Creating Sustainable Fat Loss
How I Help With This + Understanding this Concern
Current ways I help people lose fat in a way they can sustain:
Understanding this concern:
Most people think it’s very hard to get lean and stay there.
They think it requires a lot of willpower.
When in reality, yes it does take discipline, but it should never feel like an uphill battle. Because if it does, we’ve already started losing the long game.
And this is EXACTLY what most people do, and why they don’t succeed long-term…
They think that short-term fat loss and long-term fat loss are the same…
They think that whatever tactics they use to lose the fat up front, they will be able to use to keep it off. When it reality, this is absolutely not necessarily the case.
Because, to keep fat off, the way we lost it in the first place needs to be MAINTAINABLE.
But, for most people, when they go into the fat loss process, they think about maintenance as an afterthought, and are relying on a high amount of willpower to lose fat in the first place…
And many times they don’t even realize it…
Let’s look at:
6 ways people try to make short-term fat loss work for the long-term, and why it doesn’t:
1. Trying to fit ourselves to an eating plan that isn’t a good fit for our unique biology.
Some examples:
Not eating carbs-if our unique body needs them to satiate us, and stabilize our hunger hormones.
Not getting the minimal amount of fat to satisfy our brain/hunger hormones.
Under-eating in general
2. “Pass or Fail” mindsets with food and exercise.
Meaning we ate a “good” food and we passed. Or we didn’t do our whole workout so we failed.
We use these tactics to try to keep ourselves “in-line,” “on plan,” or “on the wagon.”
Which again, can work great in the short-term! But, the problem is, the rigidity of this mindset doesn’t allow for the ebbs and flows of REAL life…
And when real life sneaks in, it can cause us to go ‘all or nothing.’ Because we don’t have any other tool besides this black and white, all or nothing mindset.
3. Deprivation
Being over restrictive of certain types of food that we love (or labeling certain foods “bad”)…leading to overeating and binging.
Being over restrictive on certain days of the week…leading to overeating on other days.
4. Trying to be perfect with our eating and workouts (or thinking we need to be to lose fat.)
Again, this can work great in the short-term! But, this will lead to A LOT of ‘All or Nothing,’ on again/off again behaviors in the long-run.
And it’s not even necessary at all-making the process way more painful (and harder to sustain) than it needs to be.
5. Doing workouts that aren’t a good fit for us.
Meaning:
Workouts that we either don’t like, our biology doesn’t respond well to, or cause a ravenous appetite.
A workout schedule that doesn’t fit into our life well
6. Murdering ourselves with workouts
When we lose fat in this way, we now have to keep up with this level of workouts if we want to maintain this new body fat level…which is usually unsustainable over the long-term.
For females, our metabolism is more sensitive to stress (even more so after menopause.) So, while this approach can work upfront, for many females, after a while our metabolism will start to rebel against this. It will then increase our appetite AND promote fat storage-in turn making it VERY easy to regain body fat lost in this way.
This is the thing, we can ABSOLUTELY lose fat in the short-term with these tactics.
But, it never works long-term because they are causing us to rely on willpower.
We are having to rely on willpower because we aren’t working WITH our biology, psychology, and personal preferences etc.
And the problem with relying on willpower is….it’s exhaustible.
Whether it’s exhausted in a week, a couple of months, or a couple of years (depends on how much we’re relying on and our tolerance.)
But, if we are relying on willpower, we will eventually lose and gain the fat back.
This is why, short-term fat loss and long-term fat loss are completely different with completely different protocols…
What We Need For Sustainable Fat Loss
For sustainable fat loss, we need to make sure we’re:
-Working WITH our biology and psychology
-Doing things we like
-And doing things in a way that works in our life
But, in more detail, for sustainable fat loss, we need these 4 things:
1. A hormonally balanced caloric deficit (I’ll explain what this means and what goes into this in a sec)
2. A balanced relationship with food (and exercise)
3. To learn how to strategically manage cravings (to stay in an overall deficit, but avoid feelings of deprivation.)
4. To learn how to ebb and flow with real life
So, let’s look at what these mean….
1.
A Hormonally Balanced Caloric Deficit
What is a hormonally balanced caloric deficit?
Meaning, a caloric deficit that is not throwing off our hunger and satiety hormones, and/or our stress hormones.
In other words, losing fat in a way that is working WITH our biology and not against it. So, we can lose fat easier (requiring less willpower), and continue losing fat over the long-term.
What can throw off our stress hormones?
Things like: overexercising and/or under-eating (being in too large of a caloric deficit.)
This will work up front.
But, eventually our body will rebel.
It will then want to start holding onto fat (making fat loss harder.) And it will also want to regain the fat we lost. *Our body makes this really easy to happen by significantly increasing hunger and cravings.
What else can influence our hunger and satiety hormones?
Certain foods and/or food pairings. I’ll get into this in more in a minute.
The foods we choose, and the combinations, can either make it waaay easier to stay in a caloric deficit, or much harder. Because certain foods and combinations influence our hunger and satiety levels differently.
So, choosing less stabilizing foods and combinations require us to rely on more willpower to stay in a deficit-because we are fighting against hunger and cravings.
And the opposite is also true…
Eating more balancing meals and snacks, makes it much easier to stay in a caloric deficit naturally…because we’re NOT fighting hunger and extra cravings.
Side Note: Do We Need to Count Calories for Sustainable Fat Loss?
All of this calorie talk may have you thinking that you need to count calories to sustainably lose fat.
You absolutely do not and I don’t recommend it.
Calorie counting is not an exact science and while the whole ‘calories in vs calories out’ concept is true, it doesn’t mean what everyone thinks it means in application.
I will explain this further in a future blog. Just know that you can trust the feedback your body is giving you (when you are choosing stabilizing meals and snacks)…and this is where mindful eating comes in 😊…
What Else Do We Need For A Sustainable Caloric Deficit?
To Learn How to Mindfully Eat
1. Creating An Awareness Practice Around Our Eating, and the Sensations In Our Body:
Yes, on a pre-set diet plan, we don’t have to listen to our body at all (just the plan) and we WILL lose fat.
But, since this requires us to rely on willpower (because it’s not working WITH our unique biology) it only works for the short-term.
To lose fat over the long-term, our body needs to be calling the shots…not some preset plan.
So, for fat loss to last, we need to learn how to tune-in to our body and mindfully eat.
Meaning, we need to develop enough awareness to be able to think through what we’re going to eat, know why we’re eating it, and be able listen to the hunger and satiety cues in our body as we’re eating.
This way we can eat a reasonable amount of food, and stop when we are satiated (not full.)
This helps us create a caloric deficit in a much more natural way.
*And it also helps us feel into what an appropriate caloric deficit feels like in our body. Which is necessary to continue losing fat, and arrive at the body fat level we are striving for.
BUT!...
Being able to stop eating when we’re satisfied, doesn’t just come from awareness (and practice of course)…
It also comes from choosing foods and combinations that truly satiate our hunger and stabilize cravings.
So, mindful eating goes hand in hand with…
2. Understanding the Physiology of Food:
Understanding how different types of foods (protein, fiber, fat, processed starch, etc) breakdown in the body-to either help stabilize hunger and cravings, or make it worse.
One small example is…
A meal of mostly processed starch (pancakes, plain white toast, pasta) not only make it easier to eat more in the moment (because they are not satiating foods alone), but they also will set us up to have more cravings later in the day.
But, on the other side, if we add a fiber and protein source to any of those starches it COMPLETELY changes how the meal breaks down in our body-and in turn, completely changes how much of it we will consume in the moment AND how it will affect our eating choices later in the day.
*Not saying these are ideal food choices to live on anyways if we’re trying to lose body fat, it’s just an example 😊
But, understanding how different foods and combinations influence our eating behaviors (in the moment AND later in the day) is key for losing fat in a way that feels natural, and not like an uphill battle.
*In coaching, I thoroughly teach you all about the physiology of food and how to create an effective mindful eating practice.
Enough daily movement
Fat loss should always be driven by our eating. It’s just the most efficient and sustainable way to go about it.
But, we will get to a point (as we get leaner…if we’re not there already) that we will need some movement and/or structured exercise to help us get into a daily deficit.
*It’s not necessary, but it’s ideal to include strength training because of how it affects the metabolism and hormones. And of course how it affects the overall health of our body in so many ways.
Blog on the benefits of strength training coming soon. But, for now, feel free to read the Online Personal Training Service page here.
Other lifestyle factors to keep in mind that will influence our behaviors above:
-Stress levels
-Quality and amount of sleep
*If we are a perimenopausal or menopausal female, keeping certain things (like stress and starch) in mind
*Blog coming soon
2.
A Balanced Relationship with Food (and Exercise
A Balanced Relationship with Food
Like I said above, sustainable fat loss is driven by our eating habits.
If we struggle with overeating certain types of foods, or overeating in general, this is something we absolutely need to work on if we want sustainable fat loss.
*And I’m talking from experience btw 😊 I used to be a binge eater. I deeply struggled with these types of eating patterns for a long time myself.
To lose fat sustainably, we need to learn how to create a balanced relationship with food (one where we are truly in control…not our emotions or thought patterns.) As I had to do myself.
And, even though it may feel impossible (if you’ve lived like this for a while), know it is very much possible, once we understand what is truly driving our behaviors….
Many times, this relationship with food is driven by the ‘All or nothing’ mindset (and not understanding the physiology of food.) I talk about this mindset more on the ‘Creating Balance with Food and Minimizing Overeating’ page. You can read that page here.
*In coaching, I can help you work on your relationship with food, while at the same time helping you in the other areas that lead to sustainable fat loss.
A Balanced Relationship with Exercise
This just means 2 things:
1. We need to be exercising in a way that is sustainable. If we are doing types of exercise that we don’t truly like, we won’t be able to sustain them decade after decade.
2. We don’t want to be over-exercising. Meaning, exercising so much, or so intensely that we are making ourselves ravenous (potentially eating more than we are burning), or working against our physiology (that will lead to rebounds.)
3.
To Learn How to Strategically Manage Cravings (to stay in an overall deficit, but avoid feelings of deprivation.)
Understand, we WILL get cravings-no matter how balanced we eat.
Eating balancing meals will help to minimize our cravings, but we will still get them…this is normal.
But, to have our ONLY strategy be “Just don’t eat it,” isn’t very effective in the real world over the long run…because we end up battling deprivation.
And if we’re in deprivation, we will eventually give in/give up at some point.
Sustainable fat loss is like an art…not just a science or a set plan. It’s the art of learning how and when to deal with cravings.
So, we need to have actual strategies for managing cravings. It can’t be an all-out deprivation fest (or having everything our heart desires of course 😊)
*Different strategies for dealing with cravings, and how to apply them in your real life is something I teach you in coaching.
4.
To Learn How to Ebb and Flow with Real Life
Of course it’s great to have an overall plan (food and exercise wise) and know what works for us.
We want to do this.
But! We can’t be so fixed on that plan that we can’t ebb and flow with REAL life.
Because real life will bring us situations (regularly) that will us require to adjust our plan, or sometimes make the best of a “bad” situation…this is normal.
Things like sleep deprivation, stress, cravings, schedule changes etc.
But, when we get so fixated on needing to do our plan “perfectly,” this doesn’t allow for the normal ups and downs of real life.
AND we truly don’t need to be perfect with our habits to be successful!...
Yes, we need to be consistent overall, but that does not mean perfect.
We just don’t need to put this pressure on ourselves. Because when we do, we eventually get burned out and need a break for a while.
And this also goes for mindsets like “pass or fail,” or even “having a wagon…”
In real life, there is no wagon.
Diets and short-term exercise programs are wagons. Things you can be on, or off of.
But, sustainable fat loss (aka true behavior change) doesn’t have a wagon…
It is a master at navigating the imperfections and ups and downs of REAL life…
Learning how to live in the middle.
So, we can be regularly consistent over the long-term. Not going back and forth between all on, and all off with our heathy habits.
*If you would like to learn more about sustainable habit change in general, feel free to read the ‘Being Able to Sustain Healthy Habits’ page here.
All 4 of these things are what I help you do through coaching to achieve sustainable fat loss.
Along with:
How to think about the fat loss process (and maintenance) overall and how to navigate it in real life.
How to feel out how much of certain types of foods (starches, fat etc.) are best for your unique body to help you achieve a more comfortable, but effective caloric deficit. And more advanced strategies like this when/if they become necessary.
If applicable, perimenopausal/menopausal specific fat loss challenges.
If you’re a woman and it’s applicable to you, helping you heal the relationship you have with your body-to have a more balanced relationship with food and exercise. To learn if this is applicable to you, you can read the ‘Women’s Body Peace’ page here.
If you would like to learn more about the coaching process:
Visit the coaching page here:
If you are ready to set up your free consult,
Click the green button below.
If you’re concerned that I’ve been lean all of my life and have never had to practice what I preach, keep scrolling this page ;)
“Before Ashley I was always worried about staying ahead of the scale and having my clothes fit tightly.
Ashley has given me the tools to create the lean figure that I desire without the added stress...and maintain it easily!”
-Lynne
Concerned I’ve never had to lose a significant amount of fat, or that I’ve been lean all my life???
Below is a photo taken the day after I had my daughter 11 years ago…
Yes, of course I ate well and exercised throughout my pregnancy, but I still gained 70lbs. Down to the pound what my mother gained for me actually…which no, I don’t think was a coincidence ;)
But, this is just a snapshot of my journey to show you that I am not naturally lean, and I do have to practice everything I shared with you above :)
*Stay tuned for a personal page sharing my full journey with you (my past body obsessions, over-exercising and binge eating, and my post-pregnancy fat loss journey.)
“Have you ever stood in the grocery store, incredibly distraught, thinking, "Self magazine says to eat this, but Shape magazine says to eat that. What do I need to eat to lose weight??!!"
This is what I will call "fog" weight loss - not knowing what to do even though you're provided with endless information.
Ashley clears that fog. Ashley helps you find out how to figure out the best way to lose fat for you.
Instead of telling you what to eat, Ashley tells you how to determine what your body needs to be satisfied and ultimately how to lose fat…and be able to keep it off over the long-term.
-Meg B.
"When I met Ashley I had just finished P90x so I was in good shape, but still not satisfied where my weight was. I was constantly thinking about fitting in more exercise and eating less. This left me constantly obsessing on numbers making me miserable.
I called on Ashley to help me with my nutrition because that is was I thought I needed help with and after all I knew it all right? Signing up with her has turned out to be the best decision I have ever made.
Over the course of a few months Ashley helped me to accept that being healthy and fit was not a goal but a journey that you have to take. She taught me to be patient with myself and accept my failures, learn from them and move on. No guilt necessary as I was typically really hard on myself if I gained an ounce, or missed a workout etc.
Since I have started her program, I spend less time working out and I no longer count calories constantly. I no longer agonize over my food choices either. Her approach to food makes eating easy. I lost 5 pounds of fat and Ashley's program took my body and sculpted it into a shape I always wanted.
I cannot say enough about how Ashley's program has changed my mindset on exercise and food. The results show. I have had so many compliments and questions about what I have been doing and I do not hesitate to tell them about working with Ashley.
If you want to change your life, if you want to be more fit, if you want to be happier and more loving of yourself, call Ashley. She is amazing and will change your life."
-Dee M.
To read all testimonials, visit the testimonials page here