Image of female measuring a bare stomach with tape measure to check the effect of the weight loss service offered by David Marshall Personal Training based in Northampton

 

Why am I not losing weight?

Although many may put the blame on hormones, age, poor metabolism, not exercising enough, exercising too much etc. I am going to focus on the ONE thing most likely to be affecting your chances of losing weight and not being able to fit into those teenage sized jeans you keep swearing at.

So quiz time…….

When losing weight what is better for you, salad bursting with nutritious goodness or a Mars bar which common sense and Jamie Oliver tells you is bad?

……………………. answer ……………….. well it depends really.

Right once again we are not focusing on those with medical problems affecting hormone production or metabolism (although in my experience a lot of people hold on to the thought that there must be something wrong with them in the hope that it’s not their fault).

Weight control (loss or gain) is based on a very simple premise. Fuel goes in one end (mouth usually) and depending on what we do with the body is expended either quickly or slowly.

Simple huh! But here is the problem; the fuel you put in, just like a car, is important to how well the body works and therefore, in turn, affects how quickly you burn it off AND unlike a car there is no fuel gauge that says that’s enough (not strictly true as your body does tell your brain that it’s full but it takes about 20 minutes and at a modern dinner table our fork is a shovel, not cocktail stick so we do tend to overeat more often than not).

2000 calories are 2000 calories so whether it be in chocolate or salad, portion control is important and that my friend is trick number 1 to weight control. Be aware of what is in your food and be aware of the magic number CALORIES.

I met a client for lunch last week as she didn’t seem to quite grasp what I was telling her. We went to a pretty well-known supermarket and she picked up a salad (I had Sushi in case you were wondering and that wonderful clear stuff called water). I asked her to look at the back of the package 400 calories. So add her “healthy smoothie” and yoghurt coated raisins we were up well past 1000 calories for 1 meal. Now, remember her goal is to lose weight so we are looking at the daily calorie intake for this lady being 1900-2200 depending on training days. 1 MEAL 1000 CALORIES. MEGA FACEPALM!

It is really important to understand the difference between healthy eating and improving how the body performs (nutritious food prepared properly) and weight control (portion size and calories), but what is really important to understand is that you need to be doing both.

5 tips to get you on the right track

  • Portion size, eat yours and only yours, you don’t need to clear everyone’s plate. If it is stacked 10 inches high it’s probably too much. Use common sense.
  •  Colour,  the natural kind not the food colouring kind. Look to fill your plate with colour. It’s a great way to know you are putting good stuff in
  •  Fruit is great but vegetables are better and both are awesome
  •  Fish it up, OK this is always the killer. I will never understand why people label fish as such a big group. I don’t like venison but it’s not to say I don’t like meat, I hate avocado but I love vegetables. Fish is so good for you, full of healthy oils you are on a fast track to a healthy waistline
  • WATER! It’s free, it’s clean and your body loves it, in fact, it needs it.

So what to do? OK, how many calories you should be eating, what you should be eating and when you should be eating. The truth is there are plenty of great books out there so go and buy one.

Alternatively, seek help from someone who is as passionate about your waistline as you are just with a little more know how.

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