If you have just started your fitness journey, you may think you are taking the right steps by eating healthy and exercising, but even if you are eating good and healthy foods you may not be losing weight. This is because even if you are eating healthy foods if you are eating too many calories with these healthy foods it is still impossible to lose weight.
The biggest trick to weight loss is it is all about calories. If you eat fewer calories, you will lose weight no matter what foods you are eating. The same way, if you eat salads and organic foods, but you are not counting the calories, you will not lose weight. Even eating these clean healthy foods, if they are consumed in too high a quantity weight loss is impossible.
The reason you count calories is to know how many calories you are burning versus how many calories you are taking in through food. If your body is naturally burning more calories than you are getting through your food, you will lose weight, and this is biologically proven. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate your maintenance calories to know how many calories you need to be eating to lose weight.
Another mistake people make is relying on cardio and the gym to lose weight. It is truly a good cardio program can assist weight loss, however without a proper diet to support your training, the training does not matter. A healthy diet and lowering your caloric intake is the bigger factor in losing weight, and cardio and gym training should be a supplement to this low-calorie diet.
Finally, once you have focused on lowering your caloric intake, it is necessary to maintain a high protein intake so you do not lose muscle. You should eat about 1 gram of protein per pound you weight in order to not lose muscle as you are losing weight. By eating enough protein, you will lose the right kind of weight in the form of fat, and not lose your muscle mass.
Not eating enough protein is a beginner mistake which is made very often. It causes the loss of muscle mass and results in an unhealthy diet. Therefore when you are dieting, choose foods which are low in calories and high in protein to achieve the best results. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds you should be taking in about 200 grams of protein per day.
In conclusion, the two biggest factors in losing weight are your calorie and protein intake. Even if you are eating healthy, it is important to track your calories and protein intake to make sure you are eating a number of calories which is less than your maintenance calories, and you are getting enough protein so you do not lose muscle mass. In this video, I go into further detail about why you could be eating healthy and not seeing results, and explain the importance of your caloric intake and having a good amount of protein in your diet.
