10 Habits You Need to STOP if You want to START Losing Fat

​ You may have heard that not all weight loss is created equal. Weight loss is often a recommendation for better health, however when we lose weight, we want to make sure we’re doing it in a way that protects what’s called our “lean mass”- the portion of our bodies that is comprised of organs, bones, muscles, etc. Therefore, what we really want to lose when we say we want to lose weight is fat. Despite what you might read on the Internet, there is truly no “magic bullet” to fat loss. If there were, we would all have an ideal body fat percentage and no one would be trying to lose weight (or fat). There is, however, lots of conflicting advice out there. Everything from drastically reducing your calorie intake, cutting out entire food groups, fasted cardio, the list goes on and on. Many of these recommendations are intended to be crash diets, and are not safe if followed for a long period of time. However, achieving and maintaining healthy fat loss is a lifelong journey that will inevitably involve many ups and downs. So rather than add to the confusion of things you should do, I decided instead to compile a list of things to stop doing to help set yourself up for success. 

1) Stop avoiding whole food groups

​I’m looking at you keto. While there are certainly certain medical conditions (i.e. lactose intolerance, Celiac disease, etc.) that warrant the exclusion of certain foods or food groups, this should always be done with the supervision of a medical professional.  In the absence of a medical diagnosis, there is no reason for most of us to avoid foods like dairy, gluten or carb-rich foods. Doing so will not only make you feel deprived, but you are also missing out on lots of essential nutrients contained within those food groups. There’s a reason why dietitians have broken food down into 5 food groups and why we recommend that you eat a balanced amount of each every day, you need all 5 for a nutritionally sound diet. The 5 food groups might sound like old news, but in fact decades of research have supported the use of tools like MyPlate to build personalized meal plans. For more information go to www.choosemyplate.gov.

2) Stop beating yourself up for eating "bad" foods

​I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there are no good foods or bad foods, all food is food. Do some foods have more nutritional benefits than others? Of course, but that doesn’t make the less-nutritious options “bad” by default. The fact of the matter is, one serving of any “bad” food won’t kill you, or really even disrupt your progress. It’s the overindulgences that get us. Furthermore, the urge to overindulge comes from the mere fact that we tell ourselves we “can’t” have it. Meaningful weight loss comes from lifestyle changes that are sustained over long periods of time. Indulging in one donut will not run the train off of the tracks. There are no bad foods, just bad portions. So go ahead, live a little- dietitian approved! 

3) Stop looking for a quick fix

​Healthy weight loss (i.e. fat loss) takes TIME. In fact, if you’re losing weight faster than 1-2 pounds per week, I can almost guarantee that you’re losing muscle as well as fat. As we age, maintaining muscle mass becomes increasingly difficult. However maintaining strong muscles is important for more than just being able to lift heavy objects. It helps keep our bones and joints healthy and helps keeps our metabolism running properly. Furthermore when your body is pulling from both fat and lean mass, it doesn’t distinguish between the lean mass that makes up your biceps vs. that that makes up your heart or other internal organs. Needless to say starving your body to the point where it eats your heart muscle is no bueno. The methods used to achieve rapid weight loss (severe calorie restriction, nutrient exclusion, excessive exercise) are very rarely sustainable or even healthy. The number on the scale is far less important than having healthy, sustainable habits that will serve you well in the long run. 

4) Stop giving yourself cheat days

​I know, I know, I just told you you should allow yourself small indulgences. However, a study done by the National Weigh Loss Registry found that after 3 years, individuals who had successfully achieved and maintained a goal weight were more likely to eat consistently on week days and weekends. Sounds obvious right? But how often have you had the conversation with yourself while on a “diet” that you were going to give yourself a cheat day- an entire day where you can eat quite literally whatever you want and not feel bad about it? While I will NEVER shame someone for eating a donut or any other “cheat” foods, I do encourage you to do so in moderation. Completely depriving yourself of your favorite foods and then gorging yourself on it will not only make you feel like crud, but it’s really tough on your metabolism. 

5) Stop weighing yourself every day

​We all experience minor weight fluctuations from day to day. Call it water weight, bloat, or the big dinner you ate the night before. However seeing those small fluctuations from day to day can be discouraging and typically isn’t a true reflection of the progress we are or are not making. Instead weigh yourself no more than once per week to track true changes in weight/fat mass. Want to push the bar even further? Don’t weigh yourself at all. Gauge your success by how you feel, your energy level and how your clothes fit. 

6) Stop obsessing over calories and macros 

​Yes, you read that correctly. The lady who spends hours calculating calorie needs and macro ranges is now telling you not to obsess over it. That’s because even as a dietitian, I give those recommendations in ranges. The truth of the matter is, every body is different when it comes to your needs, and at the end of the day, your body is capable of converting stored macronutrients and calories into the energy form that it needs at any given time. If you eat excess carbs, your body will store it as fat. If you don’t eat carbs, your body will manifest them from the fat and protein that you do eat. As such, tracking calories and macros is often tedious and unnecessary. Furthermore tracking nutrients to a to tends to make eating less about enjoyment and more about the numbers. 

7) Stop yo-yo dieting

​When we lose weight too fast (faster than 1-2 lbs per week) we lose not only excess fat, but lean mass as well. Not only do you run the risk of damaging your body and organ systems by under-eating on crash diets, most of us gain weight back once we’ve lost it. So if you consider the fact that you’ve originally lost both lean mass and fat, and now you’ve gained back fat, you are now in a position where proportionally, your body contains more fat than it started with, even if your weight ends up the same. 

8) Stop sacrificing sleep

​I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: sleep is one of the best things you can give your body. Ever have a computer or a phone start acting up or freezing? What’s your first go-to solution? Turn it off and turn it back on (if you said something else-you’re lying). It doesn’t always work, but I would wager to say that 90% of the time a hard reboot seems to do the trick for no real tangible reason. It’s the same with your body. It needs a hard reboot every now and then to make sure all systems are firing the way they should be. Now I know what you’re going to ask- what if sleep gets in the way of my other “healthy” habits (such as workouts, meal prepping, etc.). My answer is simple: listen to your body. If it needs sleep, it will tell you. If it doesn’t need sleep but doesn’t want to get up for a 6 am workout, it will tell you. If it needs sleep, let sleep win- always. It is far and away more important than any nutrition or fitness hacks I could give you. 

9) Stop Stressing

​Let me guess, you also want a pony for your birthday and a million dollars. I get it. Stress, to an extent, is inevitable. There are certain life stressors that we simply cannot avoid and have very little control over. That said, we all know that stress can cause weight gain, can make weight more difficult to lose and can zap motivation in a heartbeat. So when life’s nasty little stressors pop up, focus on the things that you CAN control. Check the small stuff. Is your time best served ruminating over what your boss said or is it best spent kicking ass in a boxing class? Is it more important to spend time with your kids or meal prep for an entire week? The answer will be different for each of us and that’s ok. Even for you, what serves you best might be different from day to day, week to week. That’s also OK. It’s important to make your health and wellness goals fit your life, not resist it. Fluctuations and changes WILL happen, which is why it’s so important to find a health and wellness coach who can work with you through life’s ebb and flow (*cough cough* I know a great one…). 

10) Stop giving up on yourself 

Weight loss, when done correctly to ensure FAT loss, is HARD. There’s no two-ways about it. The fact of the matter is there is only one “ideal” diet, and that’s the one that works for YOU. There is nothing that breaks my heart more than patients who get down on themselves because they feel like they’ve tried everything- crash diets, old wives tales, celery juice, even evidence-based nutrition counseling and still don’t see results. It’s frustrating. I get it. But YOU are not a failure. We as healthcare professionals have failed you by placing so much emphasis on the number on the scale and not nearly enough on giving you the tools you need to get there. It will be different for everyone. What works for you won’t work for your coworker and what worked for your cousin might not work for you. The point is keep trying. Find a health professional that you can trust and who is willing to be just as committed to your goals and journey as you are.