It is frustrating when you have been following a good nutrition plan for weeks but you don’t seem to have lost weight or not as much as you would have thought. What could possibly be wrong? Maybe you have a food intolerance? Maybe you haven’t been exercising as much as you thought?
There are a million and one things that it could be, however, more often than not the simplest answer is the right answer – you have bee consuming more calories than you realise.
Below are some easy to fix mistakes that could be hindering your weight loss results.
Large Portions
There really is no need to fill you plate so that it resembles Mount Everest, no matter how tempting it is. Most of us fail massively on portion control, we see an empty plate and we HAVE to fill it.
One of the easiest ways to reduce calories is to reduce your portions sizes at each meal. But what is a good portion size?
A guide to potion sizes:
- Protein at every meal & snack – size of 1.5 palms of hand
- Carbs/grains/starches – size of a small cupped hand
- Fats – tip of thumb
- Veg – 2 hands full
One thing we have started using is with clients is a healthy portion plate – http://healthyportionplate.com/ – which is a very simple visual tool to remind you of potion sizes.
Tip
Remember that portion control applies to healthy foods as well. It is completely possible to consume too many calories and gain weight by eating healthy foods.
Skipping meals (usually breakfast)
It is very common for people to skip entire meals when starting a weight loss plan and more often than not, people skip breakfast. This is a really big mistake.
As a general rule, people who regularly miss breakfast tend to have a higher body weight and are less likely to achieve their weight loss goals.
Skipping breakfast will likely cause you to feel hungry later in the day, resulting in you overeating at lunch / evening meal (see large portions note above) or reaching for calorie rich snacks in the afternoon.
Tip
Eat 3 meals per day; including breakfast! A good breakfast should contain protein and fibre (eggs on wholemeal toast is great) and will help you stave off feelings of hunger throughout the day. Get up 10mins earlier and make time for breakfast.
Liquid Calories
For whatever reason, many people still don’t realise that liquids also contain calories. We cannot tell you the number of times our clients have ‘forgot’ to account for liquids within their daily calorie intake. In fact, drinks consumed throughout the day can account for up to 20% of your daily calorie intake.
If your goal is weight loss and you are aiming to reduce your calorie intake, then try to avoid sugary fizzy drinks, juices and steer clear of flavoured creamy coffee / lattes / mochas etc – some of these can contain up to 500 calories each (especially when you add the cream on top)!
Tip
Replace higher calorie drinks with water, tea, black coffee….
Tip
OK so you have to have 2 bottles of fizzy drinks each day – you just cannot operate without them! For the next week aim to have one bottle per day. You will instantly save 150 plus calories per day and you still get to have your favourite drink.
Sneaky added extras
We all do it; you order a chicken salad for lunch and add some kind of mayo/oil dressing, a few croutons and maybe a ‘sprinkle’ of cheese. Wow, you have now added at least an additional 200 hundred calories to your meal. No imagine doing this multiple times per day. Before you know it, you have consumed at least an extra 600 calories per day. Yikes!
These sneaky added extras are not helping your weight loss goals – they are an easy way to rack up calories without realising it.
Tip
Added extras are not compulsory and you do not have to have everything. If you are eating out pick a vinaigrette based dressing for salads, or just add a slice of bacon to your burger and not the cheese.
Cold turkey on treats
Have you ever said that for the next 8 weeks you cannot have something (chocolate / cake / crisps / biscuits / alcohol)? And then 5 mins later it is all you can think about and it drives you crazy? You may hold out for a few days but at some point you’ll likely give in and demolish an entire packet of biscuits in one sitting.
That is exactly why going cold turkey on treats is a big mistake when trying to lose weight. Reducing calories and sticking to a nutrition plan is hard enough, let alone when you feel like you are completely depriving yourself of something you enjoy and really want.
Tip
Allow yourself treats every now & then but make sure you plan for them and then get back to good eating habits at the next meal. If you are out for a meal with friends on Saturday evening, then have a dessert or have your favourite side dish.