Ask Pam: Lose Weight, Reach Your Goal
-Nethmi from South Asia
Nethmi is doing the right things: joined a gym, exercising 4 times a week, and trying to include a balanced diet throughout the day. So why is she not seeing results?
She is doing great in terms of improving overall health – exercising and incorporating nutrient balance daily – so there has to be some missing pieces here. Activity counts and to date, doing cardio and weights 4 times a week should help to see some results, but what about the daily food intake? When talking with Nethmi, first thing I asked was how many calories she was consuming? This does make a big difference. Too often we either are eating more than necessary in order to lose weight or the complete opposite – not enough.
It is fairly simple to understand that eating too many calories (especially when it comes to non-nutrient dense calories) can contribute to weight gain or lack of losing the pounds, but eating too little can hinder weight loss as well. Often if you eat to little it will slow down your metabolism (eating can help speed it up if done with the right amount of calories and eating more frequently) and also get your body thinking it isn’t getting enough calories – thus in turn, holding on to fat so it won’t be deprived (avoiding starvation mode). Your body is pretty smart when it comes to protecting itself – what a fantastic defense mechanism!
It is important to eat the right amount of calories for your body to lose the weight while still providing the nutrition your system needs. This is where your calorie needs come into play – using factors like your height, weight, sex, age and activity factor to figure out about how many calories you need to reach your goal (we recommend losing about 1-2 pounds per week to maintain the weight loss and learn how to incorporate healthy eating habits that stick for the long term). It is all about balance. In the case with this individual, we simply assessed her calorie needs (our dietitians are pro’s at that) and figured in her activity level, recommending a good range of calories for her to help her lose the weight. Eating enough, eating more often, and keeping active is all she needs in reaching her goal.
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