Are you trying to lose fat? You are eating less, you are doing more. You are tracking your food, exercising regularly and yet you still struggle to lose weight? I have had my fair share of clients over the years who fall into this category. They lose 10 lbs only to put that same 10 lbs back on, plus 5 more, 3 months later. It’s extremely frustrating.

Now if you are sitting on the couch all day stuffing your face with processed crap and your idea of exercise is getting up to let the dog out into the yard then you deserve to look like a slug. But what about those people with the greatest of intentions, who do exactly what they are supposed to and still can’t seem to get anywhere? You are the ones I am talking to right now.

So despite the fact that you are exercising regularly and eating right, you can’t seem to lose any appreciable amount of weight. Or you lost a quick 5 or 10 lbs and then you hit a plateau and you can’t seem to get over the hump. Does that sound like you? So after a while you might start to wonder, “Is my metabolism damaged?”  Years of dieting will NOT harm the way that your body processes food.

Logic would dictate that when you expend more energy than you take in, you will lose weight, and if you do the opposite you will gain weight. The problem with this equation is that it doesn’t really tell us anything about body composition, which is influenced by a number of factors such as hormone levels, macronutrient intake (especially protein), exercise style, frequency, intensity, age, medication use, and genetic predisposition. Doing more and eating less is definitely a good start, but it doesn’t take into account all the other contributing factors at play. Here are some of the other things you need to consider:

• The number of calories listed in a meal does not necessarily match the number of calories it claims to have on the menu. So if you tend to eat out a lot, the labels that you are reading can be off by as much as 25% !!!
• The number of calories a food contains is not necessarily the same number of calories that will be absorbed, stored and utilized.  There are a number of steps involved in the digestion process and our bodies are all uniquely different from one another. The less processed a food is, the less energy we are likely to absorb from it because it is much harder to digest (e.g., an apple) The more processed a food is, the more energy we are likely to absorb because most of the work has already been done for us (e.g., a donut). So by eating a diet that is rich in whole, minimally processed foods, the number of calories you absorb will be significantly less than what you expect. If you are at all confused, this a good thing.
• Energy expenditure can vary quite a bit from person to person. Generally, the larger the person, the higher their resting metabolic rate tends to be. A 150 lb man on a stationary bike could burn 100 calories more than the 175 lb man on the bike right next to him who is expending almost identical effort.
• Not all calories are created equally. When we eat food, our bodies use energy in the form of heat to break that food down so it can be properly digested. Certain foods require a lot of heat and others barely any at all. One of the main reasons high protein diets are so popular is because animal products require your body to perform a heck of a lot to break them down. In general, you’ll burn more calories in your effort to digest and absorb protein (20-30 percent of its calories) and carbs (5-6 percent) than you will fats (3 percent). So make sure that you get ample protein and high fibre carbohydrates with every meal if you are struggling to get your metabolism revved up.
•  Our bodies are a lot smarter than we are.  Our metabolisms evolved to keep us alive and functioning when food was scarce. One of the consequences of this is that when energy consumption (food ingested) goes down, energy output (calories burned) goes down accordingly. The exact opposite occurs when energy ingestion goes up, our metabolisms will follow suit. So your only way out is to burn more calories. The best way to do that is through purposeful exercise. Weightlifting, swimming, walking, running. Find things you enjoy doing and do them often enough to create a calorie deficit.

Making body changes will always be harder for some than it is for others. Even if our bodies naturally defend us against weight loss, we can still lose weight and add muscle. A little patience and consistency goes a long way.