5 REASONS YOU'RE NOT LOSING WEIGHT

So you've been giving it your all.

You think you've read all the weight loss tips and you're attempting to lose weight fast. 

And whether it's those few extra kilos or seeing your abs, well - you just haven't been able to do it.

Sound like you?

Well it's time to honest and think about these 5 points, in order to break through the barriers stopping you from going where you want to go!

1. YOU THINK CARBS ARE THE DEVIL AND FATS ARE BETTER

I'll honestly spend the rest of my life convincing people of this.

I've written about this topic before - but in a different context. Low carbs just aren't what people think they are!

If you stay in a 20% calorie deficit and DO NOT eat more than your maintenance calories, then you can't put on weight.

People think that if you spike your insulin levels following carbohydrate intake - you're DEFINETLY going to cause fat gain.

But guess what?

It's not only carbs that spike insulin levels.

Whey protein spikes insulin too! (1).

How do you explain that?!

In fact, whey protein has been found to be more insulinogenic than white bread! (2).

And if carbs and insulin are the devil, then how is it that a professor in America was able to lose 12 kilos by eating nothing but twinkies whilst staying in a deficit - all as part of an experiment? (3).

If carbs and insulin make you fat - imagine how big this guy would have become......but he didn't.

He lost 12 kgs. 

Furthermore other research (4) has found that whether the diet is HIGH or LOW carbohydrate - the fat loss results are identical.

Stick this conclusion from the study on your wall:

"Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize."

Also, eating carbohydrates increase leptin levels (5) - which I've written about in detail here in context of the refeed day.

Leptin is refered to as the satiety hormone and the starvation hormone, and for good reason. 

When leptin levels drop, our bodies limit energy usage and can increase fat storage for the use of energy.

Put simply, we burn less calories everyday and open the door to fat storage by letting our levels of leptin drop (6,7).

Not ideal!

That's why you need refeed days - copious amounts of carbs to continue the fat loss process - find out how to do this and when here! 

It's very simple.

Eat. Carbohydrates.

Then there's the thermogenic effect of food; when your food is used for energy - this creates heat and burns calories.

Amazingly 30% of the protein you eat is LOST to thermogensis (8).

But what about carbs and fat?

Well, your new friend the carbohydrate has a thermogenic effect of 5-10%, which isn't to bad either! (8).

But what abouts fats? 

Only 2-3% - not much at all (8).

So you burn more calories eating protein and carbohydrates than you do chowing down on fat. 

Another reason why carbs aren't the devil everyone makes them out to be.

But just how much carbohydrates to eat daily?

Well, everyone is different, which leads us into our second point.

2. YOU DON'T COUNT MACRONUTRIENTS 

If you don't understand a good balance of macronutrients for optimal muscle preservation and optimal fat loss, you run the risk of optaining the most hated physique of all - the "skinny-fat" look.

For those of you who aren't aware, macronutrients are protein fat and carbohydrates. 

Now I would never recommend doing what the above professor did with the twinkies but the point is, it can be done.

But it's NOT the best for body composition (or health) because your protein intake must be HIGHER when you reduce calories (9).

People still don't believe you can eat a small little naughty something everyday, eg a few squares of chocolate, and still lose weight.

Referred to as IIFYM (If it fits your macros) or flexible dieting, it is now catching on to the mainstream public after being used by bodybuilders for years.

For a complete rundown on IIFYM and how to calculate your macronutrients, check out my article on the phenomenon here.  

3. YOU'RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN

If growing muscle is your goal, the bulk of the data recommends aiming for 1.6-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight every day (10).

But if you're dieting? Well, this is a different ball game.

Studies show that athletes in a calorie deficit will need MORE than the above recommendations. 

A very recent review and one I'll bring up in season 2 of the show on the Ten Network, suggests 2.3-3.1g/kg is needed for "energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes" (9).

Protein is a very important macronutrient for your overall tightness and aesthetic appeal. 

4. YOU'RE DOING TOO MUCH CARDIO

Again, this can attribute to the skinny-fat look if you couple it with a severe calorie deficit.

Weight training is the way forward for muscley, tight and strong looking physique - in conjunction with a good cardio program.

But a lot of people make the mistake of simply doing cardio only.

Word is quickly catching on - hence the boom of the fitness/weightlifting sector of late - weight training is the way forward for a killer physique. 

Girls especially have been slow to accept this fact - but they don't realise how effective this is for creating the body they want and just how IMPOSSIBLE it is to get "too big and bulky" whilst doing weights. 

Too much cardio together with a calorie deficit places a lot of stress on your body and can speed up muscle loss (11).

Not a good idea!

Perform some High Intensity Cardio during your weight loss regime but bring it in gradually, starting at 1 session per week then increasing the frequency gradually.

I've spoken 100 times about the benefits of HIIT for muscle growth - to check out the many scientific references and details, click on the link above.

Onwards, and adding in some LISS cardio (Low Intensity Cardio) once or twice a week is not only good for muscle recovery due to the exces blood flow, but isn't as strenuos, yet can still yield some positive fat loss effects.   

5. YOUR CHEAT MEALS ARE TOO BIG & INCLUDE TOO MUCH ALCOHOL

Here's some exciting news for you.

I have the PERFECT cheat meal for you, for MINIMAL fat gains.

Are you ready?

The best type is one LOADED with carbohydrates, whilst containing minimal fat.

Yep.

We've already spoken about the different thermogenic effects of the different macros - but here's one for the low-carb lovers: research (12) shows that a high fat meal stores more fat than a high carbohydrate meal.

So the perfect cheat meal is one loaded with carbohydrates with minimal fat.

I laugh hysterically when I hear people talk about a "cheat day."

Well that's the fastest way to put yourself back big time.

As you know I'm a big advocate of the refeed days - that is the most effective way to cheat.

HUGE meals loaded with fats and carbohydrates for an entire day put you so far back that if you knew just how bad it was, you'd feel like you'd commited a crime!

The other secret is to have your cheat meal AFTER a workout. 

Training obviously reduces your muscle glycogen levels (stored carbohydrates) - so carbing up afterwards can potentially do less damage because your body won't easily store fat unless your glycogen petrol tank has been restored (13).

So refuel your muscles AFTER a workout with loads of carbs as part of a cheat meal, to top up your muscles tanks and store LIMITED and LESS body fat.

You can thank me for that tip later - you'll notice the difference!

ALCOHOL

The one thing you have to be careful of is the other macronutrient - alcohol.

For the record, alcohol packs 7 calories per gram (8) but this isn't your biggest concern.

To the extreme first, and alcoholics are very skinny. But they don't eat much at all, so this is why they have limited body fat. 

But for the non-alcoholic, it's not the alcohol that makes us fat per se, it's the other food you tend to eat when you're drinking it. 

The other issue is that you cannot burn fat whilst drinking alcohol (14) which poses obvious problems.

That in itself can contribute to some unwanted body fat that takes some effort to get off!

I've written in great detail about alcohol and weight loss and muscle growth before - be sure to check it out! 

CONCLUSION

Have a really good think about these 5 points and be honest with yourself!

We all want to lose weight quickly, but in order to do so in a safe and healthy fashion, we need to have these weight loss tips under out belts. 

I can promise you this - don't make these mistakes and you'll have everyone at the beach turning their heads.

Think about it. 

"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"

For a custom made, bro-science free diet plan for results at the BEST price - shoot me an email via [email protected] 

REFERENCES

(1) Claessens M, Calame W, Siemensma AD, van Baak MA, Saris WH. The effect of different protein hydrolysate/carbohydrate mixtures on postprandial glucagon and insulin responses in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jan;63(1):48-56. Epub 2007 Sep 12.

(2) Salehi A, Gunnerud U, Muhammed SJ, Ostman E, Holst JJ, Björck I, Rorsman P. The insulinogenic effect of whey protein is partially mediated by a direct effect of amino acids and GIP on beta-cells. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2012 May 30;9(1):48.

(3) Park M. "Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds." CNN News. 2010 Nov 8.

(4) Sacks FM, Bray GA, Carey VJ, Smith SR, Ryan DH, Anton SD, McManus K, Champagne CM, Bishio LM, Laranjo N, Leboff MS, Roos JC, de Jonge L, Greenway FL, Loria CM, Obarzanek E, Williamson DA. Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. N Eng J Med. 2009 Feb 26;360(9):859-73. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0804748.

(5) Kolaczynski JW, Nyce MR, Considine RV, Boden G, Nolan JJ, Henry R, Mudaliar SR, Olefsky J, Caro JF (May 1996). "Acute and chronic effects of insulin on leptin production in humans: Studies in vivo and in vitro". Diabetes 45 (5): 699–701.

(6) Ahima R.S., et al. Role of leptin in the neuroendocrine response to fasting. Nature. 1996;382:250–252. doi: 10.1038/382250a0.