Why am I not losing weight?

This is a question I hear a lot!

Usually it means the person asking the question is only focussing on the number on the scale and that is not something I’m a huge fan of (but you can read all about that in my next blog!).

Hopefully you know by now that to achieve fat loss you need to be in calorie deficit.

The number one reason people who are tracking their calorie intake don’t see movement on the scales is simple… They are under estimating the amount of calories they eat.

Whether they are tracking via an app such as My Fitness Pal or Chronometer… or keeping a manual diary, it is very common, and very easy to record less calories than you consume.

Main ways to wrongfully track:

  • Not weighing / measuring your food and estimating the amount.
  • Not tracking EVERYTHING you eat and drink – the snacks, that latte, that slice of cheese… it all adds up.
  • Eating out and not taking into account the added fat etc of restaurant meals.
  • Choosing similar meal options in your tracker app/calorie book which is less than the meal you actually eat.

The second reason is related to the first and again, really common… Over estimating the amount of calories burnt through exercise.

FitBit, Apple, Garmin… all the activity trackers, the machines at the gym… nearly all will over inflate your calorie burn. AND if you have your activity tracker linked to your My Fitness Pal, all this will encourage you to do is eat back the calories you burnt.

DO NOT link your activity tracker to your MFP account, or you chosen calorie tracker app of choice. Figure out what your calorie intake should be to achieve fat loss at a sensible rate (read about that here: Calorie Deficit) set that in your app and eat to that… do not make it more complicated than that!

  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
  • Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
  • Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
  • Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
  • The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
  • Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
  • All About Stress
  • Train your breathing for better race results
  • Does how you breathe really matter?
  • Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
  • Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
  • Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
  • Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
  • Specificity is KING for Endurance
  • Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
  • The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
  • The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
  • Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
  • Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
  • Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause? 
  • HIIT – Are you doing it right?
  • Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
  • How to Test your Lactate Threshold
  • Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
  • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership

    • Understanding Fats – the basics

    The last in this series of three (the other two being 1:Understanding Protein and 2: Understanding Carbs) and it’s time to get to grips with fat.

    Fat is essential to our diet. We need to consume some fat as it contain important nutrients and essential fatty acids. Vitamins A, D, E are fat soluble, which means they can only be absorbed with the help of fat.

    As with carbohydrates, fat has a lower TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) than Protein. In fact, carbs and fat have the same TEF. This means you will burn between 5 to 15% of the calories of the fat from the digestion process.
    Therefore you consume 200 calories of pure fat, around 10 to 30 calories will be burned by digestion.

    Fat is the most calorie dense of the three macronutrients but as stated above it is needed and is not the enemy.

    If fat loss is your goal, you will need to understand that fat comes at a high calorie cost. Calorie deficit is the key to fat loss so limiting your fat intake and making smart choices will be necessary.

    There are two main types of fat; Saturated and Unsaturated.
    *Ideally no more than 10% of your daily calorie intake should come from saturated fat.

    Saturated Fats are found in both sweet and savoury foods and are mainly found in animal products (meat and dairy) although there are exceptions such as coconut oil.

    Examples of saturated fat include:
    Fatty cuts of meat
    Sausages
    Meat pies
    Butter, Lard and Ghee
    Cheese
    Cream and Ice Cream
    Biscuits, Cakes and Pastries
    Chocolate Bars

    Unsaturated Fat is mostly found in oils from plants and fish.

    To reduce your risk of heart disease and maintain healthy levels of cholesterol it would be wise to reduce your overall fat intake and try to ensure you consume mostly unsaturated fat.

    Examples of unsaturated fat include:
    Olive oil and spreads made from olive oil
    Rapeseed oil
    Some nuts i.e. Brazil, Almond, Peanut
    Avocados
    Sunflower seeds
    Oily Fish i.e. Herring, Salmon, Sardines, Mackerel




  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
  • Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
  • Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
  • Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
  • The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
  • Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
  • All About Stress
  • Train your breathing for better race results
  • Does how you breathe really matter?
  • Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
  • Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
  • Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
  • Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
  • Specificity is KING for Endurance
  • Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
  • The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
  • The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
  • Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
  • Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
  • Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause? 
  • HIIT – Are you doing it right?
  • Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
  • How to Test your Lactate Threshold
  • Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
  • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership

    • Understanding Carbohydrates – the basics

    Following on from my last post about Protein (Understanding Protein-the basics) now lets look at the next macronutrient – Carbohydrate or Carbs.

    Now, Carbs get a really bad rep and a lot of fad diet trends will preach the virtues of removing carbs from your diet. The true fact is though, there is no good reason to remove carbs from your diet. Carbs are not the enemy. Carbs provide us our energy for exercise, and for general life and they help our brain function.

    I am sure we all know at least one person that did some low carb diet and said how easy it was and how much weight they lost. Hell, I’m one of them – back in 2003 I did the Atkins diet and yep, I lost a tonne of weight… for a while.

    The truth of it is any diet where you cut a quantity of food will work for weight loss in the short term, as you are creating a calorie deficit. But cutting carbs for a period of time means that your body becomes carb resistant and when you reintroduce carbs, your body has a hell of time trying to figure out what to do with them and in the main, this results in some pretty serious weight gain. 2004 was my fat year, after I couldn’t sustain Atkins any longer, and to be honest, nor did I want to.. I wanted Pizza!

    The key to sustainable fat loss is calorie deficit. Not Keto, Not Paleo, Not Intermittent Fasting (especially not this for women as it has proven to have detrimental effects for women, especially menopausal women). You can achieve calorie deficit by those means and if thats your way then hell, you do you but for most of us, we want to enjoy our food, ALL our food and that includes the energy boosting, brain boosting carbohydrate.

    We know, as I talked about it in my Protein blog, that the body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients.
    You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process.
    That figure drops to 5 to 15% for carbohydrate.
    Therefore  you consume 200 calories of pure carbs, around 10 to 30 calories will be burned by digestion.

    In the ideal your carbohydrate consumption should be based on food rich in fibre, as fibre helps keep you fuller for longer and has many benefits for gut health.

    Wholefood carbohydrates such as grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables are also rich in micronutrients and have wide ranging benefits for body function.

    Carbs are split into two types; Simple and Complex, based on their chemical structure and how easily they are absorbed by the body.

    Simple carbs are easily absorbed by the body and include fruits and honey.

    A lot of processed and refined foods are simple carbs and these are the ones that need to be limited within a diet to achieve fat loss. Think biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate bars.

    Complex carbs take longer to digest and include things like rice, beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, potatoes parsnips, wholemeal bread and pasta and wholegrain cereal.


  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
  • Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
  • Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
  • Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
  • The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
  • Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
  • All About Stress
  • Train your breathing for better race results
  • Does how you breathe really matter?
  • Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
  • Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
  • Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
  • Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
  • Specificity is KING for Endurance
  • Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
  • The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
  • The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
  • Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
  • Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
  • Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause? 
  • HIIT – Are you doing it right?
  • Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
  • How to Test your Lactate Threshold
  • Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
  • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership

    • Understanding Protein – the basics.

    If you are trying to change your body composition then you need to get to grips with calorie deficit (you can read more about that here in a previous blog; Calorie Deficit ) AND balancing your macros.

    Calorie deficit will equal weight loss. Balancing macros will ensure fat loss.

    When it comes to fat loss, understanding protein is key so here are the simple facts about protein and fat loss.

    1)
    We digest protein more slowly that the other macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats) which is the reason we feel fuller after eating protein. Including a good lean protein source at every meal will help you feel full and less prone to snacking due to hunger. Protein at breakfast is THE best way to start your day.

    2)
    The body burns more calories digesting protein (known as the Thermic Effect of Food “TEF) than it does the other micronutrients. You will burn anywhere between 20 to 35% of the calories of the protein just from the digestion process.
    As an example; you consume 200 calories of pure protein, around 40 to 70 calories will be burned just by digesting it.
    This means eating protein can both increases your energy expenditure and your calorie deficit. Win Win.

    How much Protein should you be eating:

    As a general rule of thumb you should be consuming 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. This will help keep you feeling full, support fat loss while also maintaining muscle mass.

    If you are an athlete or you train heavily several times a week you will need to increase this to 2.2 to 3.4kg per kilogram of bodyweight.

    Some Good sources of Lean Protein:
    Chicken / Turkey breast, 5% fat Beef Mince, Pork Fillet, Tuna, Cod, Prawns, Egg White, Low Fat Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Seitan, Edamame, Tofu, Tempah.
    *this list is not exhaustive

  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
  • Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
  • Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
  • Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
  • The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
  • Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
  • All About Stress
  • Train your breathing for better race results
  • Does how you breathe really matter?
  • Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
  • Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
  • Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
  • Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
  • Specificity is KING for Endurance
  • Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
  • The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
  • The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
  • Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
  • Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
  • Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause? 
  • HIIT – Are you doing it right?
  • Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
  • How to Test your Lactate Threshold
  • Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
  • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership

    • The Fat Loss Journey

    One of the first things I knew I had to do as part of my IM journey is lose a bit of fat and get as lean as possible.

    I am by no means big but by making myself as lean as possible I give myself another key for success, alongside my training.

    This was one of the things I discussed with my coach, Kerry, in that initial meeting. Literally the week before I had signed up for the IM I had set new goals for all of my lifts and was going to focus on improving all things barbell related. Funny how things can change so quickly! All that had to go out the window and the focus now has to be using lighter weights and moving faster.

    Anyway, back to the fat loss bit. I had my daily macro targets, I had the different targets for different days depending on how active I was on each day so now it was time to invest in the paid version of MyFitnessPal and get to work.

    In my first 6 weeks this is the change in my body composition:

    • Weight: -1.5kg
    • Fat %: – 2.8%
    • Muscle %: – +1.8%

    And, this is the change in my measurements:

    • Bust: -1 inch
    • Back: -+/- 0
    • Waist: – 1.5 inch
    • Stomach: – 1 inch
    • Hips: – 1.5 inch

    Not a bad start, I still need to lose about another 4kg in total but it’s careful and slow process as quick weight loss usually means muscle loss and my goal is fat loss and becoming lean. It isn’t just about the number on the scale, nor should it ever be.

    Although it’s careful and slow, it isn’t complicated. Companies like Slimming World and Weight Watchers make it complicated but they are businesses and their main aim is to make money. They thrive on repeat business and sadly, their businesses are booming. We all know roughly what we should and shouldn’t eat. We are generally all aware of foods that are nutritionally good and those that bring us little or no benefit.

    If you want to lose some fat and change your body composition for the better you just need to do the following… and it’s all free! It’s simple, you can have the things you want, nothing is off limits, you just can’t have everything you want. Then you can take that money you give to these crappy “weight loss” companies and use it for something good.

    1. Figure out your calorie deficit (read my previous blog post for more info)
    2. Download the MyFitnessPal app and set up a free account
    3. Track your daily consumption and be honest about it
    4. Keep your daily macros at roughly 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein
    5. Make sure that less than 10% of your daily calories come from junk food and things that have little or no nutritional benefit.
    6. Give yourself a break if you have a day where it all goes wrong. Forget about it and make sure the next meal you have puts you back on track!

    It really is that simple. No, it isn’t always easy but for the general population, it isn’t anymore complicated than this.

    I’ll check back in in a month and update you with my progress 🙂

  • Walk Your Way to Faster Running
  • RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
  • Periodisation Deep Dive
  • Low Energy Availability (LEA):
  • How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
  • Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
  • Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
  • Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
  • Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
  • The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
  • Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
  • All About Stress
  • Train your breathing for better race results
  • Does how you breathe really matter?
  • Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
  • Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
  • Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
  • Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
  • Specificity is KING for Endurance
  • Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
  • The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
  • The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
  • Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
  • Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
  • Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause? 
  • HIIT – Are you doing it right?
  • Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
  • How to Test your Lactate Threshold
  • Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
  • Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership