My client, Dana, came in for her weekly weigh in and body fat test. Based on the fat loss program that I had prescribed to her, I was confidently expecting at least a 4 pound reduction of body fat, followed immediately by an ear to ear smile on her face.
Unfortunately, when the results were in, Dana was faced with only a ½ pound of fat loss and I was faced with the close up view of her eyes welling up with tears. Needless to say, Dana was not a happy camper. With the tears beginning to roll down her face, Dana turned towards me and proclaimed vehemently, "I can't believe this! Only ½ pound? I did everything right all week."
I've been a fat loss coach for over 16 years, and my experience and intuition were telling me that Dana had made some dietary mistakes. She assured me that she hadn't, but I had my doubts. So I asked her to write down everything she had eaten during the last several days. After reviewing her food journal, I could easily see why her fat loss results were miniscule.
Dana had made a critical and all too common mistake. She had taken healthful foods and ate them in their unhealthy forms. To clarify what I'm talking about, let's use broccoli as an example. Broccoli is an extremely healthy food when eaten in its natural form but once you melt a glob of cheddar cheese on top of it, it becomes something completely different.
I'm going to list the mistakes that Dana had made in an attempt to prevent you from making the same ones. These errors may seem minor, but they can sabotage your fat loss efforts faster than you can possibly imagine!
Shake recommendation- As a convenient meal replacement, I often recommend a protein shake for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal. These shakes are quick to prepare and are portable.
Although I did specify what brand Dana should use, she decided to ignore me, since in her mind, the brand wouldn't affect her fat loss to a significant degree. Instead, she would walk across the street from her office building and purchase a delicious smoothie from a trendy smoothie cafe every day. After reading this cafe's menu, I certainly saw why the temptation got the best of her. They had the coolest flavors! She had great tasty options, like chocolate banana gelato, mango kiwi twist and pineapple coconut blast.
There was a problem with this substitution. Even though the cafe only uses fresh and natural ingredients, the calories in these smoothies can add up in a hurry. For example, I had recommended that she mix her protein powder with water. The cafe, on the other hand, uses fruit juice instead of water. Fruit juice is basically pure sugar, and is never recommended on any effective fat loss plan. In addition to the fruit juice, each of these smoothies also contained several servings of actual fruit.
Not surprisingly, the cafe's menu conveniently "forgot" to list how many calories each smoothie contained. Out of curiosity, I took it upon myself to tally up each individual ingredient and figure out the caloric cost of each flavor. Can you believe that Dana's favorite flavor (mango kiwi twist) contained 765 calories? With this smoothie as part of her regular regimen, she is lucky she didn't gain weight during this week!
Take home lesson: Make your own shakes using the precise amount of the correct powder for you. Also, when trying to lose fat, always make your shakes with water.
Salad recommendation
How could you go wrong with a salad? Most people are in dire need of consuming more vegetables, right? That statement is 100% correct, but it's the salad toppings we could do without. In her defense, Dana was good about avoiding the obvious offenders (croutons, cheese, etc). Where she went wrong was with her dressing. She was using a "light" ranch dressing on her salad. She wasn't measuring the amount, because she assumed that since it was light it was okay to use liberally.
I made her bring in the bottle so I could read the label. In one week, she had used 90% of the entire bottle of dressing. I then calculated approximately how much she was using on each salad. To our surprise, Dana's dressing was adding 40 grams of fat to each salad.
Take home lesson: I recommend that you use olive oil and vinegar as your dressing. Always measure the amount of olive oil.
Fish recommendation
Dana was supposed to eat fish three times per week. She followed this recommendation...to a point. Her fish intake was in the form of her favorite sushi roll, spicy tuna. This roll contains fattening mayonnaise. Bad choice, Dana!
Take home lesson: Eat your fish grilled or broiled
And if you decide to eat your fish at your favorite sushi restaurant, try sashimi or sushi with brown rice. Watch the soy sauce, too, and NO mayo!!
Simple mistakes like these can seem rather innocent but can set up serious roadblocks during your fat loss journey. Don't make the same mistakes Dana did. Eat foods in their natural form, and watch your body fat disappear!
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