Are you eating enough?

You may not be losing weight because you’re not consuming enough of the right foods.

Story: Sine Wallace 

One of the biggest mistakes I see among people trying to lose weight is not eating enough!

The human body requires a certain amount of nutrients in order to function properly throughout the day. Not consuming sufficient nutrients may cause you to feel tired, hungry, sluggish and may even prevent weight loss.  

Of course, every person is unique. Knowing the right foods for you is vital to your weight-loss success. 

For example, I had a client whose goal was to lose 40 pounds of fat. The first place to start is with nutrition, so I asked her what she had eaten that day. She ate a banana with peanut butter. When I asked her why she chose that snack, she said, “I saw you eating that so I figured it must be good for me.” 

While she was right that it was a good snack (150 calories for 4.5 grams of protein), it was not the right snack for her fat-loss goal. My recommended snack for her would be a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with ¼ cup of blueberries (150 calories for 16-20 grams of protein). 

So, where do you start? You start with calculating your basal metabolic rate. BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to keep your vital organs functioning if you were to stay in bed all day and do nothing but breathe. If you do not eat enough to at least cover your BMR, your body will go into “survival” mode and begin eating itself, targeting the muscles as an energy source.

Now that you know the importance of BMR, you need to know how to find out your BMR. The best and most accurate way is through a body composition analysis. Through a BCA, I learn how much muscle, fat, water and toxins each one of my clients has. I use the BCA data as a baseline to plan the training and nutritional requirements for each of my clients. We conduct a BCA test every six to eight weeks to track the client’s progress and make changes as their body improves. 

Remember, starving is not the answer to weight loss. The formula to your success lies in knowing your BMR, setting a goal, and finding a plan that works for YOU.