I’m in a calorie deficit and nothing is working

If you’re someone who’s been doing all these different diets, working out every day and you’re banging your head against the wall because the scale just doesn’t seem to be moving, you’ve come to the right place.

First off, let me say that I understand how frustrating things can be and all the sacrifices you’ve made, all the hard work and dedication you’ve put into your journey and right now things seem like they have stalled.

You’re sitting there ready to give up because you’ve exhausted all your resources.

Let me tell you something, I’m hear to help you. I might be able to give you that missing piece to the puzzle.

So if you’re willing to just bare with me and read through this whole thing, I think you’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on and how to make the needle move.

So let’s dive in!

Calorie Deficit

Let’s begin by talking about how to lose weight.

No matter what diet you’ve followed or even if you’re just counting calories, it all ends with being in a calorie deficit to make changes.

To put it simply you need to be consuming less than what your maintenance calories would be.

You need to be eating less calories in combination of moving more to get results.

So for example if you were someone who had a calorie maintenance of 3000 calories you’d need to eat below that, let’s say 2500 to start and you’d start seeing results.

Add in the workouts and other movement in your day and you’ll start to have a bigger gap in that deficit.  (calories in vs calories out)

So for the sake of things I’m going to assume you’re someone who is following some sort of nutrition plan or someone who is at least counting calories, thinking they are in a calorie deficit.

So, the first point I want to address is that you may not actually be in a calorie deficit

There is always the possibility of tracking inaccurately. If you’re someone who is not

• Measuring their food with a food scale

• Weighing everything out in grams

• Keeping consistent with what you’re eating and logging

Then you are not counting calories and simply guessing how much you’re eating.

I don’t mean to sound harsh here but unless you have a system you probably aren’t doing everything as precise as you could to make sure you’re seeing results.

This means accounting for any liquid calories and anything you might be nibbling or snacking on during the day. Because these “hidden” calories will add up even if you’re not thinking about it.

IF it went into your mouth, it must count.

The reason this all matters is because if you’re just guessing without knowing, you have the real possibility that you’re simply just missing calories.

That means you could be eating anywhere from 500-2000 calories more than you think you are.

I’ve had clients thinking they were eating plenty and until they used a scale to weigh the food out they had no idea how much or little they were actually consuming.

So if you’re thinking you’re in a calorie deficit and you’re asking yourself why you aren’t losing any weight that’s a very real possibility.

BUT let’s say you are doing everything right, keep on reading because I will get to that.

Point number 2 : Not Counting Bites, Snacks, Oils

So, I just briefly mentioned this above but if you’re cooking with oils or butter, eating some of your kids snacks, grabbing some candy at work off Karen’s desk (Karen just loves to have candy at the office for everyone), tasting the meals you’re making, these little things all add up over the course of the day.

I mean if you had 40calories of your kids snack, another 70 calories from a few bites of a meal you’re prepping for dinner, and another 240 calories from oil you’re using to cook your food.

Well that’s going to be an additional 350 calories you didn’t even think to account for. But this might be the thing that’s holding you back.

Now if this is happening more than just in that one day, well you have to think if you’re swearing that you’re doing everything right and your calorie deficit is at 1500 calories but then you factor in what we just talked about well that’s actually 1850.

That’s the kind of thing that can absolutely stop your progress from happening.

So being more aware of what you’re doing during the day could make a difference.

Point Number 3 : Not being consistent

Now, assuming you’re tracking I want you to honestly answer how consistent you think you were in the month.

Would you say 100%?

Would say maybe 80% and above?

Well it’s easy to lose track of time and from day 1 to day 31, you’re looking at your progress angry, confused and ready to quit because you’ve been so consistent with everything.

But have you actually?

Well, I’d challenge you to go back and look at your food logs.

Did you actually hit your target goals or were you at least close to it?

How many days were over or did you not track at all?

You might be surprised to go back and actually see how on point you were. Maybe you were thinking you were a 100% but in reality maybe you were only 40-60%.

Do you think 40-60% is going to give you the results you want?

Probably not, but you should be aiming for at least 85% to get some honest results.

Just as a side note, maybe you’re someone who’s super dialed in during the week but then all hell breaks loose on the weekends.

Don’t forget that you might be in a deficit during the week, but you can’t just go consume 10,000 calories on Saturday and Sunday.

Going out for meals and drinks with friends or simply just eating your face off for the weekend will 100% slow down or stop your progress.

(Yes, you really can and probably are consuming a boat load of calories from eating out, over eating and drinking your calories. You can read about that article HERE)

If you want a great way to make sure you’re staying on par for the month, get yourself a calendar.

What you’re going to do is everyday mark that calendar with an X when you’re on point and an O when you’re not. This way you can visually see how many X’s and O’s you have at the end of the month.

This will tell you if you’re being in that 85-90% consistency that you need for change.

(Do not worry about being 100% because life happens and anyways, we want progress not perfection)

It’s very easy to get discouraged but life happens and sometimes that makes us not quite on par with things.

Then before you know it enough time has gone by and you’re not realizing you haven’t been as consistent with things as maybe you were thinking.

So maybe those few things above apply to you and now things are clicking a bit more. But maybe you’re still reading and none of that applies to you. Don’t worry, I’m getting to you right now.

If you’re someone who’s had results from everything above but now you’re simply just stuck this part is for you!

Reducing calories

Okay, so maybe you’re someone who reduced their calories and lost some weight but not you’re stuck and have some more to lose.

First off, congratulations on losing weight. That is no easy task.

But maybe you’re someone whose maintenance was 3000 when starting and you lowered by 500 calories and got great results.

The easy answer is that you might just have to go into a deeper deficit to get more results. If you lost maybe 10 or pounds, what used to be your maintenance is no longer and that deficit you were eating at, it’s possible that it became your new maintenance or it’s just not as much of a deficit as it once was.

After all our bodies are really good at adapting.

Option 1

So for starters you might try just slowly going into more of a deficit by 100-300calories and see what happens over the next few weeks.

The other thing is creating that deficit by moving more. We discussed earlier that the combination of being in a calorie deficit and activity is going to be the thing that sparks weight loss/fat loss.

So let’s say maybe you’re someone who is lifting 4x a week and doing 3 days of steady state cardio for 15mins a week and your average step count is about 6000.

We can tackle this from a few different ways but the easier thing is just increasing your daily step count.

Something that is low impact, great for recovery and easy to do is just getting more steps in your day.

So simply going from 6000 steps a day to 7000-8000 steps is going to burn more calories over the long haul.

I’d be surprised if that alone didn’t help you but if you were to combine the additional activity and a little deeper of a deficit, I think that should help you.

So besides increasing the steps, you could simply add a 4th day of cardio doing that 15mins or add another 10mins to the 3 days you’re doing.

So either or both would be fine but just don’t blow your load doing everything at once. I would start off slowly with a 100 calorie deficit and increasing steps.

Just be smart and patient with how you’re doing things. It’s not magic and it takes some time for your body to adjust to things. Give it 3 weeks before adjusting anything.

Option 2

So if you’re someone who just strictly has been eating in a deficit and getting all that activity in for well over 3 months, it’s possible that your body just needs to have a quick reset.

So doing something like 1 or 2 higher days of eating in your week and the rest being at a deficit, that could spark your metabolism back up to start burning.

So you could approach this how ever you’d like but that higher day is going to be at or close to your maintenance number. This is a nice little mental break for you too since you’ll get more food in you.

Research has shown it’s more sustainable and yields better results in terms of higher adherence, more fat loss, and more muscle retention.

I’d say start with 1 higher day and see how things go, again giving it a few weeks before you make any judgement calls. If things aren’t really moving try adding a second day in and see what happens.

Now these higher days doesn’t mean you get to eat crazy, it’s going to still be pretty consistent with your lower day but you’ll just have more food.

Keep in mind that it is completely normal to gain weight the day after. Do not panic. This is due to the extra intake of carbs which will result in increased muscle glycogen and water retention

Option 3

If nothing is honestly working your body might just need a break from dieting. I’d bring calories back up to maintenance for 2-4 weeks and let your hormones regulate.

It’s possible your body just needs a full reset and some time at higher calories and then you can slowly go back into a deficit to see if your body responds.

I understand you probably think I’m nuts because I’m telling you to stop but I promise you you’ll feel better and you will not get fat.

Yes the scale might go up but that doesn’t mean it’s fat.

Remember you can always take measurements and progress pictures to really have a better understanding of your body composition instead of solely relying on the scale.

The scale is just 1 on many tools we use to measure progress. But we do not live and die by the scale.

Because keep in mind if you’re building muscle and losing fat, it’s always possible that the scale isn’t moving or that it does move, but it doesn't mean it was fat.

Signs to know when you should bring your food back up to maintenance.

1.       Low mood/ irritability

2.       Extreme fatigue/no energy  

3.       Can’t focus/ brain fog

4.       Unable to make progress or regressed progress in the gym

5.       Decreased nutrition compliance

6.       Increased hunger and craving

7.       Poor sleep quality or difficulty sleeping

8.       Hormonal imbalances

9.       Lack of motivation

10.   Decreased recovery

If you’ve made it this far, I’m just going to wrap up with this final thought.

Remember why you’re doing this and what it’s going to take to lose that weight/body fat. The more you lose and you get closer to that goal the harder it can be.

So, making sure you’re doing everything that I talked about above and really being honest with yourself during this process.

If you’re someone who’s just been crushing it but was stuck, I hope those 3 options serve you well and you’re able to continue your journey.

I’m always happy to help if you’re struggling and still aren’t sure how to go about things.