Successful fat loss can be understood as a simple equation: calories in < calories out. That is, we are consuming less calories than what we are burning.
It can often be frustrating and disappointing when you think you are on the right track to fat loss but the numbers on the scale don't reflect that hard work. The fact of the situation is, the reason you aren't losing weight is because you are not in a calorie deficit.
There are a number of thoughts that may enter our head in preparation of those numbers finding their place on the display; "I hope I lose this week", "Please, please, please, be lower", "I shouldn't have had that wine over the weekend, that's gonna put me over", etc. You get the point. We need to remove our emotions from the process of weighing in each week and focus on the facts and what we can control.
Let's run through a few scenarios we might face when weighing in:
- Weight loss - This is (clearly) the ideal result when we want to achieve fat loss. If you are registering a weight loss on the scales each week, this pretty much guarantees you are in a calorie deficit. If this is the case, don't change a thing. You are trending in the right direction. Stay the course.
- Minimal weight loss - Although you have registered a weight loss over the course of the week. It might not be as much as you had hoped or wanted. If this is the case, a slight adjustment to your calories in might be an option you'd like to make. Reducing your macros (and therefore calories) by a few grams of carbs and fats (each day) could be the difference between a weight loss of 100g and 500g.
- No weight loss - Basically, you've probably burnt as many calories as you have consumed and haven't quite hit that deficit threshold we're aiming for. Think to add in additional training sessions (cardio or resistance), lower your calories/macros, or do a combination of both.
- Weight gain - This sucks! But you know what? It happens from time to time. This could be because you haven't been as diligent as you thought with tracking your macros/calories, or maybe you missed a couple workout sessions over the past couple of weeks. If you could improve the tracking of macros each day (as accurately as possible - food scales are an invaluable tool to help with this), then get set on fixing that first and foremost. If you are still struggling in losing weight, or are putting it back on, a more intense change will need to occur. Drop your calories/macros by 100kcal/20g carb+3-5g fat each day and think about adding in additional volume to your workouts.
Being consistent is key to achieving successful fat loss. Further than that, you need to be consistently good.
If you aren't tracking your nutrition accurately (yes, I am talking about weighing your food - it's not that hard!) then you can't honestly know for sure that you're in a deficit. You have the tools in VVT which gives you your macro range for the day, and the ability to enter all nutritional information to give an accurate display of where you are at for that day. Used in combination with a set of food scales (seriously, $15 from Kmart and that includes a battery for it!) you can easy achieve your macro goals each and every day, resulting in continual weight loss over a longer period of time - provided you are consistent.
Remove the emotion from your fat loss journey by being as objective as possible: "Did I accurately track everything I ate this week?" "Did I hit my training goals for the week?" "Did I include those drinks I had over the weekend in to my nutrition plan?" Make adjustments, reassess each week if need be, and you won't have to worry about fat loss.
You are in control of your fat loss destiny; prioritise, implement changes, be consistently good and smash your goals!
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
