When it comes to exercising so many of us do it because we know it’s one of the best ways in which we can achieve weight loss. As a personal trainer with over 10 years experience and who has worked with predominantly weight loss focused clients we have heard just about every question there is when it comes to weight loss.
Below we have listed five (5) of the most frequently asked questions we have received when it comes to weight loss;
Can You Achieve Weight Loss Without Dieting?
When it comes to weight loss and diet related questions you either get people who ask ‘what is the best diet for weight loss’ or ‘can you achieve weight loss without dieting’? The interesting thing is the answer for both these questions is not too dissimilar.
Studies have shown that as long as calories are equal, all diets achieve almost identical results when looking at only weight loss. Before you call your dietician and sack them it’s important to understand though that in most situations weight loss is not the only outcome we are/should be chasing.
Losing weight in a healthy, sustainable way takes some planning, knowledge of foods, and habit changing but it is empowering to know that you can enjoy eating your favourite meal (no matter how naughty you think it is) from time to time and not fear undoing all your hard work.
Will Cardio Help With My Weight Loss?
The short answer is yes, the longer answer is it depends. We know calories play an important role when it comes to weight loss. Utilise (burn) more calories than you consume and over time you will lose weight, consume more calories than your need and your body will store it as fat.
Cardiovascular activity is metabolically demanding which means it will help put those calories you consume to good work instead of being stored on the body as fat. It’s important to know though that many people massively overestimate how many calories they burn from a workout and underestimate their daily consumption which could lead you to believe your cardio (or any activity for that matter) is not working.
Can Weight Loss Affect My Period?
The sad truth is when it comes to women losing their period many (especially the young) think there is nothing concerning about this and don’t even question it. At Authentic Health we feel fortunate to work with many young ladies who are asking the tough questions and while ‘can weight loss affect my period’ can be an awkward question, it’s one we get asked a lot.
Losing your period is unfortunately all too common amongst many female athletes, especially athletes who are trying to make a certain weight for their sport or perform in events like bodybuilding or modelling. When the female organism goes through a period of time where it has low energy availability and bodyweight has dropped to a point it deems under nourished hormonally this can be detrimental to a female’s health with research even showing decreases in athletic performance.
Periods should be viewed by women as a sign from your body that it’s healthy and if you ever experience a loss or even a change in your periods this is usually a sign something is happening that you should pay attention to.
Can You Build Muscle During a Weight Loss Phase?
A popular question especially amongst the male population is can you lose muscle and lose weight at the same time or more specifically, lose body fat. These two concepts to many people seem completely foreign as we know to lose weight a calorie deficit is required and to build muscle a caloric surplus is required but a study showed that while it takes some planning the ability to do both at the same time is possible.
Often many people say it can’t be done because in many situations it makes more sense to work on these rather differing goals independently especially if you’re a highly experienced athlete but there is enough research to suggest that with a little planning and a lot of dedication you can build lean muscle and lose fat in the short term.
What Are Your Best Weight Loss Tips?
This is a question we get from clients a lot. Clients will often come to us and say something like if you can give us only three (3) things to focus on to lose weight, what would they be? So while this often varies for different people here are three (3) common tips I give clients;
- Eat predominantly foods you enjoy. We often get hooked trying different fad diets and while many of them work in the short term often long term they are unsustainable because they are not personal and don’t consider your likes and dislikes. Sure eating more fruit, veggies, and protein is important for good health but eating foods you enjoy helps you lose weight long term.
- Be sure to eat the foods you enjoy while maintaining a caloric deficit. This tip piggybacks on our first tip. There are some foods you will enjoy but the reality is you struggle to eat them in a caloric deficit, I have clients that love chocolate and can stop at a piece while others just struggle to stop and find it easier to remove it. At the end of the day when it comes to losing weight you need to eat in a caloric deficit over the course of a day, week, month to lose weight.
- Focus more on daily habits as opposed to the end result. Weight loss is not linear in most cases which means if we are fixated on a certain end weight it can become frustrating and even cause you to fall off the wagon. With almost all clients we have had long term success with the focus on daily habits has led to better outcomes than an outcome focused approach.
We know for many people weight loss is a challenging experience and that there is a lot of information out there that for the everyday person it can be a little overwhelming with so much contrasting information. We hope that by answering these five (5) frequently asked questions you will find it a little easier to achieve your weight loss goals.
Got more questions? Our qualified coaches would be more than happy to answer them for you.
