When did achieving weight loss become personal?
Somewhere along the way, weight loss became less about understanding our bodies and more about our own self-discipline.
But you’ve tried everything. You’ve cooked the meals. You’ve cut the portions. You’ve logged the workouts. You’ve skipped desserts, got up earlier, tried harder, and then blamed yourself when the scale didn’t budge. When the weight stopped dropping, it felt like a personal failure.
I hate how common this is, and I get it too. It wasn’t until I received some scary news from my doctor that I realized “all the right things” I was doing weren’t working.
After training over 150,000 people, I know what works and what doesn’t work in our real, busy lives. It’s one of the many blessings that’s come with my job: clarity.
So, let me clear the confusion for you. I bet (if you’re like the rest of us) you’ve been making these five mistakes, and it’s halting your weight loss progress. Let’s fix that today!
⓵ You Think You Need to Be Cooking Completely Different Meals
At some point, we women absorbed the idea that “healthy eating” requires endless novelty. We strive for new recipes, specialty ingredients, and constant reinvention. It’s exhausting. And it’s unnecessary.
Consistency beats creativity when it comes to your health and long-term weight loss. Repeating simple, balanced meals is what’s kept me on track for the last 15 years, and it’ll help you too.
Let’s cut out the decision fatigue and make your results predictable. Don’t make variety your goal. Shoot for balance and repeatability.
In LEAN, I teach my clients how to create a collection of core meals to pull from. These core meals are easy to make, macro-friendly, and ones your whole family will eat. We call it “meal automation,” and it makes healthy eating simple and sustainable.
⓶ Your Cup is Filled With the Wrong Stuff
I recently grabbed one of the new “protein” drinks from Starbucks, choosing the option labeled “sugar-free.” It sounded aligned with my goals. It wasn’t.
After looking at the nutrition label, I realized I’d been misled. The macros were shocking. Level-ten shocking. And yet, completely unsurprising.
Food companies are not health organizations. They follow trends. Right now, protein sells.
Drinks marketed as “sugar-free” often still contain sugar, blood-sugar-spiking starches, or sweeteners that trigger insulin responses. Marketing language tells a story, but labels tell the truth. So give them a read every time.
Here’s my opinion (without sugarcoating it): Beverages should not contain sugar.
We drink hundreds of calories a day without noticing, then wonder why hunger feels uncontrollable. A morning coffee doesn’t need 30 grams of sugar to be enjoyable. It can be creamy, warm, and delicious without sabotaging your goals.
Save your sugar budget for actual food. Instead, fill your glass with water. Here’s why.
Hydration supports digestion, circulation, detoxification, energy production, and brain function. Even mild dehydration can increase fatigue, impair focus, and intensify hunger cues that mimic cravings.
Aim for at least half your body weight in ounces of water a day. See what happens when your cells finally receive the hydration they need to function.
⓷ You Think You’re Hitting Your Protein and Fiber Goals (But They’re Slipping)
Protein and fiber are your metabolism’s workhorses. But most women dramatically underestimate how much they need.
Protein preserves our muscles, regulates our appetite hormones, and supports recovery after a workout. Fiber stabilizes blood sugar, feeds our gut microbiome, and keeps us full.
Without enough of either, hunger increases, energy plunges, and fat loss is a lot harder.
Whole foods should always come first (shop for lean meats, eggs, beans, lentils, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains). The right supplements can be helpful, too, during busy seasons.
Before grabbing the trendiest powder on the shelf, understand the difference between protein types and how your body responds to them.
⓸ You’re Relying on Cardio and Skimping on Strength Training
Cardio burns calories during your workout. Strength training burns calories for up to 48 hours afterward, and it builds the muscle that keeps you lean long-term.
After 40, we can’t get away with losing muscle mass. We need it to keep us from injury, preserve our metabolism, and balance our hormones.
Without resistance training, weight loss often means muscle loss, which makes fat regain more likely. Strength training ensures we preserve lean muscle tissue and keep excess body fat at bay.
Two to four sessions per week can transform how your body uses energy, giving you that after-burn effect.
⓹ You’re Still Following “Eat Less, Move More” Advice
We all hit an age when generic weight loss advice stops working. And that’s because our physiology changes. Nothing wrong with that! Shifting our strategy, however, is key.
Estrogen declines shift how fat is stored (did you notice your tummy getting softer after 40?). Stress, poor sleep, and perimenopause elevate cortisol, making belly fat more stubborn. Undereating amplifies the problem by sending our bodies into starvation mode.
“Eat less, move more” fails as we age because it:
- Ignores hormonal shifts
- Results in muscle loss
- Slows metabolism instead of strengthening it
Your metabolism doesn’t speed up when you eat less; it drops. The fix is not more restrictions, but eating solid, balanced meals and training our muscles.
Fuel It. Don’t Fight It.
The LEAN program was built to work with our bodies that are destined to age. It’s finetuned for women navigating real-life circumstances, like perimenopause and menopause, who are tired of:
- Counting calories with no results
- Doing endless cardio and are exhausted
- Feeling hungry, depleted, and frustrated
In LEAN, we focus on:
- Healing, supportive nutrition
- Blood sugar stability
- Protein-forward meals to preserve muscle
- Strength training to rebuild metabolic fortitude
- Sustainable strategies that fit real life
A new four-week LEAN program is here at a lower cost. If you’re ready to stop guessing how to reach your goals and finally feel like you understand your body, LEAN is your home.
