Eating at home and still not losing weight: 5 places where you might be going wrong

Weight loss is not a simple, linear process. And you’re not alone in the never-ending cycle of hard work, lack of results and frustration that follows.

So, you decided to go all in and eat healthy, home cooked meals but the scale isn’t budging? The problem is that eating at home doesn’t automatically mean that you’re eating in deficit, which what you’ll need to be in for weight loss.

So, regardless of whether you’re eating out or at home, you need to be consuming lesser calories than you’re burning.

The good news? while clearly difficult, weight loss is not impossible. It’s important to focus on the small successes (eating more vegetables, walking more).

It can also help to work backward and pinpoint those factors that are standing in your way or causing a plateau when you’re eating home cooked meals.

Become aware of these 5 common roadblocks, and you may once again be on your way to winning at losing.

1. You underestimate portion sizes

As the nutritionist Marion Nestle remarked 10 years ago in her book, What to Eat: “It is human nature to eat when presented with food, and to eat more when presented with more food.”

The problem with portion sizes and home cooked/traditional meals is that no one likes the concept of “less” food. From childhood we have been conditioned to see a tables and plates of large amounts of food. Research shows that people unintentionally consume more calories when faced with larger portions. This can mean significant excess calorie intake, especially when eating high-calorie foods.

An easy way to address this is to use smaller tableware at home. To minimize the temptation of second and third helpings when eating at home, serve the food on individual plates, instead of putting the serving dishes on the table. Keeping the excess food out of reach may discourage overeating.

When eating or snacking in front of the TV, put the amount that you plan to eat into a bowl or container instead of eating straight from the package. It’s easy to overeat when your attention is focused on something else.

Try to be focused and present when you eat, with no distractions, so when your body tells you it is full, you stop.

2. You are not accounting for beverages

A lot of people feel that you need to only control what’s going on your plate, in the process they miss out on all the extra calories that are going into the glass.

But the truth is unhealthy beverages are just as fattening as unhealthy foods. If you don’t pay any mind to your intake of liquid calories, you might find it impossible to manage your diet and meet your weight loss goals.

You might not realize how many calories you consume every time you take a sip of your evening tea or coffee that is laden with sugar or that breakfast orange juice. The average sugar-sweetened soft drink contains roughly 150 calories per serving. Most fruit juices aren’t any healthier either. One cup of orange juice contains about 120 calories. It’s easy to see how quickly calories add up if you consume sugar sweetened drinks.

So, try and focus on consuming zero calorie beverages like black coffee, green tea and water.

3. You are snacking on way too many healthy calorie-dense foods

If you’ve ever looked at the back of a packaged nuts bag label, then you know that large amounts of it are surprisingly high in calories, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid them!

We repeat, just because a food is highly caloric doesn’t make it “bad”. Healthy, whole foods are often the more caloric for good reason: They’re packed with nutrients.

But, since there is a “healthy” labelled attached to it, it’s easy to overeat them. And those extra calories every day, add up and cause a roadblock in the weight loss process.

So, do not stash away your peanut butters and almonds, but make sure that you familiarize yourself with the calorie content of these foods.

Whether you’re working toward a weight loss goal and also want to prioritize healthy calorie-dense foods that can provide you beneficial nutrients, make sure you snack within a daily calorie allowance so you don’t gain weight due to “healthy eating” (a.k.a. their high-calorie nature).

4. You don’t have enough protein in your meals

A typical Indian diet is laden with starchy food that are rich in carbohydrates. The ‘building blocks of life’ protein is not only lacking but practically overlooked ad actual protein sources like dairy products, animal foods and pulses don’t form a part of the regular Indian staple diet.

India’s protein consumption is much lower than the 48 gms/day that is recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The recommended dietary allowance of protein for an average Indian adult is 0.8 to 1 gm per kg body weight, however, the average intake is about 0.6 gm per kg body weight. A recent survey across 16 cities in India on perception, knowledge and consumption of protein found a gap in the knowledge of quality protein in daily diets. Various myths surround protein consumption with 85 percent believing it leads to weight gain.

The Indian Market Research Bureau’s 2019 report states that protein deficiency among Indians stands at more than 80 %, measured against the recommended 60g per day. The usual sources of proteins in a regular diet—one cup of lentils, 1 glass of milk, or 1 cup (200 g) of yoghurt—contain 7-8 grams of protein.

To get to the daily requirement of 60 g protein every day, it would be necessary to eat eight bowls of lentils or drink 7-8 glasses of milk.

This seems like an impossible task; hence it is important to add a protein source to every meal to make sure we reach the daily protein requirement and educate ourselves in understanding how proteins play a big part in sustained weight loss.

5. Some foods you are eating are laden with hidden fats

It’s probably no surprise that greasy burgers, French fries, and pizza are loaded with fat.

But did you know that even certain vegetables and healthy fish can have a high fat content?

Keep in mind that fat is an important part of a healthy diet and while not all fat is bad, the fat content of a given meal should be evaluated just as closely as its calories.

So, think of the foods that frequently make up your daily meals. Have you ever considered their fat content? Could hidden fats be lurking in them too?

Here are some foods with hidden fats that you should cut down on or completely avoid if you can.

• Mayonnaise: 79 g fat per 100 g regular mayonnaise
  What you can do : Replace mayonnaise with low-fat dressing or a drop of soya sauce on salads, and rather use low-fat/fat-free yoghurt or cottage cheese in sauces. Simply don’t add mayonnaise to that chicken or tuna sandwich – make the sandwich more interesting by adding herbs, black pepper and a slice of tomato.
• Nuts : 77 g fat per 100 g macadamia nuts
  What you can do : Note that nuts should form part of a balanced diet – even though the fat content is quite high, nuts are cholesterol-free and contain good essential fatty acids. But limit your intake of nuts to a handful per week if you’re trying to lose weight. And choose lower-fat varieties, like cashews and peanuts, instead of macadamias.
• Coffee creamer : 50 g fat per 100 g coffee creamer
  What you can do : Coffee creamer is a definite no-no as it’s loaded with saturated fat. Simply don’t add coffee creamer to your coffee. Rather use low-fat or fat-free milk, or, if you don’t have a fridge, settle for milk powder.
• Peanut butter : 50 g fat per 100 g peanut butter
  What you can do : Look for the sugar-free variety in your grocery store – while sugar-free peanut butter contains just as much fat, the calories are fewer. Limit your intake of peanut butter to four teaspoons per week.
• Cheese : 33 g fat per 100 g cheddar cheese
  What you can do : Where you can, settle for low-fat cottage cheese rather than “harder” cheese varieties, like cheddar, Parmesan and Gouda. Cut foods that contain a considerable amount of cheese, like pizza, certain pasta dishes and toasted cheese sandwiches, from your diet.
• Avocados : 17 g fat per 100 g avocado
  What you can do : The MUFAs in avocados should form part of a balanced diet, but bear in mind that too much avocados could spell trouble for the slimmer. Don’t eat more than one medium-sized avocado per week – and don’t combine the avocado with mayonnaise. Rather use lemon juice to add some flavour.

The bottom line

Weight loss is not always easy and numerous factors can bring it to a standstill.

At the most basic level, not reaching your weight loss goal can occur when calorie intake is equal to or higher than calorie use. So when eating at home, make sure you take into account all the foods that you are consuming.

Try strategies such as mindful eating, controlling your portions, keeping a food diary to account for all the calories, eating more protein, and doing regular exercises.

In the end, changing your weight and your lifestyle requires patience, dedication, perseverance, and resilience. So, keep at it!