Are you a sinner?

I’ve coached thousands of girls on their health and wellness journeys, and when it comes to fat loss these are the most common mistakes I see. By avoiding these sins, you will be better equipped to achieve your fat loss goals faster.

NOT BEING IN A DEFICIT
A calorie deficit is required if we want to lose body fat. Unfortunately, so many people underestimate how much they are really eating. This can be due to poor macro knowledge, not tracking food, too large portion sizes, eating calorie dense highly palatable foods, picking at food, “free weekends”, over indulgent cheat meals and binge eating.

If we aren’t in a consistent calorie deficit we are hindering our opportunity to lose body fat. My favorite way to stay on track with this is to get macros set for your goals and then be diligent with tracking and weighing your food.

LOW CALORIC EXPENDITURE
Are you over estimating your caloric expenditure? Unfortunately, we tend to overestimate our daily expenditure levels and underestimate our caloric intake. A one-hour gym session is just 4% of your day; yeah, you might burn a decent number of calories during this time but what are you doing for the other 23 hours in the day?

Training is just one part of the movement equation, it’s what we do outside of the gym that really counts and has the greatest opportunity to burn calories. If you are sitting or lying down all day outside of the gym your NEAT will be super low. Your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) levels are calories you are burning in your day through movement such walking, standing, fidgeting, gardening, cooking, cleaning etc. The best way to support fat loss is to have high
NEAT levels.

POOR SLEEP HABITS
The impact of sleep in relation to fat loss doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Poor sleep habits lead to an increase of cortisol (our stress hormone), a decrease insulin sensitivity and a disruption of hunger and satiety hormones. This leads to low motivation to train meaning calorie expenditure suffers and it also leads to increase hunger, lack of satiety and high cravings. This is a recipe for disaster when it comes to fat loss. Aim for 8 hours of quality sleep a night. Personally, I find having a sleep schedule and night time routine really improves my sleep quality.

NOT BEING PATIENT
Unfortunately, despite all of our efforts, results do not happen overnight. The key to fat loss is consistency and patience. You didn’t gain 20 pounds in a week and you won’t lose 20 pounds in a week either. I see so many girls motivated, ready to achieve their goals and then get disheartened because they didn’t drop crazy amounts of body fat in a week or two.

Be patient, trust the process and be consistent. The results will come.
Another important aspect of this is not going too hard too fast. We want results fast, I understand that, however, sustainability is key. If you eat poverty calories and train 4 x times a day just to see progress, you are going to fall off the bandwagon very quickly. Over restriction leads to binge eating, yo-yo dieting and lack of motivation meaning little to no results.

Slow and steady wins the race. Create a moderate calorie deficit through food and training and stick to it, embrace the journey and you will see changes.

MAGIC PILLS
I am sorry to say it ladies but the only magic pill for fat loss or changing your body composition is diet and exercise. Skinny teas, waist trainers and everything else; they aren’t going to be what gets you to where you want to be or the results you want, but hard work will.

Consistency, effort and resilience. Don’t look for the easy route, don’t take short cuts. Do the work required to achieve your goals.

If you aren't sure how to best balance your training & nutrition to stay on track with your fat loss goals over the holiday period, be sure to check out my FIT IN 30 Guide - it's the ultimate holiday season survival guide. Available now, CLICK HERE.