You Eat Right And Exercise, But Why Can't You Lose Fat?

It’s reader mail time!

Here is one of the most common questions I get and the way I always respond to it.

Q: I eat right and I workout all the time, but I’m not losing fat. What else can I do, or what am I doing wrong?

A: I get this question all the time and it’s a very, very frustrating situation to be in to say the least.

You think you’re doing everything right, and the scale isn’t moving.

First you have to ask yourself if your clothes are fitting better. If they are, then don’t even worry about the scale because the number on the scale will begin to fall if you notice your clothes getting loose in the places you want.

If that’s not the case, you really need to examine what you say you’re doing “right.”

You say you’re eating right, but what does that mean?

That usually means there’s something you’re not understanding or are you’re just lying to yourself.

I don’t mean to be rude, but if you truly do eat “right”, then there’s no reason you should be maintaining your current weight (if you want to lose). If you were really eating the way you should if you want to lose fat (and you’re overweight), and the scale isn’t moving, then you should probably become some sort of lab rat for the UN because you could solve world hunger.

I would never outright call someone a liar. I just think that you may be misunderstanding what it means to eat to lose fat. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and sometimes what seems like the most common sense approach is actually the worst approach.

So let’s see if I can solve your dilemma right now.

Does “eating right” mean you eat like a bird, if you eat at all, most of the day, then eat a huge meal at night?

If so, there’s your problem right there. You can’t eat little to nothing for a good portion of the day, then eat a huge meal later on. Your body doesn’t work that way. If you consume more calories in one sitting than your body can use, the remainder will get stored as fat. It really is that simple.

Eat over 1000 calories in one sitting (which is very easy to do), then count on a good chunk of those calories going right to your gut, butt, thighs or chest as fat.

Or maybe you’ve got some hidden calories in the form of sauces, salad dressings, coffee drinks, soda/pop/cola, sweetened teas, breads, etc.

Most of those things that I just mentioned are loaded with calories and you wouldn’t normally even think of them because they’re not your “main dish”, they’re add-ons. But believe me when I tell you that salad dressings and sauces WILL turn a fat fighting meal into a fat gaining meal.

Read the label, don’t douse your food with the stuff, and switch to low calorie versions.

If you drink those calorie bomb coffee drinks, cut them out. There’s no place for them if you’re trying to lose fat. Many of them can be well over 600 calories.

The other thing it could be is portion sizes. Most people under-estimate their portions by around 25%. That one thing right there could be your whole problem.

You may think you’re consuming around 2000 calories per day, when in actuality you may be consuming 2500.

If all else is equal, that could mean a pound of fat gain per week, or if you understand that and fix it, it could mean a pound of fat loss per week. It really is that simple and it’s your choice.

The last thing I’ll cover today is the weekend.

I know people who eat perfectly all week long, then when Friday night rolls around…everything gets thrown out the window and on comes the beer, fast food, junk food, etc.

That will ruin your fat loss plans and you should count yourself lucky if you’re even maintaining your current weight rather than gaining fat.

To succeed on the weekends, you’ve got to treat it as if they were any other day. Sure you can relax a little bit, but if you’re trying to lose fat, you have to maintain some discipline.

Remember what you’re trying to accomplish?

So before you tell someone that you’re eating right, exercising, and doing all the right things and the scale isn’t moving, you really need take a long hard look at how you’re actually eating.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. – My Fat Loss To Go program comes with a Nutrition eBook that covers all the healthy, fat fighting eating habits you should be doing, plus it tells you what things to avoid and how to eat to lose fat. It’s not some sort of fad diet, it’s eating to live and eating to fight fat rather than starving yourself or going on some goofy fad diet. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com

What If You Woke Up This Morning With Your Ideal Body?

I want you to do something for me.

I want you to close your eyes...well, on second thought, don't close your eyes because then you won't be able to finish reading this. So, just imagine you wake up in the morning, head to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day and when you look in the mirror you notice that you have suddenly been given your ideal body.

No longer do you have the extra cushion around your midsection that you've been wanting to get rid of. No longer is your posture all slumped over.

You have what, in your eyes, is your ideal body.

Do you have that picture in your head?

Good.

Now, I want you to think about how you would act if you had that ideal body. Not how you would act towards other people. I don't want you to say that you'd go show your new body off to an ex, or go parading around town in your tightie whities. All good thoughts, I assure you, but I want to keep your mind focused on something else.

I want you to think about how you would eat. Would you eat differently because you want to maintain your new physique? Would you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables because you know that would help you maintain your ideal body? Would you eat more protein and fiber and get rid of all the junk?

What about exercise?

Would you workout more often to maintain your fat free body? Would you do more resistance training to keep that newfound muscle?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

I'll put it another way. There's what's known, or thought to be known, as the "Curse of the Lottery". Something about how when people win the lottery, and get all the money, that their lives turn out worse than before they had all the money. Somehow this blessing turns into a curse.

I don't think it's a "curse", rather I think it's just that the people who won that money don't know how to handle it. They do stupid things with the money, and don't save anything, and oftentimes end up with less than they started with. Or their friends and family disown them because they expected so much.

The same thing would happen to a lot of people if they woke up one day with their ideal body, rather than working for it. They wouldn't know how to handle that new physique and would go back to eating however they wanted, and pretty soon, that new "ideal physique" would be gone.

If you want to attain that ideal physique, and lose that fat, you must eat to lose fat and exercise to lose fat.

You need to do resistance training, using full body workouts, 3 times per week and you must do cardio, in the form of interval training, 2-3 times per week.

You must also eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean sources of protein, and quality carbohydrates while limiting processed carbohydrates, sodas, coffee drinks, chips, alcohol, white bread, etc.

Only then can you get your ideal physique...and keep it.

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. - If you need help attaining that ideal physique, check out my Fat Loss To Go program. It's a 16 week fat loss program designed specifically for busy men and women and can be done out of the comfort of your own home. Check it out at www.fatlosstogo.com

Summer Fat Loss Starts Now

I meant to post this last week, but didn't. Oh well, everybody makes mistakes. But it still holds true today, even though many of you in the U.S. don't check email on holidays.

Throughout the winter and early spring I kept reminding you that, in the U.S., Memorial Day was coming up.

I told you how Memorial weekend was the unofficial start to summer and how many people take their first trips to the pool, or beach on the long weekend.

I told you that you should set a goal for yourself and start moving in the right direction to achieving that goal by Memorial weekend.

Well, it's here. Did you achieve your fitness and fat loss goal?

Did you lose the amount of fat you said you would back in January or are you at the same point you were then?

Maybe you set some other fitness goal that didn't have as much to do with losing fat as it did with getting in better shape. Maybe you signed up for a run that was being held this weekend. If so, how'd you do?

If you didn't achieve what you set, don't worry about it. Just move on to the next goal.

The next big summer holiday here in the U.S. is 4th of July. There's barbecues, lots and lots of loud and annoying fireworks and more trips to the pool and/or beach.

Will you be ready for that one? You've got a little over a month, so if you set a good goal and stick to it you can achieve it.

You'd be amazed how much you can achieve in what seems like such a short amount of time.

So what is it? What's your goal?

Think about it.

Write it down.

Put it in places you'll see it routinely throughout the day like your bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, desk, computer monitor, in your car, etc.

Look at it and read it out loud throughout the day and ACT!

To steal a corny, but worthwhile, line from Nike "Just Do It!"

Have a good day!

Ed

P.S. - If you need help getting started on your fat loss goals, check out my Fat Loss To Go program at www.fatlosstogo.com. The main program is a 16 week fat loss program designed to be done in around 15 minutes per day and all from the comfort of your own home. Plus with all the bonuses included, you'll be doing workouts for well over 6 months before you repeat anything. Give it a try. I promise you'll love it.

Why Do You Want To Lose Fat?

I like to talk about my daughter and family life quite a bit in my newsletters.

I don't do it to brag...well maybe I do.

But one of the main reasons I fill you in on my family life is because it is very, very important to me.

It's the reason I work so hard.

It's the reason I put in a lot of 12 hour days.

I want to work very hard now and build something so that sometime soon I won't have to work as hard and can spend more time doing the things I really love like taking my daughter to the pool, zoo or children's museum. Or just get to take her to the park more often when the weather's nice, which is kind of rare here in Nebraska.

It's also a reason I work hard when I do my own workouts.

I want to have as much energy as humanly possible so that I can keep up with her. I couldn't possibly see myself as one of those dads who gets worn out because he's too out of shape to play with his kids.

I also have my vanity reasons for working out so often (who doesn't want to look better?), but a big reason is for health.

What's your reason?

Why do you want to get in better shape and lose fat, or stay at your current fitness level?

Do you have a reason?

If not, you better get one figured out because it's very important.

Your success may hinge on it.

If you don't have a strong reason, a strong "why" for wanting to get lose fat, get healthier, then what's going to stop you from having seconds at the buffet line? What's going to motivate you?

You need a "why". You need a very strong "why".

Is it your kids?

Maybe your doctor told you that you're pre-diabetic and that you need to get your weight under control before it becomes full blown diabetes.

Maybe you someone in your family died of a heart attack and you don't want to succumb to the same fate.

Or maybe you just want to look as good as possible with or without your clothes on.

That's fine. That's one of my reasons. I think that's probably one of yours too, if you were totally honest.

That's your assignment for today.

Figure out your "why". I'd actually like you to tell me what your "why" is. I want to know.

Plus it helps to tell someone you can trust to help hold you accountable. I may not be able to stop you from eating the french fries or drinking your third (or sixth) beer, but I can check in on you from time to time and make sure you're on track.

Have a good day!

Ed