If you've ever tried to lose weight, you've probably counted calories. And if you're a woman, you've probably fixated yourself on consuming 1,200 calories per day. (Weird fact: the majority of women I've spoken to about how many calories they thinks they should eat per day says 1,000 for no apparent reason). It seems like women have just "heard" over the years this is the magic number, or it worked when they were younger....

So, here's my straight to the point list on why calorie counting doesn't always work:

1. You probably don't know your BMR (Basal metabolic rate). This is what your body needs to function and stay alive with normal activity. Outside of that you are guessing.
2. Food labels are off by as much as 15- 25% in either direction - that's a HUGE discrepancy!
3. Your gym equipment is way off by as much as 50% (or more in some cases) with how many calories it's telling you you've burned. (Between this and the food labels we could be off by up to 75%!)
4. We all have different needs to foods, process and absorb food them differently.
   

As you can imagine, it can feel like you're doing "everything right" and still not losing the weight. How discouraging! This frustration is what often makes us think we are are broken, or we decide to resort to some crash diet, Atkins, a million supplements, costly and may be harmful, or even HCG injections.

Here's what you need to know:

1. The more you crash diet or lose and gain weight, the less calories you need to survive, so essentially your BMR goes down. Your body is adaptive like that. So no more crash dieting, okay? 🙂
2. Start eating healthier fibrous carbs like fruits and veggies, good fats, protein, and some high quality starchy carbs. Not only will you naturally decrease the number of calories (you'll be eating healthier, nice work!!) you're consuming while staying more full, but you'll simultaneously increase the number of calories your body actually needs to digest the food!
3. Unless you're training to be a body builder or an elite athlete, you don't need as many carbs or calorie cycling, special diets, or beat down workouts 5 days per week to lose weight. You need the right consistent efforts over time and a little patience.
4. Don't compare yourself to others. The body is a crazy unique thing, so what your friend is doing likely won't have the exact same effect on you...expect it and focus on YOU. Also that super fit person you see in the magazines look great but they are also air brushed.
5. Weight loss truly occurs through a balance of a good strength training program, good nutrition, and cardio training (I'll show you how to do them together in minimal time!), proper sleep, stress management, hormonal balance, and hydration. So unsexy but so true.

It's heartbreaking for me to watch so many people struggle and give up because of the wrong approach.

Self-compassion also plays a HUGE role in fat loss, so be sure to speak kindly to yourself always.

I want to teach you what you need to know to lose body fat and keep it off with my FREE Training session! Be sure to register as we are only offering this for a short time!