I’m eating in a calorie deficit but I can’t lose weight!!!
I hear it all the time & it’s incorrect every time. Let’s get one thing straight, if you aren’t losing weight, you aren’t in a deficit, period. So why do people feel like they are in a deficit but can’t lose weight?
There are many reasons: underreporting food intake is a big one (most people consume 30-55% MORE calories than they think). Much of this is from people not tracking portions accurately (go weigh out a REAL serving of ice cream, cereal, or peanut butter, then think about how much you typically eat if you want to feel sad). People also don’t tend to track licks, bites, snacks, which can up to hundreds of unaccounted calories per day. Many people also don’t account for alcohol. Yes even zero carb liquor has calories. Alcohol is calorie dense at 7kcal/g, nearly the same as fat! And your body will priorities calories from alcohol before Fats, Carbs & Protein!
Then we have the weekday dieters. They may claim they are eating low calories, but what they don’t talk about is their weekend eating habits. Mindfulness goes out the door & alcohol + eating out increases. Often they lose a few pounds during the week only to put them right back on over the weekend & stay stuck in that cycle for YEARS wondering why they can’t make progress.
Even 2 days of overeating can take you out of a weekly calorie deficit. Am I saying that you can’t program higher calorie days for the weekend? Of course not! It’s a case of planning ahead. Adjust your calories accordingly so as your weekly target is still achieved but allocating 1500 kcal for that pizza just means shaving off some calories in pre or post pizza meals. However, you can’t expect to just eat whatever you want on the weekends & continue to make progress. If you eat more calories on the weekend by default you’ll have to eat less during the week.
Focusing on sustainable habits is not only important for weekly progress, it’s critical for LONG-TERM sustained weight loss that is MAINTAINABLE. It’s simple, if you can’t sustain the habits that enabled you to lose the weight, it’s unlikely you’ll keep it off!
For more details, or to Book your consultation with
Robert Palmer
MCIBS, Cert PFS, FAIQ(CII), Chartered MCSI
Financial Consultant (CISI Qualified)
please contact us at
+971 56 2228 535