OK, you’ve taken a look at your profile in the mirror and decided that it’s definitely time to work on the added padding around your middle, hips, or thighs. Your friends swear by a variety of different methods, everything from the cabbage soup diet to low carbs. You know you do best with structure, so you feel that any plan you decide on should come with a strict set of instructions and a meal plan. You’ve heard all the talk about exercise being important. You sign up with a gym that promises weight loss through high intensity workouts along with sample menus for a high protein low carb diet. Filled with hope, you start on your way.
The first week goes great. You’ve been virtuous, faithfully going to your workout sessions and following the diet plan to the last letter. You’re rewarded by a drop on the scale of 3 pounds. The next week feels a bit harder. You eat out twice and, although you tried to follow the plan, the scale bounces back up by 2 pounds. You start to get discouraged and have a harder time sticking to the letter of the law with your plan. You know you’re supposed to have a salad and chicken breast for lunch, but the cheese and crackers call to you. Still, not too bad, right? After all, you have been working out. So you’re surprised when the next weigh-in shows no further weight loss. It gets harder and harder to comply.
What went wrong?
- Exercise is an important component of health and weight loss, but perhaps you overestimated it’s effect. A one hour strength workout will average 400 calories for a male and 250 or so for a female. If you’re working out 3 times a week, that means you’ve burned an extra 750-1200 calories, not enough to lose ½ a pound. You’ve been told that exercise increases your metabolism, but in fact that will only happen if you’re not dieting. The best you can hope for if you’re decreasing calories is to maintain you metabolic rate.
- You’ve believed the hype that protein is more important than carbs for exercise performance. In fact, pumping iron uses sugar for fuel almost exclusively. If you aren’t eating enough foods high in carbohydrates, some of the protein you are eating will be converted into sugar. This also has the effect of limiting the intensity of your workouts. The result: you can’t work as hard during your exercise sessions.
- You continue to believe that the less choice you are given the better off you’ll be. You’ve noticed, of course, that past experience shows that you can only handle this approach for a week or two, but you hope that with willpower you can continue until you’ve lost the weight you’re aiming for.
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What to do?
- Understand that exercise, while important, will not by itself result in significant weight loss. Eating dramatically less than you need and failing to fuel your workouts will result in a drop on the scale, but mostly from a loss of muscle and fat. Any exercise plan must be coupled with a complementary nutrition plan which fuels your workouts while only moderately reducing calories. In this way, more of each pound lost will come from fat.
- Science has shown that our bodies work best when provided with adequate protein and carbohydrate. A plate with ¼ protein foods and ¾ carbohydrate foods provides you with the fuel your muscles and brain need, the maximal amount of protein that your body can handle at any one time, and anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories to keep you healthy. Assuming, of course, that the carbs come from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
- You should not have to rely on willpower to stick to a food plan. The best plan is one that is satisfying. It does not have to be followed rigidly to work.
- Consider your relationship with food. Are you an emotional eater? Do you control food or does it control you? For many, improving their relationship with food trumps any diet plan.
- A Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist will conduct a complete assessment including your nutrient needs and analysis of your current diet and use this along with lifestyle considerations to create a plan that will work for you.