Can't Lose the Last 5?
If you’ve been trying to lose weight, but have been struggling to shed those last few pounds, I’m here to give some insight about why that could be. There are a lot of widely accepted behaviors that could be limiting your ability to lose weight, and some things that could be beneficial if implemented. The goal is that you leave here with a little more information to help you along the way.
Impactful Behaviors You May or May Not Be Utilizing:
You’re Drinking Lots of Sports Drinks (like gatorade) - The reason this isn’t beneficial for the body is because despite having electrolytes, they also have a lot of sugar. Even when opting for the sugar alternative option, your body is exposed to synthetic chemicals that can actually cause an insatiable sweet tooth. This goes for diet sodas as well - they are a scheme to get you to buy more, they are not any better for you. You should be drinking good old H2O unless you are participating in longer duration, high intensity exercise.
You Eat a Lot of Protein Bars - While bars can help us boost our protein intake, they aren’t a great daily snack. Bars are calorically dense and contain a decent amount of fat and carbs. As a general rule, I might eat one bar per week, splitting it in half over two days to minimize the caloric impact.
You Are Not Getting Enough Sleep - Though counterintuitive, a lot happens when you’re asleep! Your body is able to focus on involuntary things overnight that it doesn’t have the energy to complete efficiently during the day. Muscle protein synthesis is one of the processes that largely occurs overnight. Muscle burns fat. You want muscle.
You Aren’t Doing Interval Training - I’ve said it before, but HIIT (high intensity interval training) has many benefits, including the ability to boost the metabolism for a couple days following the workout. It also burns a lot of calories during the workout. It’s a no brainer, incorporating HIIT into your programming a couple days per week can help maximize calories burned, muscle building, and metabolism boosting for days to come. If HIIT isn’t something you can do because of injury, physical ability, etc., then be sure your workouts are challenging so that you do not plateau.
Your Nighttime Snacking Isn’t Working For You - Timed nutrition and intermittent fasting are not necessary for optimal weight loss and results, though they can and do work for a lot of people. If you are night snacking before bed, you should be eating foods that will feed your muscles. An example of a great pre-bed snack is an apple and some grilled chicken breast, a greek yogurt with fruit, or cottage cheese with fruit. These foods are low in fat, but provide great sources of protein and a moderate amount of carbs. I do recommend not eating a few hours before bed for sleep and digestion purposes, but if you really need something, these are your best options.
You Fail to Plan Ahead - This is self-explanatory, but the amount of work it takes to prepare in advance is significantly less than the mental exhaustion you feel when you have to scramble and end up falling short. Set aside an hour per week to meal plan and make a grocery lists. Meal prep can be as simple as making one dinner larger to cover lunches for the week - you don’t need to spend an entire day in the kitchen prepping for the week.
Your Stress is Unmanaged - If you haven’t found a way to manage stress (hobbies, therapy, exercise, time in meditation, prayer, etc.), then your body could be holding onto unwanted weight due to hormonal fluctuations. When your body elicits a stress response, the last thing on it’s to-do list is worry about your desired weight loss.
Eat the Yolk! - So many people have adopted a policy of “egg-whites only”, without realizing they’re throwing away massive benefits. Egg yolks contain all of the nutrients in the egg, as its sole purpose is to provide nutrition for the embryo. The majority of the protein is also in the yolk, as is choline. Choline is an essential nutrient, made in the liver, but not in high enough quantities to support nutritional needs (so it must be obtained through diet). Choline performs a similar function to B vitamins and is often grouped in with them. It is responsible for brain and spinal cord development in pregnancy, and supporting healthy cognition and cognitive wellbeing in older adults. Egg yolks can also contain DHA bound to phospholipids (great for brain health and development).
Your Eating Habits Don’t Support Your Goals - Be mindful of the amount of processed foods you’re eating, and as much as possible shop the perimeter of the store where you’ll find mostly fresh foods - produce, meats, dairy. Processed foods can cause disruption in bodily systems and cause inflammation. Similarly, practice mindful eating - be mindful of what you eat, and also how you eat it. Eat your meals undistracted and take the time to enjoy it rather than rush it - this is when you feel dissatisfied with your meals and seek fulfillment from treats and additional food. Additionally, you need to prioritize protein. Protein feeds your muscles and will also keep you fuller longer. The general rule is to eat your goal body weight in grams of protein per day, as long as you are exercising.
You Aren’t Hydrating Enough - Make sure to stay on top of this. You should be drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces daily, up to 120oz. The body is made primarily of water, and it needs water to function properly as a result. Water makes up 70% of total cell mass.
If you are already living out all 10 of these tips, and have been for at least 6-12 weeks, yet have seen zero progress, I would argue it’s something else getting in your way, or you aren’t doing as great of a job adhering as you think. The general population tends to overestimate how much exercise they do and underestimate how much food they eat. I can’t stress enough that diet and exercise are equally important. In the beginning stages of weight loss, I would argue that your exercise programming is more important than your diet. About a quarter of weight loss is a result of muscle loss if there is no strength program in place. Resistance training will also tone your muscles, make sure your skin remains elastic and bounces back (in extreme weight loss cases this is sometimes unavoidable), and increase the amount of calories you burn at rest. Muscle mass burns calories, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest, and the more fat you will lose.
The last thing I will leave you with is that if you have exhausted this list, while there are still more things you could do to improve progress, there is a chance you are impatient and/or lack consistency. The people that you see really killing the game have undoubtedly worked HARD to get where they are. Don’t lose course. Stick with it and keep setting process goals that will keep you motivated to hit those bigger goals. The last 5 pounds are the hardest to lose because they require the most honing in. Give yourself some grace and don’t quit!