Taylor Grasso, a registered dietician with over 92,000 followers on TikTok, explained why exercising more and eating less is still not helping you lose weight.
Grasso explained that a woman’s 28-day cycle is her menstrual cycle, which starts on the first day of her period.
‘You go through menstruation and then you enter into your follicular phase. This is like the peak of our month,’ she said. ‘We then ovulate and then go to luteal, which is right when you’re PMSing, right before your menstrual cycle, and then it starts all over again.’
She noted that when women aim to lose weight or change their appearance, they typically put themselves on restrictive calorie deficits and over-exercise. However, In females, these behaviors can cause cortisol — the stress hormone — to heavily spike, and impact metabolic function and the ability to lose weight.
Therefore, five ‘health-related behaviors’ that women should be focusing on instead of calorie counting and grueling workouts include;
1. Prioritizing the NEAT movement
NEAT movements involve ‘all of the movement outside of organized exercise’ such as walking to the grocery store and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Grasso explained that if you had a desk job and were sedentary all day, working out for an hour isn’t as beneficial as NEAT movement.
‘NEAT actually contributes to our total daily energy expenditure or the [number] of calories that we burn in a day, significantly more than your hour workout,’ Grasso said. ‘We so downplay the results of just going on a simple walk,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t have to be a 30-minute walk. It doesn’t have to be a six-mile walk.
‘A 10-minute walk a couple of times a day is better than not moving at all.’
2. Do strength training and low-intensity cardioÂ
 Grasso explained that when it comes to fitness, women should focus on strength training and low-intensity cardio.
‘What I often hear is women love group fitness classes. We love the idea of sweating and killing our bodies in the gym. I don’t know why we’re so obsessed with it, but we are,’ she said.
‘But our bodies don’t actually respond as well to killing it every single day at the gym. Instead, we want to focus on increasing our strength training because when you have more muscle, you burn more calories at rest.
‘We have something called a basal metabolic rate. That is our metabolism. It contributes the most to that total daily energy expenditure. A lot of that is actually based on how much muscle you have. If you have more muscle, you burn more calories at rest.’
Low-intensity cardio such as walking on an incline or walking outside should be prioritized while high-intensity interval training (HIIT), should be done during the follicular phase of your cycle, when you are feeling your strongest.
‘I’m not saying do it every day,’ she reiterated. ‘However, doing it a couple of times a week during this part of your cycle could be beneficial.’
3. Having protein and fiber at every mealÂ
Grasso emphasized prioritizing protein and fiber at each meal to keep your blood sugar balanced.
It will not only keep you feeling more full and satisfied throughout the day but can also help with insulin resistance.
Some examples are whole grains, fruits, and vegetables packed with fiber, while cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, meat, and soy-based foods have protein. Â
‘Your body does so much repair and recovery while you’re asleep,’ Grasso explained. ‘So if you are strength training, that’s going to help make sure your muscles are actually recovering, repairing, and then growing.’
Sleep also plays a ‘very crucial role in the regulation of our hunger and fullness hormones, ghrelin and leptin,’ she added. Some studies have shown that lack of sleep can cause decreased secretion of leptin, which may lead you to not feeling satisfied or full after eating.
5. Finally, making time for meal planning and ingredient preppingÂ
Grasso advised weekly meal prepping to make sure you have healthy foods on hand throughout the week.
The dietitian explained that you can ‘just prep a few ingredients for the week’ to make sure you have chopped fruits and vegetables, at least two sources of protein, and some carbohydrates.
‘It’s going to make a huge difference in the ease of having healthy, nutrient-dense foods available to you,’ she said.
She added that planning your meals could also prevent you from buying random things at the grocery store and ordering takeout.
‘Eating more meals at home is a health-related behavior, same with meal-prepping and ingredient prepping, that you can do to increase your health,’ she concluded.
Note that this weight loss advice must first be checked with your doctor as our body systems are different and some health challenges may prevent you from taking any or all of these measures.Â
