Let's talk about the most common mistakes people make when calorie counting. These are things that might be easy to overlook but could be hindering your progress.
I'll pinpoint where you might be making these errors and provide clear solutions to rectify them.
Make sure to read this article thoroughly to understand what you need to do to begin seeing results.
I'll start by sharing a quick story about my client, who has made phenomenal progress.
As a mom of 3, she was frustrated when her progress seemed to plateau. After diving into the details and doubling her accuracy and consistency behind tracking, we noticed she was consuming extra licks, bites, and nibbles (more on this later) that weren't being tracked.
So we cleaned up her tracking, and it made a huge difference! The momentum led her to lose 20 lbs AND gain a bunch of muscle and strength!
So, are you ready to get started?
Let's begin.
Being in a calorie deficit, where you burn more calories than you consume, is the only way to lose weight.
Yes, it’s that simple.
Eat fewer calories than you burn; you will lose weight.
(Make sure you read my blog on The Ultimate Guide for Fat Loss so you can learn everything you need to lose weight and even find out how many calories you should be consuming a day to be in a deficit.)
So here's the hard truth:
If you aren’t losing weight, you are not in a calorie deficit.
If you believe you are in deficit and, over time you aren’t noticing any progress, there is something missing.
So, let’s figure that out for you!
Tracking Accuracy (Guesstimating)
One of the, if not the, most common mistakes when tracking your calories is guessing or needing to be more accurate with your portion sizes.
If you are guessing or inaccurately tracking your portion sizes, you could be missing hundreds or even thousands of extra calories you didn’t even know you were consuming.
This puts you over your calories and becomes the factor for your lack of progress.
People tend to guesstimate when they go out to eat or even when making peanut butter and jelly and have 4 to 5 tablespoons of peanut butter vs. 1 to 2.
Instead of guessing, start to measure with a food scale or measuring tools, such as cups and tablespoons, to provide yourself with a more accurate measurement.
When eating out, I’m not saying you should bring these tools to dinner. But the more you start to measure out your portions at home, you will have a better idea of what true portion sizes look like. (Side note: I like to track an extra 200-300 calories when going out to eat to be on the safe side of things).
Licks, Bites, & Nibbles
A lick of this.
A bite of that.
And a nibble of whatnot.
Even though these licks, bites, and nibbles may not seem like a lot, they add up.
Taking a bite of a cookie, licking a tablespoon of peanut butter, and nibbling on your kid's snacks can add up calories more than you think.
A common example is when you are hungry and cooking dinner. You begin to snack on an extra 75 calories of chips, lick 100 calories of peanut butter, and munch on an extra 100 calories of rice, which ends up being an extra 275 calories.
I know these bites may not seem like a whole bunch, but if you do this a couple of times a week (or even a day), the next thing you know, the sum of these calories is the reason for your struggle with weight loss.
Start to track or be more mindful of these licks, bites, and nibbles.
Oils
As you saw above, with peanut butter, true portion size ends up being not as much as you think (or want) it to be.
The same goes for oils.
A tablespoon of oil equals 120 calories.
When prepping your meals using oils or adding oil to your salad, you can end up using multiple tablespoons that add up anywhere to an extra 360-600 (or more) calories.
So, just like above, be aware of your portion sizes here. Accurately track the oils you are using, or even switch to an oil spray to cook with, which is 10 calories per .25-second spritz. This will save you a lot of calories in the end.
Drink and Drink add-ons
A black coffee is 5 calories.
Your “coffee” Mocha Frappuccino is 500 Calories.
Liquid calories can quickly add up your calorie number for the day and tend not to be worth it. They are calories that aren’t satiating and still leave you feeling hungry.
Even the “healthy” shakes and smoothies.
Some of these healthy smoothies you see in the store end up being 250 to 300 calories, and even though they are full of nutrients, they end up impacting calories for the day, taking you out of that calorie deficit.
(Check my articles on how to stay full in a calorie deficit or how to make a calorie deficit easier to learn more!)
And let’s talk about alcohol.
Alcohol is usually overconsumed by individuals.
Having a couple of drinks or cocktails can add up to anywhere from 300 to 1,000+ calories.
So, if your calorie goal is 1800-2000, that can be anywhere from 20% to 60% of your daily calorie intake.
Not to mention the case of the “f*ck it’s” that comes from drinking alcohol, where you order a whole cheese pizza to yourself afterward.
This is not to say you can’t and shouldn’t have alcohol or liquid calories; it is just that these calories can quickly add up and not be a great bang for your buck.
So, just be mindful of how often and how much you are consuming your calories through these high-calorie beverages.
Consistency
Oh, it absolutely IS about consistency! (to the gif I googled above^)
There is a difference between actually being in a calorie deficit and THINKING you are in a calorie deficit.
When clients tell me they have been in a calorie deficit and are not making progress, I always check how consistent they have been.
When we take a closer look, they end up not being as consistent as they thought.
Whether that is from the weekends (more on this next), going out to eat, or inconsistent with tracking, consistency is a major reason for your lack of progress.
Be honest with yourself here.
Grab a calendar, and over the next 30 days, track and see how consistent you are with hitting your calorie target each day.
Your goal is to be at least 80% (or more) consistent. Anything less means you have a focus now, and your goal is to get more dialed in each month.
Remember to track the data and look at the true results vs. what you “think” is actually happening.
Weekends
I was recently chatting with a client of mine who was frustrated with not making progress.
Eating 1,600 calories a day and still not showing any signs of fat loss.
The first thing I asked was, “How do you feel your consistency has been?”
They respond with, “Pretty good! I have been on track most of the month with hitting my targets about 21 or 22 days out of the month so far (28 days in total).”
Having about a 75% consistency rate is pretty solid, so I followed up by asking her about her weekends.
"Fine, not great, but not terrible.” She felt a struggle with all of the travel, eating out, and social events, but overall thought it was managed decently.
After talking further, I told her to track as meticulously as possible over the weekend and let’s see what happens.
That weekend, she realized her calories on the weekends were adding up to about 3,500 calories on average per day (Saturday and Sunday).
So if your calorie target is 1,600 a day, that is 11,200 for the week.
In this case, her weekly target ended up actually being about 15,000 (2,143 on average per day).
She was eating in a deficit during the week, but the weekends would set that back since she was in a bigger surplus on the weekend. This resulted in just maintenance for her calories for the week, therefore no weight loss.
Now, I get it.
The weekend is your time off of work to relax and enjoy yourself.
I love that and absolutely respect it.
But just understand that calories consumed over the weekend still matter and can impact your progress.
Instead of aborting the mission and not planning to structure your nutrition over the weekend, start to put a plan together.
And if there are some unknowns for the weekend, plan what you can.
One food or one meal isn’t going to make or break your progress.
But if you go out for brunch and get some bloody marys and mimosas, that doesn’t mean you should say screw it to the rest of the day (or weekend) and go banana pants.
Plan away!
AND if you need help to better manage, create a plan, and have accountability on your weekend, click THIS LINK so that we can chat. I would love to help!
Impatient with Progress
This one is where a lot of you struggle.
You are being too impatient with the process.
A common conversation I have is a client coming to me and saying, “I’m not making any progress.”
I look at their progress and they have dropped 4 pounds this month.
My response. “You are making progress, you are just being impatient.”
Or they will say something along the lines of “I’m only down 4 pounds this.”
“Only?! If you keep this going for another 10 months, you will be down 40 lbs by the end!”
And the best one is “I’m not making any progress!”
“Karen, you’ve been in a deficit for 12 minutes, relax.”
Guess what, this whole weight loss thing takes time!
This isn’t a goal where you try to lose all your weight in a month from a super-restrictive
fancy diet only to gain it all back the next month.
Your goal is to lose weight and keep it off for the remainder of your life.
And that is going to take time, my friend.
Invest in the long game.
Conclusion
And that’s that. The most common mistakes you’re making when calorie tracking and why you are lacking progress when trying to lose weight.
As I said, be honest with yourself. Check your habits and what you're doing on this weight loss journey.
You can do this and accomplish great things, you just have to be truthful and willing to make these appropriate adjustments as needed.
And if you need more help on your weight loss journey to have someone hold you accountable and even help you take some of the thinking out of it, click HERE to schedule a time for us to chat!
- Kevin
As I Am
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