In my years as a coach, it’s a question that’s come up time and time again—from both clients and general people I meet.
They’re confused. Frustrated. Maybe even angry.
Despite doing everything they can, including eating less—may be a lot less—they’re still not losing weight. In fact, they might even be gaining.
Do a quick Internet search and you’re bound to find lots of explanations.
Some folks say that the laws of energy balance apply ( calories-in vs Calorie-Out) and that people aren’t counting calories properly. Others call it “starvation mode”, or some weird metabolic or hormonal problem.
So what’s the deal? Is there something wrong with them? Are their bodies broken? Is it all in their heads?
Or can you actually gain weight from eating too little?
Let’s find out
“Perception” is the Key
Perception is one of my favorites because once you know how to switch it according to the situation, you can win any game and reach any goal.
As human beings, we’re inferior at correctly judging how much we’re eating and expending. We tend to think we eat less and burn more than we do—sometimes by as much as 50 percent.
(Interestingly, thinner folks trying to gain weight often have the opposite problem: They overestimate their food intake and underestimate their expenditure.)
I struggled with this at the beginning of my career as I don’t know what was the issue.
It’s not that we’re lying (though we can sometimes deceive ourselves, and others, about our intake). More than anything, it’s that we struggle to estimate portion sizes and calorie counts.
This is especially difficult today when plates and portions are bigger than ever.
And energy-dense, incredible tasting, and highly brain-rewarding “foods” are ubiquitous, cheap, and socially encouraged.
Problem #1
For instance, you might have heard that one pound (half a kilogram) of fat is worth 3,500 calories, so if you cut 500 calories per day, you’ll lose one pound (half a kilo) per week (7 x 500 = 3,500).
Also, imagine a scenario where you were under-eating almost every meal during the week and maintaining an estimated negative energy balance of about -3,500 calories.
For eg: Let’s say your BMR (basal Metabolic rate – in other words, the energy cost of keeping you alive) is 2500kcal per day.
so if you eat 500kcal less per day x 6 days = 3500kcal. chances are you can lose up to half a kilo in a week.
sounds fair?
And you have your “cheat day ” coming on the 7th day.
Then, during one single meal, a “healthy” menu option plus dessert, you accumulated 5,000 calories. in just one sitting . or let’s say the whole day you celebrated and ate all the stuff you want and it showed up to the same number.
That one meal would put you in a theoretically positive energy balance for the week (+1,500 calories), leading to weight gain!
Seriously, how would you feel if, after eating 20 “perfect” meals in a row and 1 “not so bad” meal, you gained weight? You’d probably feel like your metabolism was broken.
Coaching tip:
My coaching has got some levels for my clients to get promoted based on their discipline and consistency.
Everyone has to go through it.
they are
Level One: ( 6 months to 1 year)
Habitual Tracking: rituals on eating and exercising :
Where they are supposed to be consistent with some certain eating practices and mobility workouts to set themselves active and healthy throughout the day.
Level Two : ( 6-12 weeks)
Maticouls tracking :
Usually, these clients have reached their goal weight but wanted to get shredded for the beach party . for instance: 12-15% body fat for a male /20-25% for females will give them a flat stomach.
but if he wanted to get that lean shredded abs. ( that’s 6-8% for male and 15-18% body fat for female ) they need to hack their metabolic system through a serious of mini-bulking and cutting nutrition plan and workout program. usually, the duration is 6-12 weeks.
This is only possible if they track their nutrition and workout progress meticulously.
Level Three: Zen
Intuitive Tracking
This intuitive tracking is at the zen level, means you will know what to eat and how will it affect your body in terms of weight gain and overall health.
This practice will take quite a while, where this level is the most important key to unlock the road of longevity.
Ok now let’s get back to our topic.
We understood that our judgment on our eating is the main predicament.
So, most of the time, we have to guess. And our guesses aren’t very good.
Not only that but the idea of “eating too little” is subjective.
Think about it. By “eating too little”, do you mean…
- Eating less than normal?
- Eating less than you’ve been told to eat?
- Eating less than feels right?
- Eating less than you need to be healthy?
- Eating less than your estimated metabolic rate?
- Eating less than your actual metabolic rate?
And how often does that apply? Are you…
- Eating too little at one meal?
- Eating too little on one day?
- Eating too little every day?
- Eating too little almost every day but too much on some days?
Without clarity on some of these questions, you can see how easy it is to assume you’re “eating too little” but still not eating less than your actual energy expenditure, even if you did some test to estimate your metabolic rate and it seems like you’re eating less than that number.
Problem # 2: Body Adaptation
Even more, the dynamic nature of metabolism can be confusing.
Another reason it can be easy to believe you gained weight eating too little (or at least didn’t lose weight when eating less) is that your metabolism isn’t like a machine.
Remember the calculation I explained earlier about the weight loss?
one pound/ Half a kilo of fat is worth 3,500 calories, so if you cut 500 calories per day, you’ll lose one pound per week (7 x 500 = 3,500).
Except this isn’t how human metabolism works. The human body is a complex and dynamic system that responds quickly to changes in its environment.
When you undereat, especially over a longer period (that part is important), this complex system adapts.
Here’s an example of how this might play out:
- You expend less energy with digestion because you’re eating less.
- Resting metabolic rate goes down because you weigh less.
- Calories burned through physical activity go down since you weigh less.
- Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (daily-life fidgeting, movement) goes down and you expend less energy through the day.
- Your digestion slows down, and you absorb more energy from your food.
- Appetite and hunger hormones go up (i.e. we want to eat more, are more stimulated by food cues, may have more cravings).
- Satiety hormones go down (which means it’s harder for us to feel full or satisfied).
- Thyroid hormones and sex hormones (both of which are involved in metabolic rate) go down.
The point is that metabolism is much more complicated (and interdependent) than most people realize.
All of this means that when you eat less, you may lose less weight than you expect.
Depending on how much less you eat, and for how long, you may even regain weight, in the long run, thanks to these physiological and behavioral factors.
Problem #3
humans are incredibly diverse: One Size doesn’t fit all
Let’s imagine two people of the same sex, age, height, weight, and lean body mass.
According to calculations, they should have the same energy expenditure, and therefore energy needs.
However,
- Your basal metabolic rate—remember, that’s the energy you need just to fuel your organs and biological functions to stay alive—can vary by 15%. For your average woman or man, that’s roughly 200-270 calories.
- Genetic differences matter too. A single change in one FTO (Fat mass and obesity-associated) gene can be an additional 160 calorie difference.
- Sleep deprivation can cause a 5-20% change in metabolism, so there are another 200-500 calories.
- For women, the phase of their menstrual cycle can affect metabolism by another 150 calories or so.
Even in the same individual, metabolism can easily fluctuate by 100 calories from day to day, or even over a day (for instance, depending on circadian rhythms of waking and sleeping).
Problem # 4: Water Retention
Cortisol is one of our “stress hormones”, and it has effects on our fluid levels.
Food and nutrient restriction is a stressor (especially if we’re anxious about it). When we’re stressed, cortisol typically goes up.
People today report being more stressed than ever, so it’s easy to tip things over into “seriously stressed”.
When cortisol goes up, our bodies may hold onto more water, which means we feel “softer” and “less lean” than we are.
This water retention can mask the fat loss that is occurring, making it seem like we aren’t losing fat and weight, when in fact we are.
Problem # 5: Medical Problems
While in my consultation with clients, I have this HHQ (health history questionnaire). where I usually get these questions about whether underlying health problems, or medications, can affect my client’s metabolism, weight, and/or appetite.
Of course YES!!
Women clients are more prone to these since they have got a more complicated hormone profile.
This includes things like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), certain pharmaceuticals (corticosteroids or birth control), severe thyroid dysfunction, sex hormone disruption, leptin resistance, and more.
However, this is less common than most people think, and even if you do have a health issue, your body still isn’t breaking the laws of thermodynamics. (calories-in vs calories out)
There is a lot to talk when it comes to health issues that affect the weight gain. Most of the underlying health issues are caused due to stress at work or with family. this stress causes irregular eating & sleeping habits.
Don’t worry about all of these.
the good news: weight loss is still possible: All you need is to learn
the journey of it.
If you truly feel that you are accurately estimating intake, exercising consistently at least 5-7 hours a week, managing your sleep and stress, getting expert nutritional coaching, and covering all the fundamentals, then it may be time to consider further conversations and testing with your doctor.
if you are a person who has got this issue, feel free to come for a one-on-one consultation where I can give you a good suggestion about what needs to be fixed and can suggest a consultation with respective medical practitioners if needed.
HOW CAN I HELP YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT .
so if you’re eating what feels like ‘too little’ but you still aren’t losing weight?
Here are some tips to follow.
Track your eating.
Use whatever tools you prefer. Your hands, scales and spoons, pictures, food logs, etc. It doesn’t matter.
Track your intake for a few days or a full week, to see if it adds up to what you “thought” you were eating. you will be often surprised.
Sometimes, just the act of tracking increases your awareness of your intake, which helps you make better choices.
Even though I don’t like counting calories in general , but it works if you stick with it. means there is no best app or best tracking device.
what I believe is that, if you are tracking your progress with an only-one device and you are sticking with it for months and months . that will give you more accurate data than any other new fad tech device.
So don’t keep switching the devices, stay put in one.
TAKE IT EASY
It is not the end of the world for you to follow everything in a rush.
Be compassionate with yourself.
It may feel like being strict or critical is a good approach, but it isn’t. It just makes you more stressed out.
Conversely, research shows that being kind and gentle with yourself (while still having some grown-up honesty about your decisions) helps you have a healthier body composition, make wise food choices, stick to your fitness goals better, feel less anxious and stressed, and have a better relationship with food overall.
There are going to be meals or days where you don’t eat as you “should”. It’s OK. It happens to everyone. Recognize it, accept it, forgive yourself, and then get back on track.
SAY YES TO LESS PROCESSED FOODS.
You heard that right, I didn’t say stay away from processed foods. because most of the food which you get these days, even the organic one you are bragging about aren’t 100% natural.
they are moderately engineered for human consumptions.
Foods that aren’t hyper-rewarding or hyper-palatable (raw/cooked vegetables) are harder to over-eat. They don’t cause hypothalamic inflammation and leptin resistance ( brain & hormonal damage)
They have lots of good stuff (vitamins, minerals, water, fiber, phytonutrients, disease-fighting chemicals, etc.) and are usually lower in calories.
And they are usually far better at keeping you full and satisfied.
Choose whole foods that you enjoy and will eat consistently.
ROTATE YOUR FAD DIETS.
Even though I don’t suggest this to do, but the internet is vast with full of free information about all these fad diets.
So there’s nothing wrong in trying any diet plans because most of them have got some principles like ” eat less process food” more vegetables” etc.
so play around with all these diets.
because
Some people respond better to more carbs and fewer fats. Others respond better to higher fats and few carbs.
There’s no single best diet for everyone. We all have different preferences and even different responses to foods and macronutrients.
So play with this a bit, and find what works for you.
Last and finally.
Make the right decision
Let your adult values and deeper principles guide you when you sit down to choose between your health and fitness.
Make the right choices by acknowledging the outcome you would expect.
Face your behavior with open eyes, maturity, and wisdom.
Accept that all choices have consequences.
And appreciate that it’s OK to indulge sometimes.
There are two types of people in the world – one is winners and the other are losers.
winners always use that extra effort to take that expertise coaching service from the mentors who mastered specific skills.
which prompts the winners to win more and more.
Losers just sit back and relax until they get hit by the consequences of the decisions they made when they had the opportunity to get better.
i would say you are a winner because you took your precious time to read this article to understand what best is for your health.
getting the right coaching will furthermore enhance your likely hood to reach your goals.
Peace
