Why Am I Not Losing Weight?

There’s nothing more frustrating than hitting a weight loss plateau or being unable to lose weight in the first place. However, there are plenty of reasons why you might not be seeing the results you want, ranging from your exercise routine to your stress levels to your diet.

Weight loss isn’t easy. In fact, it can feel like navigating through a confusing maze of conflicting information and setbacks. So, even if you’re giving it your all, you still might not be hitting your weight loss goal.

Putting in the hard work but not seeing results can feel discouraging and frustrating, but the good news is you’re not alone — and you’re not destined to stare at a scale that hasn’t budged forever. There are several common weight loss mistakes that might be holding you back, so making a simple change can result in a major difference.

You might struggle to lose weight if:

You’re Exercising Lots But Are Ignoring Your Diet

Everyone knows exercising can help people lose weight and get in better shape. However, you can’t out-exercise an unhealthy diet. An extra lap across the pool or weight lifting session at the gym won’t automatically balance out unhealthy eating choices. Ultimately, your weight comes down to 30% exercise and 70% diet, so you must carefully examine your nutritional intake.

Your Workout Needs To Change

Repeating the same workout routine for an extended period can lead to plateaus in weight loss progress. Over time, your body will adapt to repetitive movements, meaning the effectiveness of your workouts will diminish. To avoid this, incorporate a variety of exercises into your routine and change the intensity and duration regularly.

You Have A Sedentary Lifestyle

Spending hour after hour sitting at your desk or in front of a screen can put a damper on your weight loss efforts, leading to reduced calorie burn and a slower metabolism. Of course, you can’t help it if your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, but you can incorporate movement into your daily routine.

But don’t worry! You don’t have to uproot your entire day. Small changes can make a major difference. In fact, something as simple as standing up and stretching once an hour can result in a 13% boost in metabolism!

You Aren’t Sleeping Enough

Sleep might never cross your mind as a factor behind weight loss, but a lack of quality sleep can impact your hormones and, by extension, your metabolism. Aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night to support your weight loss goals and overall well-being.

After all, if you’re awake longer, you have more opportunities to eat, less willpower, and poorer decision-making skills. On top of that, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity has found that people receiving less than four hours of sleep a night are 73% more likely to be obese than those getting seven to nine hours a night.

You Are Too Stressed

It’s easy to dismiss stress as an unavoidable part of everyday life, but chronic stress can derail your weight loss goals. You might be too overwhelmed to plan out well-balanced meals if you’re constantly stressed. Instead, you’ll choose convenient options like fast food or microwave dinners. You may even end up stress-eating! Plus, chronic stress can impact you on a hormonal level. It can release cortisol, a hormone that can promote fat storage in the abdomen.

You Aren’t Eating Enough

It may seem counterintuitive, but eating too little can actually hinder your weight loss journey. Severely restricting your calorie intake can result in a fast initial weight loss, but it will slow down your metabolism over time, making it more difficult for your body to burn fat efficiently. Instead, your body’s survival instincts will kick in, causing you to store additional fat, not lose it. Significantly cutting back on calories can also impact your thyroid, blood pressure, and period.

What’s more, maintaining a low-calorie diet isn’t a walk in the park. It’s all too easy to become bored or hungry with a strict diet. Drastically cutting calories can even lead to binging cycles and a poor relationship with food in general.

You’re Depending On “Avoid” Lists

Some people swear by strict “avoid” lists that tell them what they can and can’t eat or even go so far as to demonize certain foods. However, labeling foods as “bad” can lead to misinformation, resentment, and an unhealthy relationship with food. You may avoid “off-limits” foods yet seek comfort in other unhealthy foods. Or, you might experience feelings of guilt and deprivation. Either way, “avoid” lists can wreak havoc.

Instead of completely cutting out foods you enjoy, try to eat in moderation. Watch your portion sizes, but allow yourself to enjoy the occasional treat. It’s all about finding a healthy balance and taking a thoughtful approach to your diet.

Your Diet Is Too Monotonous

If you try a new diet and see some progress, it’s easy to fall into a pattern and eat the same foods every day, but that’s a mistake. Having a monotonous diet can lead to boredom, cravings, and complacency. Plus, you’ll likely miss some vital nutrients. So, try incorporating a wide range of fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains, and healthy fats into your diet, and don’t be afraid to experiment with your meal planning or recipes!

You’re Eliminating Entire Food Groups

While completely cutting out carbohydrates, proteins, or fats from your diet may seem like a good plan on the surface, eliminating entire food groups can actually deprive your body of essential nutrients, leading to imbalances. Your body needs nutrients, and each food group helps meet those needs! Instead, try to create a well-rounded diet containing various foods from across the food pyramid.

Ready to turn things around and conquer those weight loss hurdles? While changing your workout routine and diet can be a challenge, you don’t have to do it alone!

I’m ready and willing to help you lose weight. Reach out to me today at happyhelen@gmail.com to get started!

Why Eating High Protein Helps in 99% of Most People’s Goals

Achieving fitness goals isn’t necessarily easy — and most people overlook one important factor, making meeting goals even more difficult. The key is protein!

This vital macronutrient is composed of amino acids and can be found in everything from your muscles to your bones to your hair. If you don’t eat enough protein, you may feel weak or hungry, experience stress fractures, and have mood changes, muscle weakness, or brittle hair and nails.

Luckily, most adults in the U.S. consume enough protein to avoid protein deficiency, but many would benefit from a higher protein intake. However, that doesn’t mean that you’re looking at meal after meal of meat. Things like milk, yogurt, beans, cheese, eggs, nuts, and baked potatoes are also excellent sources of protein that can help you meet your goals.

A high-protein diet can help you:

1. Lose Fat

Losing fat is one of the most common goals people have — and most people go about it all wrong. They dedicate 100% of their energy to working out and none of their attention to their diet. The truth is that exercise can only get you so far. You also need to think about what you’re eating.

There are a lot of myths about protein floating around out there, but the reality is that having a high-protein diet can help you lose fat, as the nutrient can help you feel full sooner, reduce your cravings, and keep your metabolism and muscle growth up, meaning you’ll burn more calories throughout the day. Plus, if you’re trying to lose weight, continuing to incorporate protein in your diet will ensure that you lose fat and not muscle.

2. Build Muscle

If you want to develop muscle, strength training can certainly help — but you can’t neglect your diet. Since the amino acids found within protein are the main building blocks of muscle (not to mention bones, organs, skin, and nails), a high-protein diet can help you achieve muscle growth. Remember, it’s all about balance. You’ll need regular exercise and a healthy diet to see the results you want.

3. Get Stronger

Getting stronger takes time, regular workouts, and a high-protein diet. After all, when you chow down on protein-rich foods, you’re giving your body the amino acids it needs to repair and grow your muscles after your workouts. What’s more, protein plays a role in the production of many hormones involved in muscle growth and repair, such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and testosterone.

4. Improve Bone Density

Most people automatically associate increased protein with increased muscle and strength, but did you know that upping your protein intake can also help improve your bone density?

For one, protein provides your body with much-needed amino acids that act as building blocks for your bone tissues. Without sufficient protein, your body wouldn’t have the resources it needs to repair and strengthen your bones. Plus, protein helps increase calcium absorption, meaning your body can more effectively use the calcium in your diet. It’s also worth noting consuming more protein can help you maintain a healthy bone density as you age, reducing your chances of osteoporosis, breaks, and fractures.

5. Recover Faster

Working out can take a lot out of you, your muscles, and your tissues, but having a protein-packed diet can be a game changer! Not only does protein provide the amino acids your muscles and tissues need to repair and rebuild the tiny tears that occur during intense workouts, but it can also help reduce muscle soreness! With a protein-rich diet, you’ll feel like yourself in no time at all!

6. Improve Sports Performance

If you’re looking to improve your sports performance, eating more protein is a no-brainer! After all, we already know that more protein can lead to more muscle and strength yet less fat. But it’s deeper than that.

Increasing your protein intake can also help with muscle repair, meaning you’ll be ready to take on your next training session and accomplish your athletic goals faster than ever! Plus, protein can provide you with the energy and power you need to push through fatigue and bring your all.

Want to smash your fitness goals out of the park? It’s all about that high-quality protein intake! If you’re unsure of where to start, don’t worry. I’ve got your back! Reach out to me today at happyhelen@gmail.com for help incorporating more protein into your diet and reaching your fitness goals!

Why Don’t I do Aesthetic Goals or Scale-Based Weight Loss Goals?

In my 7 years as a personal trainer, I’ve never seen a client happy long term with their health and fitness journey when they have an aesthetic based goal.  For one, how do we measure what “looking good” looks like? Too subjective and vague.  But okay, you argue, what about a number on the scale to work towards? This is usually what most clients ask for help for - figuring out how to lose X pounds on the scale.  The problems with using scale as the SOLE WAY to measure progress are these: 

1. Your body weight changes daily.  If you track your weight everyday for 1 month, you will see it goes up and down DAILY.   It can fluctuate up and down even if you are doing everything perfectly.  Which leads to #2…

2. Perfection does not exist.   No one eats perfectly everyday for the rest of their lives.  Which leads to #3…

3. Example of a typical scenario: A client eats “perfectly” for 2 months and then goes out for a birthday meal.  The next day she steps on the scale and is up 5 pounds due to more carbs, salt and water.  She loses her mind and decides to throw out all the 2 months of hard work away because of what she read on the scale.  She couldn’t believe all those months of hard work still equated to a higher number.  But what she’s missing are all the benefits of the last 2 months — feeling stronger, gaining muscle, preventing injuries, having better sleep and energy, etc.  Not to mention having a consistent workout routine! 

4. When you lose fat and gain muscle, your scale number can stay the same or go up.  

5. Scale isn’t the full picture of your fitness journey.  It’s one data point. 

6. It’s not really about the number.  Hear me out! We have conditioned ourselves to associate a number on the scale = happiness in our body image.  Which are not facts.  You can be happy with your body at many different numbers (there is a range for health) and body composition as long as the following happens:

• People want to feel good about themselves in their clothes but they think the ONLY way to get there is through losing X number on the scale (which is how we address it through performance based goal vs scale based goal)

• People want to move around functionally and not be in pain

• People want to be capable of doing fun things in their lives, without embarrassment or judgment of others 

There are also many mental health hurdles that happen when you are overweight that you associate with your own self-worth that needs to be further examined by a professional therapist.  But ultimately my point is that it has nothing to do with a single number on the scale, but more the inner hangups of your mind of what that means for yourself.   We are human! 

To be clear, I am not saying the number on the scale doesn’t matter at all or that we shouldn’t lose body fat.  If you are 300 pounds then yes, numbers do matter for a variety of health reasons.  What I am saying is when you make a single number on the scale as your sole goal, or picking goals that are ONLY looks base, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of ups and downs with food and exercise, and as a byproduct you will end up hating the fitness journey….probably for the rest of your life.  

I want you to enjoy the process and actually like working out and fueling your body.    When you enjoy something, duh, you do more of it! 

Performance based goals associate positivity with your body image.  You are appreciating it for all it can DO.  When you love your body, you will subconsciously start doing all the right things for it — eating better, sleeping better, moving more, etc.  At least, way more than if you hate your body and have an emotional meltdown due to what the scale is telling you.

How this works: You, a client, comes to me who is 20 pounds overweight and wants to lose that weight —  I say, great, how about we pick a goal of “personal best in your barbell squat” to work towards? 

The next 3 months we focus on getting some best and heaviest numbers on the barbell squat (while also strengthening your body overall and doing other lifts).  We also work on food to help you perform your best.  

What does this do? It makes you focus on how strong you are, it makes you focus on the fun of trying to PR, and you shift your mind away from “OMG I HAVE TO LOSE X NUMBER.” 

And guess what? You have fun in the process and you will naturally lose some fat from being a healthier you.

Sometimes we have to shift our focus in another way to get to the result we want.  It’s performance based so we have the evidence and data to support your progress and replicate this moving forward.

Are you ready to pick a performance goal? Email me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

What’s The Difference Between Processed, Minimally Processed, and Ultra-Processed Foods?

When it comes to foods, you’ve probably heard the terms processed, minimally processed, and ultra-processed tossed around — and there’s a clear hierarchy. Minimally processed foods are better for you than processed foods, which are better for you than ultra-processed foods. What’s unclear is what differentiates the three from one another. For example, where is the line drawn between processed and ultra-processed foods?

If you’re a little confused, don’t worry! I get it — and I’ve got you covered.

Minimally Processed Foods

Of the three types of foods we’re discussing today, minimally processed foods are the closest to unprocessed foods and don’t contain any added fats, salt, or sugar. Minimally processed foods are only slightly altered from the natural plant or animal to simplify transportation, storage, and preservation and ensure the food remains safe to eat.

Take fresh lettuce, for example. Before being sold at the store, it may be pre-washed, cut into smaller pieces, and packaged. Similarly, milk is pasteurized and refrigerated before being sold, while we often buy meat that has already been trimmed of fat and vacuum-packaged. Other examples of minimal processing include grinding, fermenting, drying, roasting, boiling, and freezing.

We see minimal processing for many fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, and whole grains — and most of it’s completely healthy. After all, cutting broccoli into florets, drying fruits, or freezing meat or seafood counts as minimal processing!

Processed Foods

Processed foods differ from minimally processed foods in that they have added salt, sugar, fat, or starch ingredients. Typically, processed foods contain two to three components (or more) and are ready to be eaten without additional preparation.

These foods undergo additional processing like canning, bottling, and non-alcoholic fermentation to ensure they are easier to prepare and have a better storage life or flavor. (Think freshly made bread, canned fish, salted nuts, certain cheeses, beans in brine, and some smoked meats.)

Ultra-Processed Foods

Ultra-processed foods are exactly what they sound like. They’re foods that have been highly processed. Instead of merely including additional salt, sweeteners, or fat, ultra-processed foods contain artificial colors and flavors as well as preservatives that increase palatability, preserve texture, and lengthen shelf life. NOVA, a well-known diet classification system, says that ultra-processed foods are “snacks, drinks, ready meals, and many other products created mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods or derived from food constituents with little if any intact food.”

Like processed foods, ultra-processed foods are typically ready to eat without much additional preparation. However, unlike minimally processed foods and processed foods, ultra-processed foods require several processing steps and ingredients, such as bulking agents, color stabilizers, hydrolyzed protein isolates, emulsifiers, maltodextrin, fructose, modified oils, and humectants.

Chicken nuggets, hot dogs, veggie burgers, energy bars and drinks, sweetened breakfast cereals, ice creams, white bread, soft drinks, frozen meals … the list goes on.

Why Processed Foods Are So Appealing

Chances are you eat a lot of ultra-processed foods each day — and you’re not alone. In fact, ultra-processed foods make up roughly 60% of the average adult’s diet, and it makes sense.

We love these foods because they taste good. They’re relatively cheap and are ready to be eaten with little-to-no additional prep, meaning you can save time and even gain essential nutrients. Yes, even ultra-processed foods provide vital nutrients like protein, iron, and various vitamins. For example, fruits and vegetables frozen immediately after harvest will retain most of their vitamin C. Some foods can even be fortified with specific nutrients, such as iron, B vitamins, folic acid, iodine, and vitamin D, to prevent everything from rickets to goiter.

Additionally, processing via pasteurization, cooking, or drying can sometimes slow or destroy the growth of harmful bacteria, while emulsifiers can make our foods more appealing to eat. Notably, emulsifiers prevent peanut butter from separating into solid and liquid parts.

Why Processed Foods Should Be Eaten In Moderation

Processed foods aren’t inherently bad, and you shouldn’t avoid them altogether. However, you’ll want to be careful when it comes to ultra-processed foods. When possible, you’ll want to opt for foods in their least-processed form because ultra-processed foods:

• Can harm your health: Eating too much ultra-processed food can lead to high blood pressure, breast and colorectal cancer, and even impaired cognition when you’re older.

• Don’t contain as many nutrients: Processing of any kind can remove or destroy nutrients. Peeling off the outer layers of fruits, vegetables, or whole grains removes fiber and phytochemicals, while heating or drying foods can destroy additional vitamins and minerals.

• Can increase your risk of weight gain: What’s more, eating too many processed foods can lead to weight gain. This is especially true for ultra-processed foods, as they contain a high ratio of calories to nutrients yet aren’t usually particularly filling. The result? You’ll probably eat or drink a lot before you begin to feel full, all while consuming lots of calories. In a study published by Cell Metabolism, the group on an ultra-processed diet consumed roughly 500 more calories per day than those on the unprocessed diet when allowed to eat as little or as much food as they wanted. The ultra-processed group also gained two pounds on average over fourteen days, while the unprocessed group lost weight.

If you’re trying to lose weight or get in shape, you need to pay attention to what you’re eating. Limit your intake of ultra-processed foods and listen to your body. However, nutrition can only get you so far. You’ll also want to exercise!

It’s a lot to keep track of, but I’m here if you need some help! Reach out to me today at happyhelen@gmail.com to get started!

Eating for Optimal Hormone Health

Our body has countless hormones traveling through us at any given moment. These chemical messengers deliver messages to our organs, telling them what they need to do to keep our bodies functioning in tip-top shape. Hormones play a major role in everything from our mood to our metabolism, but they can become imbalanced! 

However, you’re not at the mercy of your hormones — and you don’t necessarily need to resort to hormone supplements just yet. Instead, it’s time to take a closer look at your eating habits. But before we dive into what to eat, let’s first review some common hormonal problems.

Types of Hormones

Some hormones you need to know about include:

• Cortisol: Produced by your adrenal glands, this glucocorticoid hormone is released during times of stress. Cortisol helps your body regulate blood sugar, fight infections, and access fast energy in stressful situations.

• Dehydroepiandrosterone: Dehydroepiandrosterone (a.k.a. DHEA) is a precursor to estrogen and testosterone. It’s produced by the liver and adrenal glands, and its levels peak during early adulthood before declining with age.

• Estrogen: We’ve probably all heard of estrogen, but if you need a quick refresher, it’s a category of sex hormone that promotes breast tissue development, protects bone health, impacts skin health, controls the menstrual cycle, and helps develop female secondary sex characteristics. It comes in three primary forms: estrone, estradiol, and estriol.

• Ghrelin: Your stomach is primarily responsible for producing and releasing ghrelin, or the hunger hormone, though the small intestine, pancreas, and brain also release some ghrelin. This hormone’s main role is to regulate your appetite. So, when your stomach is empty, it will secrete ghrelin, which then travels through your bloodstream and affects the hypothalamus to let your brain know you’re hungry. When you’re full, your ghrelin levels will decrease. 

• Leptin: Leptin plays the opposite role of ghrelin. Instead of signaling when you’re hungry, leptin tells your brain when to stop eating. Known as the fullness hormone, leptin is released by adipose tissue and helps your body maintain its normal weight.

• Insulin: Without insulin, our bodies wouldn’t be able to turn food into energy. This vital hormone transforms glucose into energy before distributing it throughout the body. A lack of insulin can cause glucose to build up in the bloodstream instead of going to the cells, leading to diabetes.

• Melatonin: There’s a reason many people who have difficulty falling asleep or are suffering from jetlag turn to melatonin. It’s known as the “sleep hormone” because it can help with circadian rhythms and sleep. Our brains naturally produce melatonin in response to darkness, signaling it’s time to sleep. However, melatonin production declines as we get older.

• Progesterone: Progesterone plays a major role in pregnancy. In the first ten weeks of pregnancy, the ovarium corpus luteum secretes progesterone, and the placenta secretes the hormone later in the pregnancy. Progesterone is also involved in menstruation, as it thickens the uterine lining to prepare for a fertilized egg to implant. If no eggs are fertilized during the cycle, progesterone levels will decrease and the uterus will shed the lining.

• Testosterone: Testosterone is a steroid hormone that encourages male secondary sex characteristics to develop. However, it isn’t just found in men! Testosterone supports muscle, bone development, and sex drive for everyone.

• Thyroid Hormone: The thyroid hormone is primarily responsible for controlling your body’s metabolism but can also affect your weight and body temperature. Your hormone releases two main hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). While T4 doesn’t impact your cells, T3 does — and organs like your liver or kidneys can transform T4 into T3, allowing it to affect your cells and metabolism.

Three Common Hormonal Imbalances For Women

Women, in particular, often struggle with hormone imbalances, which can majorly affect their lives. Common hormone issues women experience include:

1. High Cortisol

High cortisol levels can be caused by everything from stress to adrenal gland tumors to pituitary gland problems to medications.

Symptoms include weight gain, muscle weakness, high blood pressure, headaches, acne, cravings for salty and sugary foods, mood swings, low libido, memory difficulties, and more.

To lower your cortisol levels, try to prioritize your sleep, exercise regularly, reduce your caffeine intake, and even try fish oil supplements. Do anything you can to relax, whether that’s doing breathing exercises or going for a walk. However, as with most things, your diet can make a massive difference!

Try to avoid foods with high amounts of added sugar, as this can raise your cortisol levels. Instead, turn to a whole-foods diet as much as possible. Try eating dark chocolate, whole grains, legumes, lentils, whole fruits and vegetables, fatty fish, bananas, garlic, nuts, and seeds to keep your cortisol levels in check. It may also be worth drinking green tea, as it contains L-theanine, which is linked to lower stress levels. Also, don’t forget to stay hydrated! You should already drink water throughout the day, but it’s crucial if you have high cortisol levels.

2. High Estrogen

Estrogen dominance, or having too much estrogen, is a fairly common problem amongst women — and it can have significant consequences on you and your body. 

Symptoms include migraines, fatigue, weight gain, and gallbladder issues, but it can also cause you to experience heavier periods, mood swings, uterine fibroids, PMS, irritability, breast tenderness, and feelings of bloatedness.

Luckily, if you have high estrogen levels, you’re not alone — and you’re not stuck with it forever. Simple lifestyle changes can help lower estrogen levels. Exercise more. Meditate. Sleep better. Cut back on alcohol — and don’t forget about your nutrition!

Avoid processed foods, sugar, and refined carbohydrates, which can increase estrogen levels and symptoms. Instead, try to eat foods that promote lower estrogen levels and improved estrogen breakdown, such as:

• Cruciferous vegetables: If you have high estrogen levels, vegetables in the cruciferous family are your go-tos! While your mind may immediately jump to broccoli and cauliflower when you hear the word “cruciferous,” don’t worry if broccoli and cauliflower aren’t your speed. Bok choy, kale, brussel sprouts, arugula, and cabbage are also cruciferous vegetables.

• More fiber: Fiber bonds to excess hormones, so if you don’t have enough fiber, your body won’t be able to remove estrogen from your body. Instead, your body will reabsorb the excess estrogen, leading to estrogen dominance. Need some tips on increasing your fiber intake? Try eating psyllium, chia seeds, or fresh ground flax seeds!

• Organic fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy: Going organic is good for your body for so many reasons. Organic fruits and vegetables have fewer pesticides, more beneficial nutrients, and are better for the environment than their conventional counterparts. Likewise, organic meat and dairy offer more nutrients and less toxins while also benefiting the environment.

• Probiotic-rich foods: Your gut microbiome needs to be in tip-top shape to efficiently clear estrogen in your bowel movements. The good news is that eating probiotic-rich foods like sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, kimchi, and natural yogurt can help!

3. Low Thyroid 

Located in the front of your neck, your thyroid is small but mighty. It’s responsible for creating T4 and T3 hormones to control your metabolism. However, your thyroid may not produce enough thyroid hormone. 

Symptoms include headaches, brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, depression, and anxiety, but that’s not all.  Low thyroid hormone can also cause forgetfulness, constipation, swelling, dry skin, thinning hair, and irregular, painful, or lengthy periods.

If your thyroid hormone levels are too low, you’ll want to increase your intake of thyroid-supportive nutrients. Eat selenium (Brazil nuts, liver, meat, seafood, spinach), vitamin D (eggs, oily fish, sunshine, supplements), zinc (meat, buckwheat, oysters, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds), and iodine (prunes, iodized salt, seaweed, oysters, corn).

Whether you have low thyroid hormone, high cortisol levels, or too much estrogen, nutrition can be one of the best medicines. Knowing what to eat for optimal hormone health isn’t easy, but don’t worry! I’ve got your back! Reach out to me today at happyhelen@gmail.com to start tackling your hormone problems.

Should I Track My Food In A Food Journal Or App?

Plenty of people have found success through tracking their food in a journal or app — including participants of the 12-month Diabetes Prevention and Management program. However, food tracking is not a one-size-fits-all solution for weight loss or better health. Some people benefit from it, others use it for a little while before switching to a new tactic, and others can find it less than beneficial. 

I can’t tell you whether food tracking is the best option for you, but I can let you know all about food tracking, its pros and cons so you can make the final call for yourself.  

What Is Food Tracking?

So, what even is food tracking? It’s exactly what it sounds like!

You’ll need to track what you eat and drink each day. Not only does this mean recording what you’re eating, but it also means keeping track of how much you’re consuming! You’ll want to include everything you eat or drink — and, yes, that includes any mid-afternoon snacks or cups of coffee.

By tracking your food intake each day, you’ll have an accurate insight into your eating habits, giving you the power to make more informed decisions moving forward. You can even use the information you gain from food tracking to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) eating goals.

How To Track Your Food

Tracking your food is simple, especially thanks to today’s food tracking apps. The hard part is being consistent and accurate. It’s all too easy to slack off one day and slip into bad habits. 

You’ll want to record at least these two items below in an app like My Fitness Pal, Lose it or MacroFactor.  

• What you’re eating: Record the foods and drinks you consume throughout the day. Note how it’s prepared, and don’t forget to include any toppings, sauces, dressings, or condiments to get the complete picture!

• How much you’re eating: Document how much you’re eating to get an even better idea of your habits. Use a food scale and measure your food for the best results. 

The rest of these are more specific and definitely can be beneficial, but more for an advanced person who has the time and energy to dig deep into their gut health and habits.  

• When you’re eating: If possible, note the time you’re eating. Did you reach for a bag of chips at 9 p.m., or was your breakfast burrito more of a brunch burrito?

• What you’re doing: Whether you’re watching television, scrolling through social media, or eating with a friend, you’ll want to keep track of what you do when eating.  The reason is to understand how distracted or mindful you are when eating.  

• Who you’re eating with: Were you eating alone or with someone, such as a friend, spouse, child, or colleague?

• How you’re feeling: Also, pay attention to and record your emotions. Did you feel happy after eating that? Energized? Depressed? Yes, food affects our mood! 

Once you’ve collected enough information, it’s time to look back at your records for patterns, habits, or trends. You might notice that your diet isn’t as healthy as you thought, or maybe you eat unhealthy snacks when you’re stressed, or you’re drinking beverages with added sugar several times a day. Tracking your food will give you a closer look at what you’re putting into your body on a daily basis, and you can then use these insights to make positive changes.

It can be easy to become obsessive over tracking your food, but that’s the last thing you want to do.  Accept that you’ll never be able to perfectly record precisely how much you eat and drink — nor should you strive to.  Instead, you can eyeball portion sizes and log your food intake into your food journal or fitness tracking app.

The Pros Of Food Tracking

Food tracking can:

Help You Meet Weight Loss Goals

Food tracking has helped many people lose weight! In one study, those keeping a food diary lost twice as much weight as those without one — and it’s hardly surprising. After all, food tracking provides insight into what you’re eating, making it possible to track progress and tell whether you’re eating fewer calories than you expend. If not, you can then adjust accordingly to enter a calorie deficit and start shedding some pounds.

Let You Know Whether You’re Eating Enough

Food tracking can also benefit those with a history of undereating or a health condition that masks hunger cues. By recording what you’re eating, you’ll see whether you’re eating enough to give your body the fuel to function without things like fatigue or hormonal imbalances. If it turns out that you aren’t eating enough, you can then increase your food intake until your symptoms go away and you feel at your best.

Help You Meet Fitness Goals

Food tracking can be an incredibly valuable tool for athletes and those who take training seriously.  After all, intense training and workouts require higher calorie intakes — and food tracking will let you know whether you’re providing your body with enough fuel.

If your goal is to build muscle and increase strength, this is even more important! You’ll want to pay special attention to how much protein you’re eating, as the amino acids found in protein are key players in repairing and maintaining muscle tissue.

Reflect Progress And Provide Motivation

It can be difficult to notice progress if you don’t keep any records. That’s why food tracking is such a powerful tool.  If you have a food journal or use an app to record your food intake, you can have a clearer view of how your diet and food habits have changed and your progress so far.  Not only does this allow you to celebrate small and large changes, but it also provides you additional motivation moving forward!

Help Detect Food Intolerances

Food tracking isn’t just good for your dietary and fitness goals.  It can also help you identify the causes of digestive problems and quickly connect the dots! For example, you may have felt bloated or gassy on and off for years and only realized it was due to a food intolerance after looking closely at what you’re eating and when.

Create Awareness

One of the best things about food tracking, whether you’re using a food journal or an app, is simply the awareness it creates.  By recording what, when, and how much you eat, you’re forcing yourself to pay attention to your food intake.  Not only does this show you what you’re doing right, but it can also highlight any bad habits you’ve fallen into, allowing you to take action.  Essentially, food tracking shows you what you really eat, not what you THINK you eat, and can result in increased mindfulness around your diet.

The Cons Of Food Tracking

While food tracking can be incredibly beneficial for some people, it isn’t necessary for meeting dietary goals — and it isn’t ideal for everyone. Food tracking isn’t worth it for some, while others only use it briefly, taking the insights but then eventually stopping the tracking.

Food tracking can:

Cause You To Miss The Big Picture

Some people get so caught up in tracking their food intake that they forget everything else. Exercise and other lifestyle habits are thrown to the wayside in favor of tracking food and counting calories, but that’s a major mistake. After all, using only one tool to gain and measure health is never a good idea.  

Require Lots Of Math

Food tracking can sometimes involve calorie counting, which can have some negative side effects. Instead of thinking about food as food, you might view foods as the number of calories they contain.  Essentially, food tracking can take the joy out of eating and replace it with stress and thoughts of counting. No one wants that!

Encourage Disordered Eating

At its worst, tracking your food can lead to disordered eating habits. Food tracking often involves weighing or measuring food and understanding how many calories you’re eating, which can lead to disordered eating. If you focus on your intake too much, you may find yourself restricting your calorie intake to an unhealthy level that’s both damaging physically and mentally.

Be Addicting

In a similar vein, tracking your food intake in a journal or app can become addicting and harm your mental wellness. Instead of enjoying food and life in general, you’ll wind up constantly tracking what you’re eating and drinking — or thinking about it.

Be Inaccurate

Unfortunately, food tracking isn’t 100% accurate. For one, current labeling laws allow for a 20% margin of error, meaning that a 200-calorie snack might actually be 238 calories! And that’s not even accounting for you forgetting to track and remembering the next day, which may be less accurate as it is.

What’s more — the nutrients in fresh produce can vary, depending on the variety, region of origin, ripeness, and season. There are a lot of variables, and there’s absolutely no way food companies and the USDA can account for every change to produce 100% accurate labels.

Cause You To Restrict Healthy Foods

Food tracking is all about how much you’re eating, making it easy to focus on the wrong things.  You may avoid high-fat foods like cheese, eggs, meat, and fish simply because they have more calories, causing you to miss out on necessary nutrients.

To Food Track, Or Not To Food Track…

For some people, food tracking works well.  For others, something like intuitive eating might do the trick — and there’s nothing wrong with that! Everyone is different, so it’s perfectly fine that food tracking works for some but is detrimental to others.

If you need help, a little guidance from a professional can go a long way, especially if you’re new to food tracking!

Ready to get started? Contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com! 

How to Get 100g of Protein a Day

One of the hardest things I tackle with my clients is getting high enough protein each day! Most people tell me, “Oh, I get enough protein, I have a Greek yogurt at breakfast.” If you are getting 40g of protein a day, you are barely getting enough for keeping you alive, not for optimal health and daily life. If you do ANY physical activity at all, forget it! No wonder it’s so hard to lose fat if you are eating mostly carbs that only makes you hungry in a few hours. As a woman, this will catch up with you over time. Women actually need MORE protein as they get older so let’s load them up!

Whether you are trying to build muscle or lose fat, getting a minimal of 1g of protein per pound of body weight will be one of the key solution to your goals. In order to build muscle, you need a high amount of protein - as you probably know. But if you want to lose fat, you need protein to keep you FULLER LONGER and increase that metabolism. Protein takes more energy to digest, so it can also increase your metabolic rate. Not to mention if you build muscle, you speed up your metabolism as well.

Here are 5 different ways to mix and match proteins options for everyone! Remember you can use these proteins to add to salads, even smoothies, and paired with yummy seasonings or veggies!

1.

Meal 1: 1 protein shake - 20g 

Meal 2: 4 eggs - 24g 

Meal 3: 1 can of tuna - 30g 

Meal 4: 4 oz salmon, 1 cup brown rice - 28g 

Total = 102g

2.

Meal 1: 5 oz Greek yogurt, 2 eggs - 28g 

Meal 2: 3 oz ground turkey - 20g 

Meal 3: 8 oz ribeye steak - 57g 

 Total = 105g

3.

Meal 1: 4 oz smoked salmon - 24g 

Meal 2: 5.4 oz chicken thighs - 40g 

Meal 3: 1 cup brown rice, 6 oz cooked shrimp - 43g 

Total = 107g

4.

Meal 1: 1 thick-cut bacon, 3 eggs - 23g 

Meal 2: 15 chicken nuggets - 45g (or spread this over 2 meals)

Meal 3: 8 oz Chilean sea bass - 42g 

Total = 110g

5.

Meal 1: 4 eggs, 3 egg whites - 40g 

Meal 2: 2 chicken sausage links - 26g 

Meal 3: 4 oz chickpea pasta, 2 oz of 90% ground beef - 41g 

Total = 107g

I’ve helped so many clients with their fat loss journey through nutrition coaching. If you need help with your nutrition, email me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

Why Cardio Isn’t Working For Your Fat Loss

Cardio is excellent for boosting your mood, building stamina, keeping your arteries clear, and strengthening your heart. But you know what it isn’t ideal for? Fat loss.

Unfortunately, the idea that cardio is the best way to lose fat has been flying around for decades — and people have been blindly subscribing to this idea. However, the truth is that cardio is not the way to go if fat loss is your goal long term. Here’s why:

Why Cardio Won’t Cut It When It Comes To Fat Loss

1. It Won’t Burn As Many Calories As You Think

Cardio doesn’t burn as many calories as people think it does. Most trackers are wrong because your metabolism changes on a daily basis - so how can any single wrist tracker know how your body changes each day? Most people start cardio workouts believing they’ll quickly burn calories and shed body fat — and yes, you can burn SOME calories through cardio. Heck, you may even lose 20 pounds 3 in months by running 5 miles a day and eating 1200 calories. However, long term - ask yourself, is this sustainable? What happens when my body adapts to this cardio? Then what?

Not only that, it takes an extremely high workload to burn a significant amount of calories through cardio alone.  For instance, an hour off high intensity cardio may burn off one cookie-  if you are lucky.  You would need to be on the treadmill for 6 hours everyday at this rate! It is a common mistake to hit the treadmill or do some laps at the pool and think we’ve  burned more calories than reality, which generally means you’re more likely to eat more calories than actually burned.  

To make matters worse, it turns out that activity trackers generally overestimate calorie burn. Some fitness trackers overestimate calorie burn by up to 93%, so if you try and eat back what you think you’ve burned, you won’t be able to enter a calorie deficit and lose fat. Instead, you may actually gain weight. 

2. It Can Increase Your Appetite

On top of that, cardio can raise your appetite disproportionally to how many calories you actually burn. Let’s say you spend thirty minutes swimming laps at the pool. You’ll probably feel extra hungry when you get out, which can lead to consuming excess calories later on in the day. 

3. You Adapt to Cardio - Quickly 

The main reason why cardio for fat loss doesn’t work long term is because you adapt to cardio QUICKLY! Meaning overtime, you’ll need to keep increasing the cardio workout to burn MORE calories.  Can you do 6 hours of cardio a day? And even if you can somehow do this, your body will still adapt to it eventually.  

Cardio also won’t build muscle-  it actually pairs down muscle. So on the other hand, if you incorporate strength training into your routine and increase your caloric intake, you’ll be able to build muscle to increase that metabolism. More muscles mean a higher metabolic rate. You’ll burn more calories by merely existing, as muscle tissue requires more calories to function than fatty tissue. So, you can say hello to increased calorie expenditure throughout the day, whether you’re watching television or taking a nap. In the long term, keeping fat off will be much easier if you build muscle vs. pair down muscle with cardio. 

4. It May Cause You To Overlook Your Diet

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that cardio is the be-all and end-all when it comes to fat loss, which means it’s all too easy to sweep your diet off to the side. By over-relying on cardio and doing no resistance training, most people gain the weight back within a couple years.

Lose Fat Effectively With Me!

Cardio has its place and its health benefits, but it won’t work if your goal is fat loss long term. Instead, you’ll need to focus on your food intake and turn to resistance training. We need to get that metabolism roaring! By focusing on resistance training and your food choices, you’ll be attacking the problem from both ends. Over time, you’ll lose fat, your metabolism will speed up, and you’ll see results you can actually maintain.

Ready to lose fat? Contact me today at happyhelen@gmail.com!

How Eating Fewer Calories Is Hurting Your Fat Loss Journey

It may seem counterintuitive, but the truth is that consuming fewer calories can actually slow your fat loss journey.

When people want to lose fat, they automatically jump to reducing their caloric intake. And it makes perfect sense! Fewer calories in = more fat loss, right?

In theory, yes. But the truth is that eating fewer calories can negatively impact your fat loss journey, not to mention your overall health!

All About Calories

Before we dive into how consuming fewer calories can hurt your fat loss journey, let’s first go over how calories and metabolism work.

Put simply, a calorie is just a unit of energy. It’s equivalent to the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a gram of water by 1°C (1.8°F or 4.1868 joules) and serves as a measurement of the energy content of food and drinks.

For many people trying to lose fat, calories are automatically the enemy, but the truth is that our bodies need calories for everything we do, from breathing to circulating blood and digesting foods to fighting off infections. However, if you eat and drink more calories than you expend, your body will store the excess as body fat, causing you to gain weight.

So, how many calories do you need? It depends on your age, size, physical activity level, environmental temperature, dieting behaviors, and hormonal status! As a general guideline, the average man should consume around 2,500 calories daily, while the average woman should consume roughly 2,000 calories daily to maintain a healthy body weight.

To estimate your specific calorie needs, you’ll need to determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR), calculate how many calories you’ll need to maintain your current weight, and think about how many calories you’ll need to consume to lose weight (this number should be somewhere between your BMR and daily caloric requirement).

The Impact Of Eating Fewer Calories On Fat Loss

When people want to lose weight, they often turn to diets and drastically cut back on their caloric intake. However, this approach can be counterproductive. In fact, research examining The Biggest Loser shows that metabolism will significantly slow after a dramatic weight loss — and regaining that weight won’t return your metabolism to its previous levels.

A low-calorie diet can decrease the number of calories your body burns by up to 23%, so keeping the weight off will be EVEN MORE DIFFICULT! People will need to stick with extremely low-calorie diets, which is unsustainable in the long run.

Why does this happen? Our bodies are just too good at adapting! If you deprive your body of calories and don’t consume enough calories to meet your basal metabolic needs, your body will think you’re going to starve and automatically start conserving calories. Its survival instincts will kick in and slow your metabolism to save energy, meaning you’ll burn fewer calories per day and begin converting extra calories into fat. Which is the opposite of what you want….

Your body’s metabolism works hard to create a new balance when you consistently don’t consume enough calories, which can lead to weight loss plateaus. No matter how little you eat, you won’t be able to lose any weight. It’s frustrating and discouraging — and it happens to nearly everyone.

When 65 dieting women were analyzed, their bodies burned 50 fewer calories per day on average — and those who were overweight or obese used hundreds of fewer calories a day. Every 10-calorie drop in BMR meant one more day to achieve their weight loss goal, meaning the greater the change in BMR, the longer it took to reach weight loss goals. So, if your metabolic rate drops and your fat loss journey slows to a crawl or comes to a complete halt after a calorie reduction, don’t worry! It’s completely normal.

Luckily, you can overcome metabolic adaptation and continue your fat loss journey in a few ways. For example, reverse dieting (slowly increasing your caloric intake while lifting weights) can raise your metabolism and restart your fat loss. Similarly, frequent exercise and other lifestyle changes can keep your fat loss journey going smoothly.

Lose Fat The Right Way

Losing fat and keeping it off is tricky, especially given how our metabolism reacts to restricted-calorie diets. And that’s not the only way severely restricting your caloric intake can affect your body! Following calorie-restricted diets can also cause you to feel fatigued, reduce your fertility, weaken your bones, and prevent you from getting enough protein, vitamin A, calcium, biotin, thiamine, and other nutrients.

Need help losing fat in an effective, healthy, and sustainable way? I’ve got you covered! Reach out to me today at happyhelen@gmail.com to get started!

Reverse Dieting 101

Many people think eating less is the key to fat loss, but believe it or not, that’s not always the case.  Sometimes you have to eat MORE to lose fat! 

This is a process called reverse dieting. But what exactly is it, when should you do it, and how does it work?

What is Reverse Dieting?

If you eat fewer calories than your body consumes, you’ll lose weight — but it doesn’t last forever.  Your body will start preparing for survival by reducing your basal metabolic rate (BMR).  You’ll use less energy as your body won’t require as much fuel.  Additionally, your digestion will slow to help your body absorb as many nutrients as possible.  Eventually you will stop losing weight, even if you are overweight and eating very little calories.  

I’ve seen it happen frequently with clients — someone who is 30-50 pounds overweight and eating less than 1000 calories a day who cannot lose anymore weight despite how little calories they eat.  Our bodies are smart and will adapt to anything you give it! 

The problem is as your body adapts to the lower calories, it becomes harder to lose weight as your body is holding onto the reserves to preserve energy.  This is why you need to reverse diet, which is to increase your calories slowly.  Increasing your caloric intake can raise your BMR, meaning your body will expend more energy each day, regardless of what you’re doing. Your digestion will return to normal, and you’ll have more energy available for workouts.

However, you can’t jump straight into a higher-calorie diet, especially if you’re coming off a restricted-calorie diet.  To avoid significant fat gain, you’ll need to add calories slowly and strategically WHILE lifting weights. 

Lifting weights is an important part of reverse dieting since building muscle is the key to increasing your metabolism.  When done correctly, reverse dieting will help you get out of the fat loss plateau while allowing you to eat more food. It’s a win-win!

Why Would Someone Need To Reverse Diet?

A few reasons:

You’ve Already Cut Back Your Calories But Aren’t Losing Weight

If you’re following a highly restrictive diet but have hit a weight loss plateau, reverse dieting will be the key to turning this around.  It may seem counterintuitive, but slowly increasing your caloric intake while lifting weights will boost your metabolic output and restart your fat loss.  

You Want To Put On Muscle

Want to gain muscle and improve your body composition without gaining too much fat? Eat more calories and lift weights! The key is to do strength training with the reverse diet to get the maximum benefits of eating more calories.  Otherwise, those extra calories may be stored as fat instead of using it towards muscle growth.

How Do You Reverse Diet?

If you’re planning on reverse dieting, there are a few things you need to do to set yourself up for success.

First, you’ll need to choose a method for tracking your food intake. I like to use My Fitness Pal app.  Track all your food for a week or two along with your weight on the scale to find out what your maintenance calories are.  Your maintenance calories are the calories you consume daily/weekly where your bodyweight does not go up or down. 

No online formula or calculator will get it right for every person because everyone is different, so you will need to experiment to find your maintenance calories for a few weeks to know for sure.

Once you figure out your maintenance calories, then each week, slowly add 50 calories per day.  MAKE SURE YOU ARE LIFTING WEIGHTS!

For example:

1700 calories a day maintenance to begin.

Week 1: 1750 a day

Week 2: 1800 a day

Week 3: 1850 a day

This is not an absolute— you may find you can only add 50 calories every other week instead, or 100 calories every 3 weeks —  it depends on your metabolism and your activity level.  

Finally, you need to monitor your progress and make adjustments when necessary. You can weigh yourself daily or weekly, take progress photos, or measure your waist or hips to see changes in your body composition. 

While some people can increase their caloric intake weekly without gaining much fat, others need more time.  You may realize you can only increase your calories every 3-4 weeks.  

It is common, if not welcomed, to gain 2-4 pounds in reverse dieting before it plateaus.  It is EXTREMELY difficult to gain muscle without fat, and most people will not be able to do this.  So expect some fat gain as part of the process and don’t panic! 

Wondering if reverse dieting is the right solution for you or planning on trying it out but not sure where to start? I can help on both fronts! Contact me today at happyhelen@gmail.com to get started!

The Benefits of Losing Weight Through Lifestyle Changes

Losing weight is one of the hardest things that anyone ever has to tackle in modern America.   After all, the education around nutrition is terrible, with processed foods surrounding us daily that is convenient and accessible.  Then on top of that, corporate companies are marketing to us with messages saying processed “gluten free/dairy free/vegan” can be healthy - when really, processed foods are not actually healthy for you.  

Then there is the fitness industry out there telling women to do a bunch of cardio to “tone” your muscles (you can’t tone muscles, you can only build or lose) so then we are spinning our wheels, doing a bunch of high intensity exercises and eating food that actually, in the long term, makes us gain weight.  Then we jump straight into an intensive fad diet that requires severely restricting calories, eliminating a whole macronutrient, or drinking meal replacements — and while they may initially shed a few pounds, the weight often comes back.

It may sound obvious but it needs to be said over and over - long term, the only healthy way to lose weight and keep it off is through lifestyle changes that are gradual and slow.  This may take years of work.  You may swing in one direction and back again, but it’s okay, it’s all part of the process.  

But why? If the end result is the same and you lose the weight regardless, why do it the slow way? Here are some benefits of lifestyle changes through exercise and nutrition.  

The Weight Stays Off 

Do you want to lose the weight and keep it off or gain it back in a year? Should be obvious.  But the longer it takes for you to lose the weight, the longer you will SUSTAIN that weight.  If it takes you 5 years to lose 100 pounds, I promise you will most likely keep that weight off than someone who did it in 6 months.  This is due to behavior modification.  It takes a while to create new habits and behaviors - it could be months or years, but once we create a new habit- it STICKS around! So we need that time to build that behavior for it to stick.  But once we do, it’s routine! 

More Energy

The balance of proper exercise and nutrition will leave you with more energy throughout the day.  With body composition changes, you will get better respiratory function, improved sleep quality, and overall reduction of pain.  Exercise boosts your energy levels and leaves you with a wonderful sense of high as those endorphins kick in.  Those who exercise in the morning will often report their high energy throughout the day.  Short term diets rarely result in a long term, sustainable energy to keep up with your work and family.  

Higher Self-Esteem and More Confidence

The benefits of losing weight via lifestyle changes aren’t just physical. You will also likely have a much higher self-esteem and confidence.  Not only will you be in better shape, but you’ll also have the accomplished feeling of taking control of your body. It can be really empowering! 

When you make lifestyle changes, you can also break out — or avoid — the devastating cycle of weight gain and loss that comes with fad diets. You won’t have to worry about your slow metabolism, raised blood pressure, a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, lower self-esteem, destroyed motivation and all the other adverse effects that come with yo-yo dieting.

A Better Mood

Using lifestyle changes to lose weight can also boost your mood, as working out releases endorphins, a.k.a. those feel-good feelings! It not only reduces stress and pain but also improves your sense of well-being.  A balanced non-processed meal will give you less inflammation through your body and brain - which can result in a “half-full” outlook on life.  There is a reason why therapists recommend exercise for mood elevation - it is a better drug than antidepressants.  

Better Sleep Quality

Since being overweight can affect your metabolism and interfere with your sleep & wake cycle, these lifestyle changes can also help you sleep better — and longer! With poor sleep comes within a myriad of health issues - so better sleep can reduce your risk of other conditions that may impact your sleep quality, such as osteoarthritis, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

There are many studies to show that consistent exercise will improve your sleep quality and decrease daytime sleepiness.  Those who exercise regularly will take less time to fall asleep and won’t spend all night tossing and turning. 

Lower Blood Pressure and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

You can prevent and even eliminate diseases through lifestyle changes. For instance, through food and exercise, you can reverse both high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.  There are many studies to show that through diet and exercise, people can come off their medications and no longer be considered a diabetic.  The right type of food can manage your blood sugar levels throughout the day.  But if you do it through short term fads and diets, it’s much harder to keep the weight off.  You can often gain MORE of the weight back.  

A Longer and Overall Healthier Life

It is not a surprise that making lifestyle changes through exercise and nutrition will help you live longer.  Someone who exercises often, eats balanced meals and sleeps well will most likely to live a longer life than someone who sits on the couch eating processed foods all day. Not only that, your quality of life has improved.   You are in better moods, have better energy, free of diseases and feel more confident about yourself.  What’s not great about that? 

Need a little help? I’ve got you covered! Reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com today to learn more!

What is a Healthy Caloric Intake Amount for Women?

There’s this idea floating around that women needs to restrict to themselves to just 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. Everyone from Good Housekeeping to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is pushing the 1,200-calorie diet as the best way to lose weight - but is that the best idea for you? 

Why Only Consuming 1,200 Calories (or Even 1,500 Calories) is a Bad Idea

While drastically reducing your daily diet to 1,200 or even 1,500 calories can help you shed weight quickly, these low-calorie diets are way too restrictive and unsustainable for many adults. Actually, consuming just 1,200 calories is one of the WORST things you can do for your long-term weight loss goals!

Here’s why — most adults have a basal metabolic rate higher than 1,200 calories, so your body likely needs AT LEAST 1,2000 calories each day to just exist (and much more if you’re regularly working out). If you don’t eat enough to meet your basal metabolic needs, your body will protect itself by conserving calories. This means slowing your metabolism and converting any spare calories into fat.  In short, the less you eat, the slower your metabolic rate will be, so losing weight and getting in shape will be all the more difficult. What’s more, following a low-calorie diet can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, fatigue and cravings (which can lead to yo-yo dieting and other unhealthy eating patterns). 

How Many Calories Should You Consume?

So, if 1,200 or 1,500 calories isn’t enough for many adults and can lead to a slower metabolism, severe nutritional deficiencies, and unhealthy eating patterns, how many calories should you consume each day to achieve your weight loss goals? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans puts women’s daily calorie requirements between 1,600 and 2,400 calories.

While this is a good starting place, it doesn’t tell the whole story. The exact caloric intake women should aim for depends on several factors, including their age, body size, activity level, and level of lean mass. After all, taller women or women with more lean mass will burn more calories at rest, and those between the ages of 19 and 30 will burn more calories at rest than those younger than 19 or older than 30. Similarly, women with highly active lifestyles will burn more calories than their sedentary counterparts. In fact, women regularly working out will probably need AT LEAST 2,000 calories!

These are guidelines from the Institute of Medicine’s equation to get a sense of how many calories you should be consuming. They have broken their recommendations into a few categories:

• Sedentary women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,000 calories

• Moderately women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,000-2,200 calories

• Active women between the ages of 19 and 30: 2,400 calories

• Sedentary women between the ages of 31 and 50: 1,800 calories

• Moderately active women between the ages of 31 and 50: 2,000 calories

• Active women between the ages of 31 and 50: 2,200 calories

• Sedentary women 51 or older: 1,600 calories

• Moderately active women 51 or older: 1,800 calories

• Active women 51 or older: 2,000 - 2,2000 calories

Of course, these are very broad guidelines that don’t consider women’s height, weight, or lean body mass. 

Find The Right Caloric Intake And Achieve Your Fitness Goals

Everyone is different, so there’s no magic number of calories that will work for everyone.  Consider getting a coach to help guide you through all this! 

Once you’ve kicked the myth that women need to restrict themselves to 1,500 calories — or even 1,200 calories — per day to lose weight to the curb, don’t forget to work out.  If you just focus on how many calories you consume, you won’t be able to look and feel your absolute best.  If you need help or encouragement, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

Best Foods for Weight Loss

Losing weight isn’t easy — and it’s more complicated than just counting calories. You can’t just exercise, follow a low-calorie diet with nothing but McDonald’s food, and expect good results.

Eating the wrong foods makes weight loss more difficult than it needs to be. But before we dive into the right foods for weight loss, let’s review how weight loss works.

The Basics About Weight Loss

Consuming fewer calories than you burn = weight loss.

It sounds simple, but several factors impact how quickly you lose weight, including your gender, age, body competition, sleeping habits, medications, genes, and medical history.

Not only that, if your body goes below a certain calorie point, your body will often reject eating less calories and gain more fat. So you can’t always eat less to lose weight. Sometimes you have to reverse diet, which is a whole other thing!

Drastic diets simply aren’t sustainable. Instead, they’re like temporary bandaids — and when they fall off, people are often worse off than they were before! 95% of people who diet drastically eventually return to their original weight — and many of them will actually gain back more weight than they lost while dieting! Worse still, drastic diets can lower metabolism and lead to harmful eating habits like binge eating.

Whole, Non-Processed Foods Are The Key To Losing Weight

So, if extreme diets don’t really work, then how do you jump start change?

The real secret to losing weight is finding something you can do consistently that involves eating whole, non-processed foods.  While processed foods are made to be so appetizing that you want to eat more, whole, non-processed foods will leave you feeling fuller and allow you to really take stock of your hunger and body.

Some of the best whole, non-processed foods for weight loss are:

Proteins

When it comes to proteins, you have plenty of options, including:

• Eggs: Sunny side up. Scrambled. Omelets. Frittatas. Quiches. There are so many different things you can do with eggs!

• Chicken: Chicken is an incredibly versatile and healthy protein. From sandwiches to pot pies to soups, chicken is a go-to protein. It’s easy to cook, affordable, and used in countless recipes, so there will always be a place for chicken in your diet.

• Beef: Beef has been a staple in many households for generations — and with good reason. It’s a great source of iron, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Just make sure to eat beef in moderation!

• Fish: Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B3, vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, and minerals like zinc, iron, potassium, and magnesium. It’s no wonder the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week!

• Shrimp: High in protein yet low in calories, carbs, and fat, shrimp is the perfect protein when you’re trying to lose weight. Like fish, shrimp is an excellent source of phosphorus, zinc, and magnesium and is equally versatile.

• Turkey: Turkey isn’t just for Thanksgiving. It’s great for sandwiches, casseroles, soups, salads, empanadas, crepes, and much more. The possibilities are endless!

Fats

Just because you’re trying to lose weight doesn’t mean you can’t consume fats. Some whole non-processed options include almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, pistachios, flax seeds, and chia seeds. Avocados, ghee, non-sugar nut butter, and olive oil are also excellent choices!

Vegetables

Vegetables should be a part of everyone’s diet, but they’re especially essential when losing weight. After all, most vegetables are low in calories and high in water content while still offering filling fiber. As a result, you’ll feel full for longer and be less tempted to reach for a snack, which is exactly what you want when losing weight. Good vegetables to work into your diet include asparagus, cucumbers, squash, spinach, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, artichoke, carrots, kale, and peppers.

Carbs

Carbs have a bad reputation when it comes to weight loss, but there are plenty of whole, non-processed carbs you shouldn’t completely cut from your diet. In fact, experts recommend that half our total calories come from carbs. Things like sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans, lentils, buckwheat, oatmeal, and white and brown rice are nutritious and versatile carbs.

If you need help figuring out which whole, non-processed foods to work into your diet, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Am I Building Muscle?

When people say they want to “tone” their muscle, what they really mean is that they want to build their muscle. Toning is not a real thing - it is purely a marketing word for women. The truth is that your muscle can only decrease or increase in size - you can’t “tone” it.  

What Muscle Does

So, what does muscle actually do? And why might you want more of it?

First of all, having more muscle will allow you to do more in your daily life.  Not only will your workouts be better, but having muscle will help with everyday tasks, such as carrying the groceries or mowing the lawn.

Second, having more muscle is a guaranteed way to prevent injury.  It can help strengthen your bones, ligaments, and tendons, while lowering your risk of bone loss, fractures, and osteoporosis. 

Third, having more muscle increases your metabolic rate, helping you burn calories at rest.  

Last, but not least, having more muscle will give you that lean look that you are looking for! 

How To Build Muscle

Say goodbye to questionable hacks and so-called shortcuts — the easiest ways to build muscle are lifting weights and eating in a caloric surplus!

To gain muscle, you’ll need to eat enough protein and calories to put your body into a mild caloric surplus. This is called bulking, and it can increase your muscle mass and body fat together.   That is normal!  Aim to eat at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight daily to avoid gaining too much fat. 

However, eating more won’t magically give you more muscle.  You’ll also have to train to ensure the additional calories are being put towards building muscle rather than stored as fat.  You will need to do some strength training that hits all major muscle groups 2-3 times a week.  

How To Tell If You Are Building Muscle

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if you’re actually gaining muscle from your workouts. 

You may be building muscle if:

• You’re getting stronger: There’s a strong correlation between muscle growth and strength, so if you track your weights and notice that you can lift heavier, you’re likely building muscle! 

• Your body composition is changing:  Take photos to assess body composition changes over time.  I would recommend photos every other week but not more than that since changes are usually slow and small.  Keep in mind muscle and fat WEIGHS THE SAME (1 pound is 1 pound).  But muscle takes up less space, so even if the scale is the same weight, you are actually leaner if you have muscle in the place of fat.   Use a tape measure to track your waist measurements.  

• You have gained weight:  Unless you are an advanced bodybuilder, you are probably gaining both fat and muscle at the same time.  This is why we bulk first then cut later.  Don’t be discouraged if you gain fat with muscle - that is part of the process! 

• You have an increased appetite:  Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat and can increase your metabolism, so if you find yourself hungrier, it may be because you have built more muscle! 

Building muscle takes time and hard work - and knowing how much to eat can be hard to navigate.  I’d love to help you with that journey! Email me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

How to Lose Belly Fat

Anyone can have belly fat — and what is super annoying is that not only does it affect appearances, but it comes with a plethora of health problems. While the subcutaneous fat located just below the skin merely poses cosmetic concerns, the visceral fat around internal organs is associated with health issues such as abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. 

Why Does Belly Fat Happen?

What exactly causes belly fat? When overeating and under-exercising, you’ll end up with unused calories. Everything has to go somewhere, so your body will store this energy as fat, likely in the belly, hips, thighs, and butt.

Who Has Belly Fat?

Anyone can have belly fat - it doesn’t discriminate.  However, it’s particularly common among older women, as the lower estrogen levels caused by menopause can cause the body to disproportionately distribute fat to the abdomen.  It’s a physiological change that nearly all women experience during menopause — even those who have never had much fat! The body can often transition from storing fat in the hips and thighs (creating a pear shape) to the abdominal area (resulting in an apple shape).

 Aging men also struggle with belly fat as well.  The change is slower and steadier for men than women, as men of all ages are already more likely to store fat in their abdominal area.

You can also blame your genetics, as people with certain genes are more likely to store fat around the waist.

What Can You Do About Your Belly Fat?

While belly fat may seem unavoidable (unfortunately, you can’t change your genetics or stop the aging process), the good news is that it’s not hopeless.  There are a few things you can do to combat this problem.  

First, not surprisingly, have a healthy diet.  Eat unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and plenty of protein. Cut out sugary beverages, watch your portion sizes, and consume limited amounts of sugar.

Doing a bunch of abdominal exercises can help build your muscles, but it won’t help you get rid of belly fat.  You still need to be in a caloric deficit to lose fat regardless of what exercises you do. That being said, if you build ab muscles, they will pop out more when you lose the fat! 

You will want to have a solid plan of resistance training to build muscle and increase your metabolism, but you can also add other physical activities that are fun for you!  This could be hiking, biking, swimming, or any sports you love.  After all, having an intense workout routine that gets you results isn’t any good if you can’t follow it.  The most important part is being able to be consistent.  

Results tend to be faster in the beginning when starting a new workout and food routine — however, belly fat is notoriously stubborn.  If you hit a plateau, and you notice your caloric deficit is too low (for instance, 1200 calories for women is too low and not sustainable long term) - you will want to reverse diet out of this while changing your exercise routine. It’s always good to create new stimuli so your body doesn’t keep adapting.  

In terms of a reverse diet, consuming an extra 150-250 calories per day while keeping up strength training will increase your metabolism and help your body burn more fat in the long run.  Similarly, switching training gears for a few weeks can prompt your body to burn more fat and get you past that plateau.  For instance, if you’ve been lifting sets of 8-12, you can switch to a strength phase of heavier weights at sets of 1-4 reps. 

Above all, be compassionate toward yourself! Plenty of people have belly fat — and it’s not easy to get rid of. If you need some help reducing your belly fat, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Key Concepts of Sustainable Fat Loss

I can make anyone lose weight. All I have to do is restrict your food and make you do two hours of cardio a day. But how long can you do that for before burning out or binging on snacks?

Here are some key concepts of sustainable fat loss, along with 10 steps on how to change for the healthier!

• Diet is everything.  You can workout everyday but not lose fat if you don’t change your eating habits.  The only way to lose fat is to create a DEFICIT — burn more than you eat.  BUT it’s not that simple because the choice in food and the emotions we attach to eating can be hard to navigate.  Eating 1500 calories of natural whole foods vs pizza and chips have two different results.  

• You can’t be eating at deficit for the rest of your lives - your  body WILL push back at some point.  If you are eating 1000 calories a day, one day your body will hold onto fat and you can’t lose anymore. THAT’S why you also need to lift weights to increase your metabolism.  Building muscle will allow your body to burn fat at rest.  Exercise is also how we change our body composition for the better - if you just lose weight without any muscle, you can also be skinny fat.  Muscle also protects your JOINTS! 

• The only way to create sustainable, life-long changes is to change your entire lifestyle.   If you lose 100 pounds over 10 years vs 3 months, I promise you those 10 years will create some amazing life-long habits to keep the weight off.  The longer it takes for you to get there, the more lasting the impact.  SLOW CHANGES ARE THE MOST LASTING ONES.

• There is no “best” method of weight loss for YOU.  No doctor, no trainer, no therapist, nobody can tell you the BEST method that works for your body.  You have to figure that out for yourself.  Because no one person is the same.  There is only trial and error of what works for your body and mind.   People can guide you, give you suggestions, but only YOU can decide if you are going to commit to it and if it works for you.  

• The actual weight loss is the easy part.  The hard part is keeping it off for the rest of your life while feeling energetic, happy and healthy.  And the only way to do this is to be open minded, try new things, and realize this is not a quick process.  It is not unusual to spend years trying new things to find out what works best for you.  

10 STEPS TO CHANGING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION FOR A HEALTHIER YOU:

1. Track your food on an app like My Fitness Pal.  Yes, it’s tedious and no, you don’t have to do it forever.  But without writing it all down, you will not be 100% aware of what you are putting in your body or the macros it contains.  After tracking for 2-3 weeks, you can start to examine your macronutrient breakdowns of carbs/protein/fat.

2. Aim for 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.   It should feel like you are always eating protein.  Eat protein first before carbs for all meals/snacks. This step is EXTREMELY important if not one of the most important things most people have to focus on. 

3. Meal Prep on Sundays.  Sorry, there is no easy way to have long-lasting body composition changes without cooking and eating healthy.  You can buy meal plans or go to some weight loss clinic to give you the food, but if you want to keep it off the rest of your life, you will need to learn to cook for yourself.  Even if it’s a few simple recipes that you can call your “home base.”

4. Figure out your HOME BASE meals.  Pick a few recipes that you enjoy and that are made of all whole, non processed foods, with both protein and veggies.  Beef, chicken, turkey are all great choices.  Any veggies but aim for some green veggies too.  Eating healthy does not have to be BORING or NOT TASTY.  You have to experiment and find ones you like.  Those few recipes will be your HOME BASE.  Anytime you have weeks or weekends of not-so-great eating (like weddings, vacations, holidays), go back to HOME BASE on Sundays and start next week with those healthy recipes.

5. Following weeks or weekends where you are eating a lot of sugars/heavy carbs - cut out anything processed for a few days to a week - anything from a box, plastic bag, booze, sugars, no take-outs, etc.  The purpose of this is to give you an awareness of how much your body can change in terms of how you can feel just by eating ALL non processed foods. Your body needs to get rid of some of that inflammation.  Take a before and after pic of that week - same angle, same lighting, same underwear.  I promise you you will see body comp changes for that one week  - not to mention feeling better.  This will demonstrate to you the power of unprocessed foods, even if it’s for a short period. Not only that, we are teaching your body to associate how it FEELS with whole, natural foods after a sugar/processed food binge. You may need to do this a few times to get the mind-body connection.

6. Make sure you get daily N.E.A.T.  

7. Lift weights or do some sort of resistance training (bands, TRX).  Make sure the effort is at least 7 out of 10. 

8. Drink water.  Drink twice as much as you do now to see how it feels.  Your body holds onto more water the less you drink!!!  

9. Get 7-8 hours of sleep.   

10. Consistency trumps everything.  If you do well one week and then don’t revisit for 2 weeks, you won’t see results.  It’s better to be consistent for 1-2 days a week over a year, then 5 days a week for half the weeks of the year.  

If you feel like you are doing all 10 steps and not seeing results, it is probably due to a few things:

1. You are still eating in maintenance or surplus while not burning enough calories per day. You need to go longer without unprocessed foods.  I promise it’s not forever.  Once your body reaches a point where it feels like it's in a deficit (but on HEALTHY whole foods) then you can slowly be more relaxed and add stuff back in.  But sometimes that initial jump start needs to be longer - with unprocessed foods. 

2. Increase your daily NEAT combined with a longer period of unprocessed foods until your body responds.  I like to use NEAT vs cardio because if you do too much cardio to create a deficit, your body can adapt quickly and it stops working.  You don’t want to get to a point where your body can only lose weight by running 2 hours a day and eating less calories.  That’s why this is a slow process! 

3. Do not forget to do some resistance training as part of this process.

Everyone is different - these are just guidelines that work well for the general population.   If you can afford it, hire a trainer who can customize your plan and guide you through the process and give you accountability. 

Slow and steady wins the race.  If you want to lose weight quickly, then eat nothing and do 2 hours of cardio a day.  If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you know what to do now :-)

Change Your Eating Habits for Optimal Health

Your eating habits can affect everything from your blood pressure to your teeth’s enamel, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they are a key factor to your health. By examining our eating habits, we can understand why we overeat, why we eat the wrong foods, and how we can adapt our habits to encourage optimal health.

Poor meal planning is one of the most common culprits behind poor eating habits. Leaving meal decisions to the last minute increases your risk of eating drive-thru fast foods or having dinner out.  Not only do restaurants have large portions, but their food also contains more sodium and hidden calories.

5 Ways To Change Your Eating Habits For The Better

1. Keep Track Of What You Eat

To be more aware of your eating habits, start with logging everything you eat.  Use an app like My Fitness Pal to make it easy.  It lets you scan barcodes, add popular restaurants and save your favorite recipes.   

You’ll likely realize that, between mindless snacking and misestimated portion sizes, you’ve been underestimating your food intake. Once you know exactly what you’re eating and when, you can start changing your habits.

2. Do A Kitchen Makeover

When it comes to making healthy food choices, your environment matters more than your willpower.  After all, if you don’t have any cookies in your house, you won’t be able to eat one, no matter how much you want to.  By removing certain foods from your pantry, fridge, or freezer, you can make it easier for yourself to eat healthier foods and avoid unhealthy options.

Throw away or donate any super-processed foods or foods you consistently overeat. For foods that you can eat in small quantities when alone, you can either reduce their available quantity or move them somewhere where they’ll be out of sight and difficult to reach.  Finally, put nutritious foods in the center of your fridge or pantry, making them easier to see.

3. Set Aside Dedicated Time For Eating

If you’re distracted while eating, you won’t be able to pay attention to physical cues like whether you’re full. Set aside time that’s just dedicated to eating. This means turning off the television to prevent mindless eating and setting down your phone.

4. Plan Your Meals Ahead Of Time

When you have nothing healthy to eat and you are hungry, chances are you will more likely get take-out or grab a processed food that’s around.  Not only that, if you are tired or stressed, you are more likely to mindlessly eat whatever is available.  This is why planning your meals ahead of time is so important! Make sure you know what you’re going to eat later, so you aren’t tempted to eat out. 

5.  Being Mindful 

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to improve your eating habits, so finding something that works for you may take a little trial and error. In addition to the options listed above, you can try these mindfulness techniques.  

• Eating slowly: This will help you be better attuned to your hunger. If you eat too fast, you may not even realize your hunger has been satisfied until you’ve completely cleared your plate.  If you need a little help slowing down, take a breath or put your fork down between each bite.

• Creating a list of cues: Once you’ve filled out your food diary, you can identify environmental cues or emotions that drive you to eat when you aren’t actually hungry.  Common triggers include feeling bored, entering the kitchen and immediately spotting snack foods, and watching television. Once you’ve discovered your cues, you can take steps to avoid them.

If you need help with your fitness journey, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

How Your Steps Impact Weight Loss

When it comes to losing weight, you’ve probably heard that following a strict diet or starting a cardio-packed exercise routine is the way to go. Sure, that approach definitely works short-term.  However, do you want to lose weight AND keep it off? That’s where keeping track of your steps comes into play. 

Yes, a caloric deficit is what you need to burn fat, and most weight-loss strategies rely on decreasing the number of calories you consume (via dieting) or increasing the number of calories you expend (via exercising, notably cardio) to create a calorie deficit.  That being said, behaviorally, it’s not always as simple as calories in and calories out, or we’d all be doing it perfectly! 

The key to long-term weight loss AND keeping it off is a change in lifestyle choices. And one of the lifestyle choices that will generally help most people is making sure you get enough movement each day.  

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) has been shown that over time, it helps with weight loss, change in metabolism, and overall better health.  NEAT includes all movement outside of exercise, so that could be cleaning the house, running errands, walking the dog, walking to work, fidgeting, or anything that is not sedentary.  Studies show that it is more beneficial to have daily movement throughout the day than it is to be sedentary all day but then do a 30-minute cardio workout.

Whatever you decide to do with your health and fitness journey, keep in mind these habits need to be maintained for the rest of your life to have the same results. Most people’s lives ebb and flow with different transitions, so it’s normal to go in and out of different workout routines. That’s why the habit of daily movement and steps is more important than your 30-minutes of steady state cardio because at least behaviorally, it much easier for most people to keep up daily walks & movement consistently. Not to mention you actually burn more calories if you move all day long.

Taking 10,000 steps a day is an arbitrary number, but most clients I know who work from home or at a desk job have a hard time getting even 5,000 a day.  You can use 10,000 as a specific goal that will help you stay motivated and hold you accountable. But if you aren’t already taking 10,000 steps each day, don’t worry! Figure out what your base line is for each day, and make sure you are consistent in those daily steps before you slowly increase each week.  JUST KEEP MOVING!

Ready to start increasing your steps per day and losing weight? Contact me at happyhelenfitness@gmail.com today!

What’s More Important for Weight Loss: Diet or Exercise?

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ve probably heard conflicting advice. Maybe your friend swears that dieting is more important for weight loss, while your gym buddies argue that exercising is the way to go….but who’s right?

Exercise

People often push exercise as the answer to weight loss. Everyone from fitness coaches to Coca-Cola says that if you exercise enough, you’ll lose weight. Exercising can help you burn calories and gain muscles, which will raise your resting metabolic rate.  

While it’s true that exercising can help you lose weight, you probably won’t lose as much weight as you’re expecting. Exercise only accounts for 10-30% of your total energy expenditure, while digesting food uses around 10% - so, why exercise?

Despite the limited immediate effect exercising has on weight loss, it’s still important for a variety of reasons. Exercise builds muscle, which speeds up your metabolism and accelerates fat loss. Studies have linked exercise with lower risks of developing cognitive impairments, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. Exercise can reduce your blood pressure and the risk of type 2 diabetes, along with preventing heart attacks and strokes.

But behaviorally, those who exercise are also more conscientious about what they eat - which leads to the next part.  

Diet

Most health experts would agree that your diet is more important for weight loss.  After all, food is responsible for all of the calories we gain, while exercising only makes up 10-30% of your calorie expenditure.

In a study published in PLOS One, researchers found that the Hadza — an indigenous group located in Tanzania — burn the same amount of calories each day as today’s average Westerner.  While an American might spend a large portion of their day sitting behind a desk, the Hadza have a very active lifestyle and spend their time hunting and gathering all day.  Despite the lifestyle differences, Westerners and the Hadza burned the same amount of calories. 

Researchers concluded that our body adapts to the amount of calories we expend — and that there is also a max we can potentially burn regardless of how much physical activity we do — which means it can be hard to lose weight by exercising more.  And that the Hadza are healthier thanks to their eating habits.

What you put in your body matters, but a restrictive diet is not without its drawbacks. Unfortunately, it’s easy to underestimate portions and overeat.  It can also be difficult to avoid processed foods.  Restrictive diets can be difficult to sustain long-term and can result in harmful eating habits like binge eating. Your body may even conserve fat, stop non-essential systems, and release chemicals to make you think about food when you’re on a diet. 

The Perfect Combination

So, is dieting or exercising more important for weight loss? If you are purely looking at it in terms of short-term weight loss, then generally speaking, the answer is diet.  It’s very difficult to lose weight without changing your diet.  And plenty of people have lost weight by not changing a single thing to their workouts (myself included).  However, long-term success in keeping off your weight most likely will involve an exercise component.

Your diet alone can’t build muscle, can’t increase your endurance, mobility or bone density.  You still need to exercise to do that.  If you want to live a long life, you still need to do some form of physical activity.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to lose weight and it is different for everyone, but a combination of both dieting and exercising is the most effective way for most people.  

Need help losing weight? Contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Do You Need Cardio to Lose Weight?

If you’re trying to lose weight, one of the first things you may be considering is doing some cardio. But actually - research shows that cardio is not necessary to lose weight and not only that, it is not a great strategy for long-term fat loss. So, if you were dreading those long runs, swims, or bike rides, don’t worry! With a combination of proper nutrition and resistance training, you can lose weight more effectively than with cardio alone.

A Combination of Exercise and Diet Is Best

Studies have shown that a combination of exercise and a healthy diet is the most effective way to lose fat. In one study, overweight postmenopausal women were placed on a diet-only program, an exercise-only program, or a combined exercise and diet program. Women in the exercise-only program only experienced 2.4% fat loss, while women in the diet-only program saw 8.5% fat loss. Those in the combination program experienced an impressive 10.8% fat loss. 

Some of you may have heard of HITT (high intensity interval training) as an effective way to burn fat.  Now while HITT cardio does burn calories and work type I muscles more efficiently than LISS (low-intensity steady-state) cardio, resistance training is actually better for long-term fat loss. Resistance training burns calories, builds type II muscles, and increases your resting metabolic rate, making it easier to manage your body’s fat ratio over time.

Resistance Training vs. Cardio

Let’s discuss the difference in terms of resistance training vs. cardio for fat loss.  Yes, if you compare side-by-side someone who does an hour of running vs. an hour of resistance training - yes, the cardio will burn more calories in that hour.  But the reason why this does not work for long-term fat loss is because over time, your body adapts to cardio, which means you have to keep doing more and more of it to have the same result.  I have personal experience in this- I was a marathon swimmer which means I swam anywhere between 3-6 hours in one session in the ocean.  I swam about 20-30 hours a week.  I did LOTS of cardio but guess what — my body never lost a pound! My body adapted to that cardio very quickly.  Just ask yourself - are you REALLY going to be doing 3 hours of cardio a day for the rest of your life to keep the same weight? 

Resistance Training for Long-Term Fat Loss

Building muscle is one of the best long-term strategies to long-term fat loss. When we build muscle, we increase our metabolic rate and burn more calories at rest.  Not only that, having muscles prevents injuries, protects our joints and increases our quality of life.  You don’t need to be lifting like a bodybuilder to have benefits — you just need some progressive loading that’s done safely.  However, building muscle and strength is something that requires patience to see over time - which means you have to trust the process! 

Some clients panic because when they start lifting, they gain muscle and fat and the scale goes up.  THAT IS OKAY! It’s very hard to gain muscle without fat.  Also diet is key — it doesn’t matter cardio or resistance training, a proper balanced nutrition will always have a huge impact on what happens to your body.

When starting your resistance training regiment, complex multi-joint resistance exercises are the way to go.  These are movements like deadlifts, squats, overhead presses -  as they use many joints at once and recruit more muscle movement.  This increase in muscle movement will increase caloric expenditure as well.  Muscles use around 7 to 13 calories per pound of muscle while fat only uses 2 to 5 calories per pound of muscle.  Of course, everyone is different but the point is - the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn doing anything! 

If you want to lead a healthier lifestyle and need a little help with your resistance training, reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com today!