Don’t us girls hate it when your boyfriend or husband can drop 10 lbs in a week and we have to suffer for weeks to lose than 10-spot???  Well, Tom Venuto wrote a great article on why this is and I thought you guys might enjoy:

An Explanation and Solution For Slow Female Fat Loss
By Tom Venuto
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

You may have heard (or, heh, realized), that it’s more difficult for women to lose fat than men. Immediately most people think it must be estrogen or hormonal issues. But perhaps the biggest factor is NOT hormones, but the simple fact that women are usually smaller and lighter than men.

When you have a smaller body, you have lower calorie needs. When you have lower calorie needs, your relative deficit (20%, 30% etc) gives you a smaller absolute deficit and therefore you lose fat more slowly than someone who is larger and can create a large deficit more easily.

For example, if my TDEE is 3300 calories a day (I’m 5′ 8″ and moderately to very active), then a 20% deficit is 660 calories, which brings me to 2640 calories a day. On paper, that will give me about 1.3 lbs of wt loss per week, rather painlessly, I might add.

If I bumped my calorie burn up or decreased my intake by another 340 a day, that’s enough to give me a 2 lbs per week wt loss.

That’s hardly a starvation diet (Ahhh, the joys of being a man). For smaller women, the math equation is very different.

If your total daily energy expenditure is only 1970 calories, even at a VERY high exercise level, then a 20% deficit for you is only 394 calories which would put you at 1576 calories a day for (on paper) only 8/10th of a lb of fat loss/wk.

If you pursued your plan to take a more aggressive calorie deficit of 30%, that puts you at a 591 calorie deficit which would now drop you down to only 1382 calories/day.

That’s starting to get fairly low in calories. However, you would still have a fairly small calorie deficit. In fact, I would get to eat almost twice as many calories as you and I’d still get almost twice the weekly rate of fat loss!

What this all means is that women who are petite or have a small body size are going to lose fat more slowly than larger women and much more slowly than men, so you cannot compare yourself to them.

It’s great to be inspired by our success stories, but if you’re looking for someone to model yourself after, choose one of our success stories of someone your body size and wt, rather than the folks who started 100 lbs overweight and were therefore easily dropping 3 lbs a week.

ONE POUND a week of fat loss is much more in line with a realistic goal for someone of a smaller body size. Overweight people can lose it faster. The best thing you can do is to be extremely consistent with your nutrition over time.

Suggestion #1: Weigh and measure all your food any time you feel you are stuck at a plateau, just to be sure. When your calorie expenditure is on the low side, you don’t have much margin for error.

Suggestion #2:  Take your body comp measurements with a grain of salt, especially if you are using Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) scales (they are a bit wonky) and remember that body comp testing is seldom perfect. Pay attention to your circumference measurements, how your clothes fit and how you look in the mirror and in photos as well.

Suggestion #3: You might actually want to take fewer refeeds – once a week instead of every 4th day, or even just once every 10-14 days, so you can get a larger weekly deficit.

Suggestion #4: You may want to take 2 or 3 of your long cardio sessions on the treadmill and switch them to intense intervals or ANY other type of activity that has potential to burn more than 362 calories for an hour’s investment of time, or perhaps that equivalent calorie burn in less time. No need to add more days of cardio or more time – get the most out of the time you are already spending.

Suggestion #5: If you do intervals, don’t make the workout too brief (ignore the advertisements for those “4 minute miracle” workouts, etc.), or you may burn fewer calories than you were before! In fact, you might even try the method where you do HIIT
for 15-20 min, then continue for another 30-40 at slow to medium intensity. Increasing total calories burned should be your focus.

Dropping only ONE pound per week (or less) may seem excruciatingly slow, but it’s actually the same type of thing I do. As a bodybuilder, I go from lean to extremely lean when I diet and I don’t expect more than a pound a week during contest cuts.

You are in a similar situation, even if not competing. Even if you get a half a pound a week fat loss, if you get that progress every week, that’s what you’re looking for – steady progress – even if slow.

It’s entirely possible that you HAVE been making progress, only very slowly. With the way water weight and glycogen levels can fluctuate (and lean mass may increase), a half a pound or pound fat loss in a week could have been easily masked… and therefore, missed. That’s one of the drawbacks of going by the scale alone.

Understand the calorie math I explained above and be patient, watching for slow and steady progress, paying special attention to the trend over time on your progress chart.

Keep after it – the persistence will pay, I promise!

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

PS. You can learn about more fat loss strategies (including the details about the carb cycling method) inside my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Learn more and see some of the inspiring before and after success stories at his site.

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting his site.

Is milk really necessary for an effective weight loss plan?  Do we have to drink our milk each day to get a sufficient amount of calcium?

The answer to both of these questions is NO.  We do not need to drink milk as part of a healthy weight loss plan or to obtain a healthy amount of calcium each day.

Consider the following facts:

1. Americans drink the most milk of any other country, yet we still have the highest rate of osteoporosis.

2. Pasteurization kills off all the necessary digestive enzymes in the milk (This is why so many people are now suffering from lactose intolerance).

3. Pasteurization also makes the major part of the calcium contained in milk insoluble, in other words making 50% of milk’s calcium unusable by the body (This contributing to the high rate of osteoporosis).

4. Milk sugar (lactose) converts into sugar your body uses very quickly, leading to blood sugar highs and lows and an up and down energy rollercoaster ride for you.

How could this all be true? Isn’t milk supposed to do a body good? Well, yes it does, but milk was really only intended to be consumed in its natural state (unpasteurized). Sound scary? Many states in the US and most organic farmers will ONLY drink milk if it’s unpasteurized and they are extremely healthy.

The other fact we need to consider is that most cows are being given an excess of growth hormone just to keep them producing massive amounts of milk. This, in turn, makes them sick, at which time they are given antibiotics. The growth hormone and antibiotics get into their blood stream and then into the milk they produce. Who drinks this chemical laden milk? We do! (Actually, I don’t and maybe you’re starting to consider whether you do).

The next big concern is “How will I get enough Calcium?” As mentioned above, most of the Calcium in milk is not absorbed by the body. More calcium is absorbed from foods such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli, sardines (with bones preferably) and salmon. This makes sense that more calcium come from greens since cows preferably eat grass and they have a lot of calcium inside their bodies (Please don’t eat grass. This really only works for cows).

If reducing your risk for Osteoporosis is your goal, do the #1 activity that prevents this debilitating disease: Exercise! Weight bearing exercise has been shown to be the #1 way to prevent osteoporosis. Putting small stresses on your bones via strength training helps to re-build them stronger. No one, and I mean no one, should be neglecting some exercise into their life.

Here are some tips on drinking the right kind of milk, calcium and preventing osteoporosis:

1. If you consume dairy on a regular basis, try to find raw (unpasteurized) milk. www.realmilk.com is a great resource for this.

2. If the thought of raw milk scares you, purchase the next best thing: certified organic milk products. They will be free of antibiotics and hormones.

3. Since most of milk’s calcium is not absorbed by the body, make sure to get your calcium from these other sources: leafy green veggies, broccoli, sardines (with bones) and salmon.

4. Commit to a strength training routine on a consistent basis. Not just for your muscles and for the way you look in the mirror (although this does help) but for your bone’s sake.

Milk and dairy do not have to be a staple in your diet in order to absorb adequate amounts of calcium and achieve an ideal level of health.  You can establish and extremely healthy way of eating, reach your weight loss goals, and feel great each day without drinking milk.

I have often said, “there is no way I can diet forever!”

Here is a great article from Isable De Los Rios (creator of the Diet Solution) on the concept of dieting”

As a nutritionist, the most common question I get daily is “What is the Best Diet to follow?”  My answer is always the same and one that shocks many people.  “The best diet to follow is to follow NO diet at all.”  How could any nutritionist wanting to promote health tell you not to follow a diet?”

Easy.  I’m here to tell you that diets do not work.  They are one of the most common reasons people have such a hard time losing weight.  People are making the mistake of following a diet instead of following a delicious way of eating that will satisfy their hunger, their taste buds and help them reach and maintain an optimum weight and optimum health.

With all of the junk food, false advertising, and false information out in the world today, how is this even possible?  A delicious way of eating healthy that will help me lose weight at the same time?

Yes, this is possible for you once you are armed with the correct information.

The best diet is going to be one that you can stick to (for more than just a week), one that includes delicious food and one you are happy with, not to mention one that you can maintain for a lifetime.

Here are a few tips that will help you develop the Best Diet for you:

1.  Only eat food you enjoy.

Well Isabel, that would be just great, but I enjoy pizza and donuts and that sure doesn’t seem to be helping me lose weight.  Yes, I agree.  What I mean here is don’t establish a crash diet of cottage cheese and grapefruit if you absolutely hate those 2 foods.  Healthy food does not have to be akin to bird seed.  How about scrambled whole eggs in butter with your favorite vegetables and 2 slices of sprouted grain toast?  French toast made from healthy bread, and eggs?   A juicy hamburger or steak for lunch or dinner?  How about making your own pizza from healthy ingredients?  I could go on and on with a long list of delicious foods. The point is you do not have to eat like a bird or eat tasteless food to be healthy and lose weight.  Find the healthy foods you enjoy and get creative with those.  You will find you will have an incredible amount of delicious food options.

2.  Do not go cold turkey.

Rome wasn’t built in a day right?  You do not have to change every single one of your habits overnight.  Establishing one healthy eating habit each week or eliminate one “not so good” food every week.  This will prove to be life changing in just 1-2 months.  Not to mention it will eliminate any stress or anxiety you may have over changing all of your habits overnight.  Start with the easiest one for you.  How about drinking water?  Can you replace your sugar drinks with water and just do that for one week?  How about just cutting down on a few sodas and replacing them with water?  One small step each week will make your transition simple and easy.

3.  Do not go hungry.

Another very common mistake I see is people starving themselves in an effort to lose weight quickly.  The truth is you do not need to feel hunger in order to effectively lose weight.  Actually, the contrary is true.  You must give your body enough nourishment (good nourishment, that is) in order to see weight loss results.  Make sure to feed your body consistently throughout the day.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all important but so are snacks in between.  Munching on things like raw nuts, fresh fruits and healthy trail mixes can really keep you from experiencing any hunger throughout the day and help control any cravings that may come up.

Remember that the Best Diet you can begin today is an eating plan that does NOT resemble a diet at all.  Tell people you had French toast for breakfast, chicken stir fry for lunch and a juicy steak with potatoes for dinner and they will wonder how in the world you are losing weight and looking great.   Easy, I stopped dieting and found the Best Diet for me!