"Trying" Is Not Enough

If you're following a solid diet "most of the time" and not achieving your fat-loss goals, maybe it's time to redefine what a solid diet is.

Are you eating 5-6 small meals a day?

Have you or a nutrition expert figured out your daily calorie needs so that you are eating fewer calories each day than your body requires?

Are you eating lean protein with each meal?

Are you minimizing starches, especially as the day wears on?

Are you taking in some healthy fats (nuts, nut butters, egg yolks, olive oil, fish oil, etc) each day?

Are you staying well hydrated?

If you're doing all these things and still not losing, let's focus in on that "most of the time" issue and see how that might be sabotaging your efforts.

A lot of people will follow their diet plan for three or four days and then give in to a binge, thinking that they've "earned" it. In fact, being on-point for several days with a well-designed diet brings you right to the brink of significant fat loss. If you then "blow" the diet by eating too much, you push yourself back to the starting line.

Why? Because 3-4 days of calorie restriction allows your body to use up your body's carbohydrate stores. These are found in the muscle and liver, and it is after these stores are used that the body must turn to alternative sources for fuel -- stored bodyfat. If you now continue the process -- eating fewer calories than you need day after day and week after week -- your body MUST burn its stored fat for energy. This -- day-to-day consistency in following a well-designed diet plan -- is the key to the fat loss you seek.

Persistence Works!

She hired me 3 years ago. At 44 years old, 5 feet 3 and 143 pounds, she was a lifetime exercise enthusiast and in very good shape. Despite owning a body that most women would be very pleased with, she was unsatisfied and wanted the "defined" look of a figure competitor. I tweaked her diet and training, and 5 months later she was down to a super lean 119 pounds.

Personal problems intruded on her fitness goals and, like many of us, she resorted to stress eating. Before long she was back to 140 pounds. As her personal issues receded, menopause hit with full force. Now, nothing that we did seemed to get her bodyweight down. The exercise and diet techniques that worked so well previously had no effect on her altered metabolism.

She visited a nutritionist, to no avail -- we'd already tried everything the nutritionist suggested. Her physician said she should just learn to live with her current body, that she already looked just fine.

But "just fine" wasn't good enough -- she really, really, really wanted to drop that fat.

Again we tweaked her diet, trying a different combination of protein, carbs and fat. She has diligently stuck to the diet I laid out, weight trains twice a week with me, and performs cardio 5 mornings a week.

Finally, the weight is dropping.

If your fitness goals are really important to you, and what you're doing isn't working, try something else. But NEVER think exercise and diet won't work for you. They work for everyone -- especially when customized to your unique needs and goals.

Don't Just Work Out, Work Up

If you've been working out frequently and consistently without getting the results you expect, perhaps you're not adequately challenging yourself.

Sure, getting those workouts in on a regular basis is essential for success, but it's not enough.

Progression is the key.

If you bench-press 120 pounds for three sets of ten repetitions workout after workout, your body has no reason to respond because you keep asking it to do the same thing. Try 125 pounds for three sets of 10, or 120 pounds for three sets of 12.

If you've been running 3 miles in 27 minutes for months now, push yourself to run 3 miles in 26 minutes, or run 3 1/4 miles in 27 minutes.

To improve, you have to push your yourself to new limits. Repeating the same workout ad infinitum is a sure path to nowhere.