Klaud Petrulis4 Reasons why you’re not losing fat (and what to do about it) Part 2
by Klaudius Petrulis
If you missed part 1, click here to read it first.
We’ve gotten through the first two reasons, Sleep and Hormones. Let’s not waste any time and get through the final 2 reasons why that fat isn’t coming off as well as we’d like!
Reason 3 – Movement/Exercise
Have you ever seen a fat mailman? I think we all have. These guys walk roughly 25 miles a day, so why is it that they don’t look like they ever get off of the couch? The answer is that their bodies adapt. Yes, they may get an initial boost in their physique when they start, but after a few months, it all goes south.
This is what we personal trainers call lack of program variability. When a program stays too similar, for too long, your body will stop wanting to change and even start backsliding depending on certain other variables (namely sleep, hormones and diet!)
Now, that’s to say that you’ve already started on a proper course of exercise. You have to remember that your 2 to 3 hours in the gym per week will not counteract 168 hours of weekly neglect.
What to do about it: The best solution here is to get a professional to help you out with your exercise program or learn how to program for yourself. Tudor Bompa’s book Serious Strength Training 3rd Edition is a fantastic place to start. I’ve personally found that working with a coach or trainer is the most effective way to get results. Many people do not have the knowledge or motivation to push themselves to the point where adequate fat loss occurs.
In lieu of becoming a trainer yourself, here are some easy tips you can get started with today: Increase your movement by parking at the far end of the lot. Walk to the store more often. Take a fitness class or include a couple new exercises a month that you’re not good at. Ramp up the intensity of your workouts to see better results, just do so within safe boundaries for your body.
Reason 4 – Diet
This, in my opinion, is the Big Kahuna. The biggest reason people fail to lose fat. It’s very hard to admit to ourselves that we’re intentionally sabotaging our progress with the foods we eat. But the truth is that we are. No matter how much you exercise, sleep, or optimize your hormones, if your diet is crap, you will retain fat and promote poor health. Now there’s a lot of confusion on what constitutes a good or bad diet. I’ll keep it very simple. Hell, I’ll even use bullet points to show you how to get lean faster by optimizing your diet.
What to do about it:
- Drink more water. Seriously. 3 Litres a day minimum. At first it may feel uncomfortable to drink this much, so you’ll have to work up to it. Start with 2. This should be possible. Then, when that feels good and you’re not doing the 100m dash to the washroom every 20 minutes, move up half a litre. Try to avoid drinking water out of plastic bottles, as the plastics end up leeching into your body. Not ideal. I now use a Kinetico K5 water filter and refill glass VOSS bottles for when I’m on the go.
- Consume less sugar. Sugar is actually toxic. This means drink less coke, juice, and other stuff with fake or real sugar in it. This also means eat less crap like doughnuts or pastries. Sorry cupcake, but cupcakes are also on the no-fly list. This is not to say you can’t enjoy a sweet treat once in a while. But let’s say a treat a week, instead of daily.
- Eat more protein. Unless you are a bodybuilder, and are eating 3 freezers full of chicken a day, you are not getting enough protein in your body. Now, if you’re vegan or vegetarian I’d suggest staying away from soy. Perhaps use a vegan meal replacement shake or protein powder. I personally use Vega All-In-One Nutritional Shake for my meal replacement shakes or Vega Protein Powder for when I just need some extra protein.
- Don’t eat too close to bedtime. Not only does this throw off your bedtime, it also has your body storing fat instead of breaking down food to use as fuel. I’d recommend at least a 2 hour buffer before bed.
- Eat less. I’m being brutally simple here. If you can’t lose weight, follow the above tips, and cut your regular food intake by 10% for a week. If you do not see positive results, cut another 10% for another week. If this brings about no favourable changes I’d recommend going to see a trainer, nutritionist, or a naturopath, because something else may be at play and having a professional guide you is much better than poking around in the dark.
- Check out a paleo style of eating. I personally lost 30 pounds of fat by going paleo so I’m pretty confident it works. I really like Robb Wolf’s book The Paleo Solution.
Well that’s it for now folks! If you have any questions please comment below. You can also reach me through social media listed below.
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This post also appears at http://coachklaud.com/2016/05/18/4-reasons-youre-not-losing-fat-part-2/