Key Aspects of Weight Loss You Might Not Know About

Have you ever tried to lose weight by eating less and working out more????

ME!!!!!

All too often the core focus of losing weight is on exercise and dieting when in fact, there are many more aspects to weight loss. While yes, being in a calorie deficit (less calories in than you are burning) is necessary for losing weight, there are other key factors that you might be missing.

1. Total calories - in order to see fat loss occur, we must eat below our total daily energy expenditure or TDEE. This is the total amount of calories that we burn in a day. If you are eating MORE calories than you are expending, you won't lose weight.

2. Macronutrients - balancing your protein, fat and carbs (macronutrients) will benefit your metabolism and help you reach your weight loss goals. Knowing how much of each macronutrients your body needs is going to be essential in balancing them out.

3. Micronutrients - vitamins and minerals are essential to overall health but also aid in fat loss. We get micronutrients from fruits and veggies so it's important to eat a diet rich in whole foods to get a good amount of micronutrients.

4. Exercise- while exercise is important, it's actually NOT the most important factor in weight loss. Food and the next key aspect are actually more important but exercise does contribute to weight loss. The best forms of exercise are going to be the ones that you enjoy doing and are able to stick with. However, strength training will have the longest lasting impact as it burns calories and builds muscle.

5. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)- we often disregard all those activities we do throughout the day that can actually burn a lot of calories. walking around the house, vacuuming, fidgeting, yard work, walking around the mall are all activities that can increase the amount of daily calories we burn. Increasing your NEAT can increase your rate of fat loss.

6. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)- processed foods break down in the body quickly because they are already broken down and processed. Whole foods, take longer to break down and require more energy from your body. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food and increases your calorie burn. Eat more whole foods, burn more calories!

Seem a little overwhelming? Don't worry! You don't need to focus on them all at once in order to lose weight. Focus on taking small steps and focusing on one or two at a time. Start eating more whole foods to increase your TEF. Start moving more through the day to increase your NEAT and your daily calorie burn. Small steps with fat loss can go a long way if you just take them!

As always if you need help navigating health and fitness in order to reach your goals, I'm here for you! Message me at giselle@gisellesfitness so we can chat about how to get you to where you want to be!