5 Reasons Why You Can’t Lose Fat

5 Reasons Why You Struggle to Lose Fat
5 Reasons You Can’t Lose Fat. Image credit: kayak57

To lose fat, you have to eat less calories and/or burn more calories. That’s what it will always come down to: create a caloric deficit and you’ll lose fat. Even the 8 nutrition rules create a caloric deficit for fat loss by limiting starchy carbs.

But if losing fat is that simple, how come so many people struggle with fat loss? Because they’re not eating less calories and/or burning more calories. Here are 5 reasons why you struggle to lose fat that will illustrate this point.


1. You’re Underestimating How Much You Eat.
If you can’t lose fat, you’re eating too much calories. I know you think you don’t eat a lot, but you are. Otherwise you wouldn’t struggle with fat loss.

Since people are bad at estimating calories, an easy way to know how much you’re eating is to track your daily caloric intake for 10 days using fitday. Be honest and track everything, including junk meals.

To lose fat, you should eat about 13kcal/lb (11kcal/lb if you’re a woman). That’s 2600kcal/day if you’re 200lbs and exercise 3x/week. Anything more, you won’t lose fat. You might even need to eat less than 13kcal/lb.


2. You’re Overestimating How Much You Burn.
People usually do low intensity cardio. This burns about 6kcal/min or 1080kcal/week if you do 45mins of cardio 4x/week at lower intensities (less than 65% of your max heart rate).

1080kcal is the equivalent of a quarter pounder with medium french fries and a medium coke. So eating 1 regular size junk meal will make your 4×45mins low intensity cardio insignificant. Your caloric deficit is gone with 1 meal.

You’ll only get away with a crappy diet if you do lots of high intensity cardio. Like Michael Phelps: muscular physique, 8% body fat, crappy diet. NY post reported Phelps ate 12000kcal/day mostly from pizza, pancakes & energy drinks.

Phelps gets away with this because he swims 6x/week for 4-6h/day and at high intensities. He burns everything. But if you’re like me, you don’t have the time to train that much. And you also can’t train at the same intensity.

So cardio won’t prevent the fat gains from unhealthy food choices. You’ll have to eat healthy to lose fat and maintain a healthy body fat.


3. You’re Starving Yourself.
You have to eat less and/or burn more calories to lose fat. But if you cut calories too much, your fat loss can slow down and stop.

Cut calories by maximally 20% below maintenance for fat loss. So 13kcal/lb for men or 11kcal/lb for women. And always stay above these minima:

  • Men: eat at least 1800cal/day
  • Women: eat at least 1200cal/day

If you have to get lower to create a caloric deficit: stay at the minima and burn extra calories using cardio. Avoid starvation: it slows down metabolism, burns muscle and causes hunger. You’ll binge and regain everything you lost.


4. You Think You’re Eating Healthy, But Aren’t.
Don’t trust what the packages say. Labels like “low fat” or “low carb” or “whole grain” are no guarantees. You have to read the ingredient lists.

  • An organic donut remains a donut. It’s junk food.
  • Low fat foods are often high in sugar. Check low fat mayonnaise.
  • Whole grain foods are rarely 100% whole grain. Check breads & pasta.

Eat whole, unprocessed foods the majority of the time. The less processed, the better. Rule of thumb: if a caveman couldn’t eat it, neither should you.


5. You Think You’re Different. To lose fat, you have to eat less calories and/or burn more calories. Even people blessed with a fast metabolism and who don’t gain fat easily, need a caloric deficit for fat loss.

Stop thinking that you’re different. Stop looking for special fat loss techniques. Unless you create a caloric deficit, you won’t lose fat.

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In this article you’ll get more info about how Mind Movies work and how you can use them to achieve your goals in 2010. Most of this post will be about setting goals correctly and how to keep yourself motivated so you achieve them.


7 Reasons Why You Won’t Achieve Your Goals in 2010.
Studies show only 12% of people achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Here are some reasons why 9 out of 10 people won’t realize their 2010 goals:

  1. Setting Vague Goals. You’ve set goals like “lose fat”, “build muscle”, “eat healthy” or “exercise more” instead of being specific.
  2. Setting Too Many Goals. You’re going to try to achieve several goals at the same time. Often conflicting ones. This usually leads nowhere.
  3. Setting Realistic Goals. You’ve set goals you THINK you’ll be able to achieve instead of setting goals you WANT to achieve.
  4. Losing Motivation. Because you didn’t set the right goals and because you’re going to forget why you wanted to achieve your goals.
  5. Lacking Confidence. You don’t really believe you’ll be able to achieve the goals you’ve set. You fear failure and think this will be hard.
  6. Procrastinating. You’re never going to take consistent action to achieve your goals. Worst case you’ll never take any action.
  7. Forgetting Your Goals. You’ll neglect to review your goals & progress systematically and so you’ll forget the goals you’ve set.


Here’s How to Achieve Your 2010 Goals.
These 4 simple tips sum down most of the content from popular self-help books. Apply them.

1. Know What You Want. This is harder than you think if you do it thoroughly. Start with what you don’t want if you don’t know what you want.

  • Think Big. Stop being realistic. Aiming high will motivate you more. Go for what you really want. Don’t hold back or limit yourself.
  • Be Specific. Give as many details as you can. Set a deadline. Know why you want to achieve what you want to achieve.
  • Focus on 1 Goal. Set 1 major goal. Prioritize it. Then break that goal into several measurable mini-goals.


2. Take Action. No one gives it to you. You have to take it.” – The Departed. You have to take the initiative. Make it happen.

  • Start Today. Stop putting off until tomorrow what you could have done yesterday. Take action today. The smallest step makes a difference.
  • Stop Endless Planning. Mistakes are inevitable and you’ll never get your plans perfect anyway. Plan less, take more action.
  • Face Your Fears. Self-doubt is the biggest one. Followed by the fear of failure & of what people think. Out of courage grows confidence.


3. Be Consistent.
Persistence is the key to success” – Napoleon Hill. If you take action consistently, sooner or later you’ll achieve your goal.

  • Take Action Daily. Even if it’s something small. Rule of thumb is to free at least 1h/day to work on your goal. This is the secret.
  • Prioritize Your Goal. Build the habit of working on your goal first thing in the morning every day. No matter what happens.
  • Persist. Mistakes are part of the learning process. Success is always preceded by some sort of temporary setback. Don’t let it stop you.


4. Review Your Goals. Most people don’t set goals. Those who do forget about them within weeks. Reviewing your goals and progress frequently will push you towards action and keep you motivated. Popular approaches:

  • Review Progress. Success breeds success. Track your progress each day. Review your progress & past successes daily.
  • Affirmations. Write your goals daily. Say them aloud in front of a mirror. Hang affirmations everywhere in your house.
  • Visualizations. Picture yourself mentally as if you had already achieved your goal. Use vision boards, treasure maps or Mind Movies.


Why Visualizations Are Key.
Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics introduced me to visualizations years ago. But it’s Napoleon Hill’s Law of Success that gave me a solid understanding of how to use them.

Many successful athletes have used and are still using visualizations to achieve their goals more easily. They visualize themselves over & over as if they already had achieved their goal. Here’s the main reason why this works:

Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experience. – Maxwell Maltz.

Visualizations allow you to practice endlessly in various situations with perfect skills. This builds confidence since you’ve done it over & over. And overcoming fears like self-doubt is key to achieving your goals. That’s why:

  • Boxers use shadow-boxing: they visualize their next fight.
  • Athletes often visualize themselves winning competitions.
  • Many readers visualize their next set while resting between sets.

More important: most people never set goals, and those who do forget about them within weeks. Visualizing your goals regularly acts as a reminder of your goals while building the confidence through mental practice.

You can even use visualizations outside of sports. Think of job interviews, sales, presentations, dates, … Visualizing yourself going through the exact steps with perfect skills decreases self-doubt which helps goal achievement.

You’re probably already doing visualizations. But incorrectly. Most people think about what they don’t want all the time instead of focusing on what they really want: achieving their goals.


Why I Don’t Like
The Secret. Some try to explain why visualizations work using concepts like The Law of Attraction & Quantum Physics. They do this because it sells. Best example: the movie The Secret.

I don’t like The Secret. Here’s why. They’re trying to make you believe that if you visualize your goal while sitting in your couch all day, you’ll realize it effortlessly. Fast & easy sells. But that doesn’t make it true.

I’m sure that someone, somewhere realized some goal with zero effort. But for most people, like you & me, thinking about getting ripped all day won’t get you anywhere. You have to exercise & eat healthy.

The real secret is that you should focus on what you want, review your goals regularly so you don’t forget about them and take consistent action until you have realized your goals. That’s how you attract what you think of.


3 Reasons Why Visualizations Don’t Always Work.
For visualizations to work, you have to do them in a relaxed state and imagine yourself as if you already had achieved your goal. The more details the better. Common issues:

  • You Can’t Visualize Your Goal. Some get clear vivid pictures, others only impressions. Sometimes you can’t visualize anything for a while.
  • You Can’t Get Emotional. You need to get emotional to fix your goal deep into your subconscious mind. Men often struggle with this.
  • You Fall Asleep. Visualizing your goal in a relaxed state and with your eyes closed often leads to falling asleep if you’re tired.

Visionboards & treasure maps are popular alternatives to visualizations: look at a collage of pictures of your goals. Easier to visualize & eyes are open. But you still need to get emotional. Mind Movies address this.


Mind Movies.
A mind movie is a video that has pictures and affirmations of your goals with inspiring music playing on the background. It’s like a visionboard, but with moving images and music to get you emotional.

You know that the music you listen to while lifting influences your state and thus your performance. Same here. The right music during a mind movie will get you emotional. This is key to get your goal imprinted into your subconscious.

You can find an example of a mind movie by going to this page (scroll down a bit to “Nathalie’s Mind Movie”).


How to Make a Mind Movie.
If you’re good with computers, you could make one yourself. Or you can get Ryan’s 20$ product that does it for you. Here’s how to make a mind movie in 5 easy steps:

  1. Make a list of your goals. Be specific. Write goals as affirmations.
  2. Get pictures of your 2010 goals and how you would like your life to be.
  3. Get music that gets you emotional (tip: Avatar OST by James Horner).
  4. Put everything into the program so it creates your mind movie.
  5. Done. Now watch your movie each morning & each evening.

Watching your mind movie every day will prevent you to forget your goals and will motivate you. Taking consistent action gets easier.


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Mind Movie comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with it, contact Ryan and you’ll get your full 20$ back. No questions asked.

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