Not Losing Weight?

I recently read a blog by Precision Nutrition guru John Berardi. He discussed at length the MANY reasons you might not be losing weight, even though you're trying to diet, exercise, and do everything right. Some people even start to wonder: am I eating too LITTLE? Could this be the issue?

In a word: no.

It is highly unlikely that you have stopped losing weight, or are even gaining weight, while eating too little. Sure, it might FEEL like you aren't eating enough, but the reality is probably very different from your perception. It has been shown over and over that people UNDERESTIMATE the amount of calories they are consuming. And at the same time, people OVERESTIMATE how much exercise they get. The combination makes us feel like we should be losing tons of weight. And it can make us feel mighty frustrated when the scale doesn't reflect our perceptions.

I have been feeling unhappy with my weight ever since I broke down and stepped on the scale during Passover. After a week of not eating any grains, I lost about one pound. Okay, I guess it's something, but not super impressive. And since then, I have basically been holding steady. Not so awesome.

But this article gave me a wake-up call. I decided I needed to get real with myself. And I took a good hard look at my eating habits. Were they as pristine as I wanted to believe?

Occasionally I go off the deep end and eat some total junk. But this is pretty rare. For the most part, I eat a lot of very nutritious food and a small amount of healthy "treats." Like dark chocolate, red wine, grain-free cookies, or sugar-free cheesecake. So why have I gained weight?

It comes down to diet plan particulars. Or rules. I wasn't really following the rules for any diet plan. I liked the sound of the ketogenic diet. It works miracles for people. So I began eating more fat. But I didn't reduce my carbs. Bad idea to pile on the fat, even loads of healthy fat, without backing off the carbs. The ketogenic diet works great, but only if you follow the rules! On keto, the carbs must stay very low.

In the past, I have followed the Zone diet. I still have leftover habits from years on the Zone, like measuring my protein to make sure I get enough at each meal. This is a great habit, and the Zone diet works very well, but it also has rules. Measuring protein is a good start, but adding loads of fat plus too many carbs is a good way to gain weight instead of losing. On the Zone, you really need to measure all your macro nutrients: protein, carbs, and fat. No meal should ever be over 500 calories. You need to drink plenty of water. I had conveniently forgotten most of the rules.

Bottom line: any decent diet works. (I'm not talking about wacky fad diets.) Keto works. Atkins works. Zone works. Weight Watchers works. If you want to lose weight, simply pick a plan. The key is then following the rules. ALL the rules, not just the one or two that sound easy!

I am now following my own advice and returning to the rules of the Zone. I am already down another pound since I began to measure all my macros again. If you want help following any diet plan, I am available for one-on-one weight loss support. Send me a message!