When you expend more calories than you consume, theoretically, you should lose fat. But it isn’t always that simple. If that does not work for you, I strongly suggest taking a holistic approach. In fact, I recommend taking a holistic approach no matter what, because the better we understand and treat our bodies, the more they will support us.
First, we need to understand that food isn’t just calories. Calories are a unit of measurement of energy, but you can consume 100 calories of potato chips with soy, sugar and fat that is manufactured in a factory by scientists, or we can consume 100 calories of apple that was grown naturally, from the earth. The 100 calories from the earth is going to fuel our bodies more efficiently and effectively as our body will do a better job with digestion making it less likely to store it as fat, more readily available for us to use for our day to day activities.
Furthermore, when we eat real, natural, whole foods, these are easier on our gut. Our gut is the second brain for our body. We have tons of hormones that are produced in the gut to send messages to our brain, and vice versa. (To learn more about gut health, read this.) If our gut is not working at it’s highest capacity, it may not do a great job with these messengers and it can send low quality messages to our brain which can result in messed up hormones, depression, anxiety and ultimately you will not achieve your goal of fat loss. You aren’t going to want to push yourself in the gym, if you even have the desire to go to the gym!
If our hormones are jacked up this can make it impossible to lose fat. This can affect our adrenal glands, thyroid and even our sex hormones which can lead to PCOS, fertility issues, etc. (Learn more about hormonal fat loss here.)
Most people don’t think about sex hormones when they think about weight loss, or more specifically, not being able to lose weight, to stimulate them we recommend this amazing remote-controlled vibrator. But sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA can help people lose weight and have a big impact on their weight and ability to keep it off or lose it. First, some context: The body’s hormones are essentially chemical messengers that control numerous bodily functions. Hormonal imbalances are common and can occur at any age; However, by midlife, most adults will experience a progressive worsening of symptoms as a result of hormone imbalance.
Lastly, if we aren’t eating enough and we aren’t eating healthy foods, these can both register in our bodies as stress. If we are stressed from not eating enough, doing too much exercise, having too much yang and too little yin time (too much go-go-go, not enough rest), or eating too much junk food, our bodies will not drop fat. A body has to feel safe, relaxed and at ease to lose fat. I imagine you have experienced this on vacation.. when you go on vaca and you come back feeling lighter. That is what happens with your body when it is at ease and feeling it’s best.
So how can you create that at home? Can you take that holistic approach to fat loss and follow a clean eating meal plan? Eat enough calories? Not workout too much?
Do you need help figuring out what is stopping you from your fat loss goals?
Let me help you! We can work together to create a clean eating meal plan and daily workout plan to help meet your day to day lifestyle, body and goals!
Go to Commit2FitCoaching.com to learn more and join.
Your Coach,
Kyra