By Myles Cheatham
We can all agree that excess body fat is not fun and can be extremely pesky when trying to get rid of. You've tried all the diets, all the fitness classes, and treadmilled enough to do several orbits around the Earth with no luck. If this sounds similar to your situation, you have come to the right blog my friends! Below I have mapped out 5 common reasons your are not seeing the results you desire.
1. You are not eating enough or you are consuming too much from a caloric stand point. The common understanding is that if we move significantly more and eat less we will lose the excess fat, right? Well Yes,,,to a an extent. At first you will likely lose weight, but you will eventually begin to plateau. The body is a lot smarter than we are. When the body isn't receiving enough fuel (food) to sustain our activity levels, our metabolism will begin to slow down. The reason for this is because the body thinks it is in starvation state and in order to stay alive it must slow all internal processing down (aka slow the metabolism). Hence why the excess fat sticks around no matter how hard you try. Under-eating is also difficult to sustain for the long term and we are definitely anti-quick fix here at Mylestone Fitness. In addition to under eating, the overeating side is pretty straight forward. If you are consuming too much in relation to how much your are able to burn you will likely begin to retain excess fat. My recommendation? Aim to be in a sustainable mild to moderate caloric deficit.
2. Not managing stress appropriately. Stress is a sneaky antagonist when it comes to burning excess fat. Chronic stress can wreak absolute havoc on the body. It can be the root causes of excess inflammation, chronic disease, lead to digestive issues and adversely affect one's ability to metabolize. If stress is a problem for you consider outlets that allow you to be in a more relax state. For example, yoga, walks outdoors, being outdoors in general, meditation, 5 minute breath breaks, reading, massages and the list goes on.
3. The Quality and Quantity of your sleep is subpar. Sleep is literally the equivalent of recharging your cell phone every night. In order for your phone to get to 100% (or close to it) it must be charged for a certain amount of time right (quantity)? I recommend getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Some may need more. Some may need less. And of course in order for our phone to get charged we have to ensure it is actually plugged in appropriately. Raise your hand if you have ever woken up to a phone on 17% thinking you charged it and realized it was never plugged in. (*raises hand enthusiastically) Me! Same idea with sleep. You can lay in bed for 7-9 hours and not actually fall asleep. We want to really tap in to get in a deep rested state especially in stages such as REM sleep. I may address this in greater detail in a future post.
4. Protein isn't a priority in your diet. We often obsess over carbs or fat being the issue in our dietary lives but I would argue not consuming enough protein daily is a much bigger issue. One of the major roles that protein plays is it provides structure to our bodies. Most importantly it is the building block of muscle tissue. Having a healthy amount of muscle tissue on your frame not only helps with longevity and improved movement, but can also play a major role in regulating metabolism. With that said, try to focus more on protein consumption (aim for 10g-30g per meal).
5. Prioritizing cardio over strength training. Am I saying cardio is bad? Absolutely not. Cardio is a fantastic way to get and stay healthy. However, it will not be your most potent weapon when attacking excess fat. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned to believe "more cardio" is our golden ticket when in fact we would be better off prioritizing strength training. Strength training not only helps enhance our ability to metabolize, but also move freely and efficiently. Recent studies have also confirmed that maintaining a healthy amount of muscle tissue correlates with longevity and disease prevention.
I understand these are not quick and fast solutions, but they are proven and highly effective long term solutions. Remember folks patience and consistency....patience and consistency!