.
Weight loss does not have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to consist of big lifestyle changes and sacrificial decisions. The best strategy slowly builds up to the lifestyle and body weight you feel comfortable in. Drastic diets will get you the weight loss but don’t satisfy the lifestyle you want which is why most people bounce back after finishing a diet. I always say to pick the life you want to love when it comes to the foods you enjoy then scale those foods back that will help support a healthy weight loss rhythm. Those who can do that see long-term life transformations.
Your Coach,
William
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For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions.
