Why Am I Not Losing Weight?

When you are in college, you have a million things to worry about. Losing weight should not be another stressor. This article is designed to give you several strategies to make sure you lose weight most efficiently. Especially since Darty Season and Pool parties are just around the corner. 

Before we get into this article, we must...MUST understand what a calorie is. This may be one of the largest misconceptions in nutrition.

The official definition of a calorie is a unit of measurement — but it doesn't measure weight or length. A calorie is a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it's a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it.

So when you see calories, think of it as fuel for your body. If you give your body too much fuel then it will store and create fat. If you use your Calories properly, then you will burn stored fat for energy. We call this Weight Loss. 

Next, you need to know your Macros in the diet. Here are your three MACROS:

Got it? Great!! Lets move on:

How do I find out How Many Calories I need?

4 letters and a google search can help you find that. It is called a TDEE Calculator or Total Daily Expenditure Estimator. This basically just tells you how many calories your body burns throughout a given day. All you need is your age and body fat. With this information, you can now custom tailor your diet to fit macros and be under your Total Daily Expenditure so that you experience weight loss. I would advise that you be conservative to maximize weight loss. 

i.e. If it says you burn 2500 calories a day, make your goal to be under 2400 calories

Less Calories for Less You:

A common issue when people lose weight is that they forget to adjust their calories as well. Remember, calories are energy that fuels your body. Your body needs and uses more calories the heavier you are. So as you lose weight, make sure you consume fewer calories for the "newer" version of you. Keep checking that TDEE calculator as you drop 5-10lbs.

Your Metabolism is not the Problem:

When it comes to weight loss, Males and Females metabolisms are basically the same give or take 10% in regards total calories burned. So why do girls always say, "its so much easier for males to lose weight?" MUSCLE. Men have more muscle which burns more calories. This is why building muscle is so important when trying to lose weight. A pound of added muscle can burn an extra 500 calories per day. Think of muscle as your helping hand speeding up fat loss. That is why "just cardio" is not enough. Go hit the weights and thank us later. 

Do Not Trust Yourself: 

Stop what you are doing and go download MyFitnessPal so you can be more accurate when counting calories.

In a study of calorie counting with and without professional dieticians, "The results showed that the dietitians underreported their food intake by an average of 223 calories per day, while the non-dietitians underreported their intake by an average of 429 calories per day.  Thus, while being a dietitian improves the accuracy of self-report of food intake, it does not eliminate the phenomena of underreporting."

This means that you cannot be perfect but you can try and it seems that MyFitnessPal is one of the most accurate calorie counters out there. 

Fruit is Your Friendly Sugar:

People think fruit juices are healthy. People also think Fructose is also healthier compared to sugar. Those people don't know shit...sorry. They are dangerous spreading that nonsense and there needs to be more education when saying that stuff.

When you talk about sugar and its dangers, it has to do with your insulin response or the Glycemic Index (GI). Food items with low GI's do not store as fat but are in fact used as readily available energy (or calories). Foods with a high Glycemic Index cause the body to release insulin to help store extra calories...aka getting fat. 

So why is 1 apple better than one apple made into fruit juice? It is the same exact amount of calories and nutrients but one is much worse for you. The answer is FIBER. The minute you strip fruits or veggies of their fiber in blenders or juicers, you are making them act as straight sugar causing you to store unnecessary calories. 

So...Fruit = good & juice = bad

Stop Trusting the Marketing:

"High Protein," "Low Fat," and "Diet" are all marketing words that cause people to stop thinking logically and blindly trust what I like to call, "the fat creators."

When something is listed as high in protein or low fat, it completely ignores the sugar or carb content. This usually happens in processed foods. You can almost guarantee that first ingredient is also going to be a processed wheat or sugar itself. So just to protect yourself, check the label before opening, buying, or eating.

Look at the ingredients list and find where there is sugar. (all 56 names for sugar) The closer it is to the first ingredient, the worse the snack is for you. That's because the ingredient list starts with the most used ingredient.

Next, you should look at the macro breakdown. Protein is the most important macronutrient because it will build muscle (muscle=more fat burned) and it is very hard for the body to store making it low in calories. 

Its really hard to trust these food companies but your body weight and overall health will benefit from your skepticism. Oh and when you are done examining all the macros and ingredients, do not forget to check the serving size and plug it into your MyFitnessPal

The Calories You Do Not Know About: 

When you cook, you control all the variables and you know exactly what goes into your food. Easy right? But what about restaurants and the way they prepare your food? Restaurants care about two things...maximizing profit and making sure the customer loves their food.

This means that they add extra oils, add more sauce, and marinade to make sure that you leave loving the experience. Even if the restaurant posts the caloric contents of their food, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff recommends: "Add 40 percent to non-posted calorie counts for meals at restaurants, and 20 percent to posted information (since studies have shown that restaurants often undervalue the actual calorie content of their foods)."

What is the Magic Pill to Take?

Sorry, there is nothing you can do to lose the weight without proper diet and exercise. Those are just the facts.

Diet is by far the most important here and making sure you are under your calories for the day is key. After that, you need to put on muscle and burn extra calories in the gym. This will create an optimal environment for weight loss. 

But what about supplements, you are a supplement company...sell me something. Fine, but if your diet is on point and you are kicking your ass in the gym, you don't need anything. I personally take a stim free fat burner in Rule1 Lean5 and the leanest protein out there. Currently, that is Dymatize ISO100 isolate protein. Another addition that can help with weight loss is adding MAN Sports Scorch Powder or Cellucor C4 Ripped pre-workout. This will maximize your caloric burn during and after your workout. Supplements are not the cure, they just speed the process up. 

This article harps on the main issues why people have a tough time losing weight. As you read this, you need to take responsibility to do this yourself and know that it is possible.

Start with one of these tricks, or start with them all, it does not matter. Then, when you start, put on your calendars a 21-day mark. Why 21 days? It is said that it takes other people to notice changes in the body within 2 weeks but for the individual, it takes as much as 3 weeks. You do not have to be perfect, all you have to do is start. 

 

About the Author: I have been in the fitness industry for close to 10 years mastering and understanding supplements. What began as an obsession turned into a full-time life fulfilling job helping people LOOK BETTER NAKED. I find myself focusing strictly on how particular ingredients create a cause and effect relationship in the body through supplementation. Ever since his passion was born for fitness and supplements, it has been his desire to educate and spread his knowledge. If you have any questions, please comment below.