116. 8 weight loss red flags

In this podcast, I'm sharing 8 weight loss red flags I commonly see floating around the internet, and knowing these will save you a TON of time! Don't worry, I once believed every single one of them, too:)

Leave questions or comments below - I would love to hear from you!

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome back to my channel. Jesse Golden here. Today we are talking about weight loss red flags because I have wasted so much time throughout my life. And after working with hundreds of women when it comes to their relationship with food, building healthy habits and fat loss, which is different from weight loss, but just in the terms of this video for this context, I will be using that term.

There's a thing or two I know, um, About how to get results and the common pitfalls. I see I was victim to them for nearly a decade. Let's get into 

So when you are on the internet, on social media, and you are seeing people talking about weight loss, how to change your body composition, if they are not talking about energy balance or calorie balance, that is a red flag.

Energy balance is really a law of physics. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. A calorie is a unit of measurement of energy. The food, the alcohol, the drinks that we consume contain Energy. Now, when our bodies burn more energy, our expenditure is greater than the amount [00:01:00] of calories that we consume, then we will lose weight.

And I'm talking independent of water fluctuations. The inverse is also true. If we consume more energy, more calories than our bodies use, then that energy has to go somewhere and it is stored in our bodies. If someone is not talking about this as part of the conversation, and they are just telling you things to do.

Eat more protein, eat fewer carbs, minimize XYZ ingredients. Okay, maybe that's an approach, a strategy to get into a calorie deficit, assuming you want weight loss. But if they're not saying that a calorie deficit is what is actually driving those results, then that is a red flag.

Number two is diehard macro or calorie counting. Now, as you just heard in number one, calories do matter. Ultimately, that is what leads to results. However, that doesn't mean you have to track your food in order to be in a deficit. And this confuses a lot of people. So let me just expand. There are many ways that you can spontaneously find yourself in a calorie deficit.

For example, if you [00:02:00] say I'm going to start a low carb diet, which is what I was such an advocate for for many many years That's one of my relationship with food went down the drain What leads to those results is that you are with typically without even realizing it putting yourself into a calorie deficit So there are many many ways to do this.

You can adjust your fat intake. You can adjust your portion sizes You can adjust your carbohydrate intake you can Switch from more processed foods to less processed foods. You can do a combination of all of these things, but you do not have to track these things in order for them to happen. I have lost over 30 pounds and have maintained it, maintain it easily.

While protecting my relationship with food. And I tracked just a very small amount in the beginning of my journey. And I never weighed nor measured any of my foods. So the tracking was inaccurate to begin with 50 percent of my fat loss clients do not track their food. It is a tool, but it is not a necessity.

Remember at the end of the day, what matters is that you are in a calorie deficit.

last note here is it's not uncommon [00:03:00] for women to track and find themselves thinking about food a lot more. And as they're thinking about food a lot more, they end up eating a lot more. So if that is you, don't worry, you can still get results without tracking.

Number three is just listen to your body. Now this is such a beautiful message and it's an important skill for women to have, especially if you've had a negative relationship with food. This is where I have all of my clients start. If they are disconnected from their bodies, they don't even know how to maintain their weight.

learning to eat more intuitively, which a big part of that is learning to listen to your body and work with your body. Super, super important. And I recommend that every woman have that skill and it's a beautiful just way of living. If you don't have physicals, however, it's okay. Some women can also get great results from just listening to their body.

If they come from a background of a lot of overeating, which is why we always want to start there too, even if you have physique or weight loss goals. But here's the thing. A lot of women will plateau at a certain point, which is what happened to me and need [00:04:00] something more advanced, more intentional to get results beyond just listen to your body.

When I set out to lose the 30 pounds I gained due to health issues, I have a prior video all about that if you'd like the details. The first thing I did was I tightened up my lifestyle habits, made sure that I was removing the mindless snacking. I wasn't doing the overeating. I was truly eating when I was hungry, you know, just listening to my body.

And that did get things moving in the beginning, which I expected. But I still had 20 pounds to lose after that point. So I had to use a more advanced and intentional strategy in order to get those extra 20 pounds off. So if you are there and you are thinking, okay, I am not overeating. I'm listening to my body, but my body will not budge.

You're completely normal. There's nothing wrong with you.

Number four is excessive cardio. I used to be such a big cardio bunny back in the day. It's been a long time since I've been a diehard advocate. It's important for health. Absolutely. But when it comes to weight loss, many, many women still believe that they need to do a lot of cardio or truly any [00:05:00] cardio for fat loss.

So there's a difference between weight loss or fat loss, physique results and health. So I'm talking just about changing your body right now. You don't need to do any cardio. All you need is a calorie deficit. Now what can actually happen with a ton of cardio is it can lead to women being super hungry and eating in a surplus, a calorie surplus leading to weight gain when they're actually trying to lose weight.

And of course it can lead to just maintenance as well. 

Now on the other end of the spectrum, I see women who just don't exercise at all. And can you still lose weight without exercising? 100%. You can get into a calorie deficit just from nutrition alone. However, again, health aside, because I'm a big, big advocate of resistance training, preferably progressive overload lifting for women because muscle mass and the act of heavy resistance training is so helpful for our overall health.

And. Beyond that, it also is really helpful for you. If you would like it having that quote unquote toned look where you have less body fat, more [00:06:00] muscle on your body. Now, when you are in a calorie deficit, it's super important to be protecting the muscle mass that you do have as much as possible. Although if you've already had muscle previously, it'll be a lot easier to gain it back if you do lose it.

So it's not the end of the world. However, I would absolutely recommend that you are engaging in resistance training. Again, progressive overload lifting is what I recommend. If you want more information on what that is, if you'd like me to create a video on that, go ahead and comment below and I can do that.

But the takeaway here is Yes, you can get results without exercising, but it will be so much better for your body composition If you actually want fat loss, not just weight loss where you're losing muscle, too Then I highly recommend that you are engaging in resistance training Plus if I haven't sold you on it already the more muscle you have on your frame The more you can eat to maintain your weight win win

Number six is clean eating, quote unquote. You do not need to eat super clean or clean at all in order to lose weight. Now, if you recall from point number one, calorie balance and [00:07:00] energy deficit is what is required. So with that in mind, you can still find yourself in a calorie deficit eating just processed foods.

eating just McDonald's, eating just Oreos and chips. However, it will be very difficult to adhere to a calorie deficit because those foods are going to leave you feeling really hungry, you're not going to be sleeping well, moody, poor energy, probably poor digestion, all these things make it more difficult.

And of course, we have the health ramifications of that as well. But if we're also saying everything has to be super clean, if we swing the pendulum to the other side, this often leads to our brains rebelling. And it leads to a lot of overeating, a really restrictive mindset. It leads to the opposite of the results that we want and can be really, really damaging for women's relationship with food.

But in reality, the vast majority of people, yes, need a nutrient dense diet filled with lots of whole, unprocessed foods, but can also include. The processed foods, ultra processed foods, even the alcohol in moderation and [00:08:00] still live a very healthy, balanced life while still getting results.

Number seven is biohacking to get lean. I was again stuck in this world for a long time where I thought I need to eat more fat to burn fat. I was putting butter in my coffee. Goodness gracious to those times not good for the old body. And all that led to was me actually gaining weight because again, it was not focused on the principles of fat loss following the which is energy.

balance. I was putting myself in a calorie surplus by adding all this extra fat, other parts of biohacking that are common. You see people talking about cold plunges and supplements. These things don't matter at all. If you're not in a calorie deficit, these things might be really fun. And absolutely. If you're having fun with them, rock on, I love that for you.

But when it comes to actually changing your physique, Not necessary. And further, most people do not even have the basic nuts and bolts down of a healthy lifestyle. And then they're throwing these things on top is kind of a Hail Mary saying, well, maybe I can just cold plunge my way to getting leaner.

[00:09:00] That's not going to work.

Number eight is really difficult and high intensity workouts. I thought that the harder I worked in a workout class when I was exercising, that that just automatically equated to losing weight. If I'm in CrossFit, which I did for nearly five years, and I am about to keel over, granted I wasn't focused on weight loss during my time there, but Part of me still thought, Oh, if I'm working really hard, then that will lead to results.

And that's not true. And I see this trap a lot with women when it comes to quote unquote, hit classes. They're not true hit classes. They're just circuit training classes like orange theory, like berries. And they go six, seven days a week and actually find that they are gaining weight because they're ending up super hungry.

They feel really puffy and inflamed. They find themselves being a little bit more erratic with their eating behaviors because they feel very disconnected from their bodies. Their nervous systems are dysregulated. It just becomes a mess all because of this belief that if I work really hard, that will translate to the body that I want.

And that's not true because [00:10:00] remember, it comes down to energy balance.

And you can still eat in a surplus, even when you are working your, you know, what off at the gym.

Now this by all means is not an exhaustive list of all the things out there when it comes to weight loss red flags, things that are really confusing to women and lead to a lot of mistrust with their bodies and feeling like there's something wrong with them. When in reality, they just don't have the accurate information.

So if you'd like to share any others in the comments below, please do so help a sister out. I will be in there also contributing and responding, but I really hope this was helpful and saves you guys a lot of time. If you would like to get leaner. in a way that is approachable, that does not take over your life.

That's very chill and more soft life approach with a big emphasis on protecting your relationship with food. So you do not have to lose your mind while getting results. I have my sustainably lean Academy course in the links below, and you can also start with my maintenance masterclass. If you just like to learn a little bit more about the [00:11:00] metabolism and how that works, that is just 27 also linked below.

I will see you guys in the next video.