We’ve all had times where we have a big event or occasion coming up that we want to look good for. For me, it was my high school reunion a few months ago. For a client, it is her upcoming wedding in December and for another client, it is a beach vacation in 6 weeks.
So what do you do? The pressure is on to look your best… however you define “your best”. You spend more time at the gym, you watch what you eat, yet after 2 months, you haven’t noticed any progress. The scale isn’t moving down- in fact, it’s creeping up! Your clothes aren’t fitting any looser, so what is up?
This is the exact point where my client, we’ll call her “Terry”, is at. She’s going on a big Carribean vacation in 6 weeks and wants to rock a bikini. She knew that over the holidays, she indulged, and gained a few pounds, so once the new year hit, she was determined to take off the weight to get ready for her week in a tropical paradise.
She followed the rules that most of us follow when we want to lose weight…. cut down on the food we eat, eat more salads and spend more time working out. When I asked Terry what she was doing- really doing- she told me that she was doing HIIT training with me 3 times a week, doing a 1 hour bootcamp 2 times a week and running a “couple of miles” on the treadmill at home.
Woa! That’s a lot of exercise!!
Then I asked her about her diet and what she was eating. I knew that she had started making shakes at home, but I was curious about when she was making them and how.
I thought I was surprised at how much she was exercising, well, I was equally surprised by her diet. She told me she would make a shake at home, every now and then. She wasn’t using them as a meal replacement which is what we had originally discussed and she was limiting her calories to 1200 per day.
Your turn to play detective. Have you figured it out yet?
To me it was very clear that with the amount of exercising that she was doing, she was not taking in enough calories. Yes, she was in a calorie deficit which is what you want when you are trying to lose weight. The problem with Terry’s pattern is that she was exercising soooo much and taking in too few calories, that her body went into “stress mode”.
So, what do I mean by “stress mode”? That is when your stress hormones are running high and your body acts like it doesn’t know when it’s next meal is going to occur. So your body starts behaving like it’s starving. Any food you eat is stored as fat and your body is reluctant to release any of it because that is its energy source. Kinda a vicious cycle…. your not losing weight because you are over-exercising and not eating enough, so you start exercising more and eating even less! And round and round we go! 🙂
It took me a long time to figure this out. I was on the same hamster wheel. What I finally learned however, took me back to my biochemistry lectures in college. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with that information. Nonetheless, there are some basics that you need to understand about the human body.
As I’ve already explained, too much exercise releases stress hormones. That number of hours that Terry was logging were incredible and definitely not helping her move towards her goal of losing weight. So if too much exercise isn’t the answer, what is? Very simply, less exercise. The key however, is the intensity level. The HIIT training that Terry was doing was perfect because she was spending only 30 minutes doing it, but kept the intensity level high. This type of training releases the right types of hormones in the body that burn fat. You can read more about HIIT training in the blog post I wrote recently.
I told Terry to keep doing the HIIT training three times a week, but that she needed to stop the bootcamps and the running on the treadmill. Instead, I told her to replace the treadmill running with an easy walk- not speed walking- an easy walk where she could easily carry on a conversation or read a book without the fear of falling off the treadmill. This relaxing pace actually helps to “reset” and stabilize your stress hormones. (Ok, that is very simplistic explanation of the biochemistry, but you get the point).
Next, I told her that she needed to get serious about her diet- what she was eating, when and why. She needed to eliminate mindless snacking or skipping meals all together. I also told her about automating as many meals and snacks as she could so that her body was nourished. Together we came up with a plan that she knew she could stick to.
Key points to remember:
1.) Exercise less, but with intensity. Don’t spend more than 30-40 minutes exercising, as long as it is not steady state cardio. This can be done a variety of ways. Personally, I like strength training using heavy weights to keep the intensity level up. And ladies, stop worrying about getting “too bulky” from lifting weights. Females literally do not have enough natural testosterone to get that bulky look. You will however, build lean muscle and have a strong, healthy physique, and who doesn’t want that? 🙂
2.) Eat more, but of nourishing foods, not just empty calories. This usually means protein and non-starchy vegetables. Go ahead and have some starch, but no more than 12-20 bites. And make sure that you have some protein with every meal. Of course you also need your healthy fats to keep you feeling full. Where can you find healthy fat? They are in avocados, coconut oil, nuts and of course olive oil.
3.) Take time to de-stress. Doing this at least once a day is ideal. It doesn’t need to be for very long. You will be surprised by how refreshed you can feel after just 10-15 minutes of relaxation. This can come in many forms: slow, leisure walking as I mentioned before, reading, yoga, meditation….. even knitting if that’s your thing.
So there you have it. 3 very simple ways to help you reach your fat loss goals. Give them a try and I’m pretty sure that after a few weeks you start to notice (and feel) a difference 🙂