First Steps to Successful Weight Loss
When I’m preparing to go into a caloric deficit there’s a few key things I do that I want to share with you. Before I do, let’s address the cycle of weight loss. Weight maintenance is exactly that a cycle. Our body goes through seasons where we need to gain, we need to maintain, and seasons where we need or want to lose the extra pounds. Even peak athletes go through periods of gain, maintenance, and loss throughout the year to prepare and condition their body for their sport. And even though most people aren’t pursuing an Olympic medal, our body is created to go through these cycles to prepare us for different seasons of life.
As a nutrition coach, I regularly work with my clients no matter what season they are in to help them be the healthiest version of themselves, while pursuing their fitness goals. When I go into a deficit, or help one of my clients prepare for a deficit, I take them through these next steps to make sure that they are taking care of their health and giving their body all that it needs, even in a caloric deficit.
Review
Before going into a deficit we have to know what your current habits are. This is why I have all of my potential clients fill out a 3-day form to review what they eat regularly. This is not to show that they ‘know how to eat healthy,’ or to make any changes yet. We need to know fully what you are doing so we can see what your body is getting as far as nutrition, and to make informed decisions about what is the next step.
When I go through a review process, I actually take a week or two to track what I eat and pay attention to how full I feel, what I am craving, what foods are filling those cravings, and what foods I am avoiding. There are periods of time where I have zero interest in a protein shake, and it’s important to know that if I need to supplement in another way just because I’m not in the mood for protein powder.
I also ask myself: Am I eating regular meals, or am I fasting and binging? Am I satisfied with my meals or do I feel empty, or overfull? All of these questions are important to know before going forward. I take each one of these into account when making my next decision.
2. Small Steps
A lot of the time, before going into a deficit, I will make small changes to my diet. For instance if I am in a habit of fasting and then binging, I start to become more intentional in having meals at regular times through the day. If I find that I am consistently too full after a meal, I will balance my plate before I go to sit down, and chew mindfully, listening to my body. These small steps can actually make a powerful change in my digestion and how my body handles the food I’m giving it.
One thing I’ve learned is that if I’m in a fast/binge state, I won’t be hungry in the morning for several hours. While some may work really well with this, my body will start to actually build an aversion to food, and my digestion will slow down tremendously, making weight loss difficult. Knowing that my body works best with regular meals, I’ll trend towards that a little each day. I don’t start by just making a huge breakfast, instead I will add a small 200 calorie breakfast of maybe toast and peanut butter, to get my appetite going. I always push to work with your body, not against it.
3. Protein
Protein has been loudly proclaimed as a crucial part of weight management and for good reason, but I would never recommend a client to just start eating 100g+ protein the next day. Instead, we will build your appetite. Just like in step 2 where we take small steps, one of those small steps is to include more protein in each meal. For my morning coffee I like to add a scoop of grass-fed collagen (link here for my favorite!). This brand adds 18g of protein! And it easily dissolves into my hot coffee, making it creamier.
I will also evaluate how much protein I’m getting in a meal. I may serve a little more meat, eating about 4-6 ounces. Another method is to include plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, or cottage cheese with your eggs. These smalls steps can add 10-15g of protein into one meal. If you do that for 4 meals, that’s 40g+ of protein! This will make you feel fuller, and help digestion.
This will also prime your body towards fat loss, before you are even in a deficit! By giving your body all that it needs, it will let go of the fat tissue a lot easier.
4. Fiber and Veggies
Once I have my meals at more regular times, and I’m eating more protein, I then start putting more veggies onto my plate. This addition is another small habit that makes big change. Just adding a cup of roasted veggies to your meals can help you meet your fiber goal for the day, as well as valuable micronutrients. Doing this will help your body feel full, increasing that satiety. When you eat a more diverse range of veggies it will actually help reduce cravings because your body will be getting more of the vitamins and minerals that you need.
5. Sleep
Going into a caloric deficit increases the stress in your body, and when your cortisol levels are raised it slows down your metabolism, making weight loss more difficult. There are several times I will have clients struggling to maintain even a slight caloric deficit, because their cortisol is just running too high. If you have a lot of stressful situations in your life, even joyful ones, you’re probably going to struggle with maintaining that deficit. One of the major ways you can reduce cortisol levels is to get enough sleep. We know that 8+ hours of sleep is what’s good for the body, but did you know that there are certain times of the night that your body does more of the tissue repair than others? Between 10pm and 3am, is the peak time that your body repairs tissue and restores hormonal balance. This is because of the natural circadian rhythm of the sun.
Being in bed before 9:30pm, and using a circadian rhythm clock when you wake up in the morning can make huge changes into how your body processes cortisol and help you lose extra fat tissue.
Often times, I will have my new clients follow these 5 steps before we even begin a deficit. When they follow these steps they get to see change quickly, while creating a healthy relationship with food. If these steps have helped you, and you are ready to take the next step, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook, and let’s get started!
Blessings!
~Kristen
