Many coaches are acquainted with the client’s trouble losing weight. Clients come in and complain that they cannot lose weight, even though they say they do absolutely everything. It always seemed to them that it was enough to stop eating flour and fat, and the problem of extra pounds would disappear by itself. But then a month goes by, then another month, and there are no noticeable changes in the mirror.
What should the coach do in this case? Well, first, it is necessary to find out the reason why the client is not losing weight. We have written a list of the most common reasons why a person cannot lose weight.
We decided to share with you the most common reasons why clients experience trouble with losing weight. Once your client is able to deal with these issues, they will begin to lose weight again.
It may come as a surprise to some, but people are not losing weight on strict diets. The fact is that the human brain is set up in a tricky way. As soon as the client begins to consume the small number of calories for which all diets are designed, the brain perceives the restriction as an alarm signal. It feels like starvation is coming, so it needs to stockpile immediately. After that, the body starts storing up every fat cell, saving it. This is the main reason why weight is not lost during starvation.
But in addition to this, the client will experience other problems. Let’s imagine that the client has been on a diet for three weeks, for example, they did lose a few kilos. But considering that the weight loss is quite rapid, only 5% of clients will be able to keep the result. Therefore, to avoid gaining weight on strict diets again, it is necessary to follow a healthy diet.
Even though we wrote above that it is not allowed to eat small amounts of food, it is also not allowed to overeat. For the body to start breaking down stored fat, it needs to create an artificial and correct caloric deficit.
Each person has a different daily caloric intake. For example, take a 30-year-old man who is 185 cm tall and weighs 125 kg. He has a goal – to lose weight, but so far, he is not losing weight:
We put all the necessary parameters and chose the light workouts 1-3 times a week. The program showed us which caloric value we should stick to in order not to gain weight on a diet. To maintain weight, it is necessary to consume no more than 3100 calories per day but to lose weight as quickly as possible, the client can reduce the calories to 2100, but this is the most radical option.
Another common reason why clients can’t lose weight. Does the client say they don’t eat anything extra? But that may not be entirely true. Often, some people don’t notice how they eat during the day. For example:
All of these foods are very caloric. It seems to a person that they do not eat too much, but actually, this list can reach 400-500 kcal. And when losing weight, extra calories are unacceptable.
The clients need to learn how to control themselves. They can start by writing down absolutely every food item that they have eaten (even if these are 5 nuts). At the end of each day, analyze what they have eaten, and understand that maybe those 5 nuts were unnecessary.
Why does a client not lose weight on a diet? The reason could be a lack of water. In some ways, water is even more important to the human body than food. If a person lives, on average, about 2 months without food, the one dies of dehydration in only 5-7 days.
Dehydration of the body by only 10% thickens the blood and causes excessive strain on the heart and blood vessels. It also slows down metabolism and excretion of toxins, so the client begins losing weight very slowly or not losing at all.
The client needs to increase their water intake. Drinking water without additives is the best way to lose weight. Read also our article about water during exercise.
Prolonged sitting, standing, or lying in one place does not stimulate the muscles of the body and makes them contract frequently. Muscles in a relaxed state do not pump blood through the veins and the metabolism slows down along with blood circulation. This leads to the fact that the client is not losing weight even though they is on a healthy diet.
A muscle in a relaxed state has only 25-50 capillaries per 1 square millimeter of skin. And a muscle that is occasionally stressed can allow up to 3,000 capillaries per square millimeter to pass through. An average of 40% of the blood does not circulate properly and stagnates due to a sedentary lifestyle. This can also lead to swelling, which also increases weight and makes the body look fatter.
If your client complains that they are not losing weight by dieting and exercising, it may be because they are an endomorph.
A person with an endomorphic physique needs much more physical activity to get rid of excess weight. Along with this, muscle mass is gained much faster in people with such a physique. Therefore, fat expenditure and muscle mass growth can fluctuate approximately in the same weight range.
You can understand that a person has lost weight by body shape. The clothes may have become looser, and the client may feel better too.
It’s sad to say, but being overweight can be a symptom or companion of many illnesses, from the stomach, intestinal, heart, and kidney problems to diabetes, other endocrine disorders, and even tumors.
If the client is not losing weight despite a healthy diet and physical activity and feels unwell (e.g. nausea, stomach pain, shortness of breath, constant fatigue, extreme thirst, frequent headaches, frequent infections, etc.), a doctor’s consultation is necessary!
In such cases, only a doctor can help the problem. As soon as the client manages to cure the disease or reduce its manifestation, they will begin to lose weight.
It may surprise you, but healthy sleep is as important for weight loss as sports and a healthy diet. During any mental or physical exertion, the hormone cortisol is produced in the human body. People who live in metropolitan areas tend to have higher levels of cortisol than people from rural areas.
A healthy sleep of 8 to 10 hours reduces cortisol in the blood and normalizes the hormonal balance. With healthy sleep, the client will no longer have trouble losing weight.
Money difficulties, problems at work and in the family, worries about the future, and other problems that cause stress can lead to fat accumulation.
First of all, clients can binge on a problem. When one wants to calm down, the hand automatically reaches for a candy bar.
Secondly, stress increases levels of the hormone cortisol in the blood, and it promotes fat cell growth. Even worse, it can accumulate visceral fat around internal organs. Visceral fat can additionally produce compounds that worsen mood and increase anxiety.
This creates a vicious circle: the more the client worries, the more they eat, and the worse they get.
To help the client to relax and lift their mood, any healthy ways can be used: exercise, yoga, meditation, massage, or dancing to music. The exercise will not solve the problems, but it will give the client the strength to cope with them and remove one of the reasons why the client is not losing weight.
After all, one of the reasons why a client is not losing weight is a lack of persistence. First of all, the client should honestly ask themselves if they really want to lose weight. And if the answer is yes, then it is necessary to be patient and follow all the recommendations of the coach.
The body cannot lose weight in a couple of days, it is a long-term process that implies constant work on oneself. If the client has been practicing something for a long time, but the result is not visible, it does not mean that there is no result.
All changes consist of small changes, and those consist of even smaller changes, etc. And what the person calls a noticeable result is only the moment when many changes have accumulated to the maximum concentration, and the person has noticed it.
First of all, when a client goes to a coach for weight loss, they expect to get help. And your task, as a coach, is to help the client to achieve maximum weight loss results. Here are a few steps you can take to get the client to start losing weight:
Remember that you need to find a different approach to each client, which will help you understand each other perfectly.
If the client sticks to a healthy diet and regular exercise, they will begin to lose weight over time.
That’s generally up to the individual. Some people tend to be competitive, so stories like this can motivate them even more. It is better to focus on the client and describe why losing weight will benefit their health and life in general.
A healthy diet is beneficial in any case. But if the client has a disease, it is better to follow the doctor’s recommendations and eat as the doctor says.
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