Written by Jordyn King BS, MS Nutrition Science

If one of your goals is to improve your fitness and your performance it also important to think about your nutrition and calorie deficit. However, exercise is not the only change that will aid long term weight loss; it’s about being in a calorie deficit and eating the right foods while combining it with physical activity. Remember, if you’re like me, you don’t have to go overboard with workouts. Following a calorie deficit while working out in moderation can provide you with healthy weight loss can and benefits such as results! We, The Millennial Nutritionist team, can individualize and calculate your correct calorie deficit for you to help you with your weight loss journey. Here are some reasons also why you may not be seeing weight loss results without our program when you’re working out:  

1.You are eating more calories than you are burning

When working out the more cardio you do, the more hungry you may become. Your body is craving energy needs. If you are trying to lose weight, you have likely heard of being in a calorie deficit. You need to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight and see results. However, what do calorie deficits involve and why is it necessary for weight loss? Calories are the units of energy that we take in from food and drinks. When you consume fewer calories than you burn (incorporating physical activity in your day), you achieve what’s called a calorie deficit. Doing this pattern consistently for long periods of time results in weight loss and achieving weight goals. There are two major ways you can achieve a calorie deficit; through eating less or moving more (or both!). Keep in mind that as you gain muscle, your metabolism increases which means you you're burning more calories even at rest! This means that the more muscles you gain, the easier it is to control your weight and keep it off. A Registered Dietitian can help you figure out healthy goals to manage your portion sizes, lower your daily calories through healthy eating, maintain healthy eating habits and above all The Millennial Nutritionist team can tell you what is your exact calorie deficit range, so you know how to track your calories in order for you to be in your calorie deficit. Our team helps you to get where you need to be in achieving weight loss individually. The Millennial Nutritionist Teams can help give you your individualized calorie deficit range so you can start your long term healthy weight loss journey. 

2. You’re not varying your activity

It’s not necessary to run or do the exact same workouts all 5-7 days, you need to change it up and work out different parts of your body. Running only involves burning off calories, while strength training is more effective with muscle building. Strength training can promote a lot of helpful benefits which can support you through your long-term weight loss. Strength training can help support several metabolic advantages that can turn and burn fat during and after your workouts when you include strength training. Aerobic workouts such as long runs or any cardio exercises are said to be good for the heart and strength training can provide many benefits that can go beyond the scope of cardio workouts. In a mental state, workouts in general can also boost your confidence levels, independence, and sense of achievement. Resistance training can include free weights, resistance bands, and dumb bells can help you not only to lose weight but also tone muscles and improve performance. Overall, it is best to include strength training, cardio training and aerobic training as a balanced workout program for the week. Even meditation trainings are useful including deep breathing exercise, mindful meditation and Progressive relaxation exercise. From the NIH, Some research suggests that practicing meditation may reduce blood pressure, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression, and insomnia. Anaerobic exercises are similar to aerobic but uses more energy needs and high calorie burn that is quick and immediate such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuit training, Pilates, yoga, and other forms of strength training. Additionally, all these exercises will help you with successful weight management. Balancing aerobic and anaerobic exercises can help to improve mental improvements and overall health. You need to also include a healthy calorie controlled diet which will additionally help you gain benefits that may help boost your long-term weight loss. Balancing both exercises can boost your metabolism as well. As we get older, we tend to lose muscle mass and if we aren't continuing to perform resistance or strength training, our percentage of body fat will increase higher and higher over the years. Overall, If you are likely doing the same workout in row, you will likely reach a plateau in your weight loss journey, so mix it up. 

3. Not eating enough protein

When including strength-training into your workout regimen, your muscle fibers are actually being torn and damaged by straining in your body. Protein can “glue” these fibers back together even stronger. Protein is one of the three macronutrients (explanations of the others are in my previous blog posts). Protein is made of amino acids. These amino acids are made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and/or sulfur. Your body uses satellite cells to add more nuclei to the muscle cells which directly causes the cells to grow for increased performance. Again, no matter whether your protein comes from an animal or a plant based source like different meats or tofu, your body still recognizes it as a protein, whether it is high or low protein content. A high protein intake can boost metabolism, reduce appetite (change hunger hormones) and changes weight-regulating hormones. Research suggests that a higher protein intake, can actually increases level of satiety hormones of the GLP -1, peptide YY and Cholecystokinin. Thus, leading to an automatic reduction in calorie intake. By replacing carbohydrates and fat intake with protein, you are more likely to reduce the hunger hormones in order to boost your metabolism. Increasing your protein can be simple; however, it’s not just eating more meat, it is more about consuming protein rich foods. To clarify, you are not taking out carbohydrates and fat out of your diet, you are looking for high protein foods that mix carbohydrates and fat. These protein rich foods that mix with fat and some carbohydrates can include meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, vegetables, and legumes (including kidney beans or chickpeas). 

In Conclusion.. 

In order to lose weight, it's important to follow and track our  calorie deficit throughout the day. Losing weight is more easily determined by nutrition and exercise. Overall, both nutrition and exercise are needed for weight loss. The Millennial Nutritionist can provide the right goals for you through your weight loss process and provide the calorie deficit range necessary for you. Remember, each client is individualized with their own wight loss and steps they need to do that, and we are here to achieve the goals for you.

To start your healthy weight loss journey today, learn how to track your calories The Millennial Nutritionist way! Watch our FREE tutorial below.