Ep 79 | 5 Common Fat Loss Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
As a personal trainer, I've worked with countless clients on their fat loss journeys. While many people come to me having already tried various approaches, I consistently see the same mistakes holding them back from reaching their goals. Today, I'm sharing the five most common fat loss mistakes I encounter—and more importantly, how to fix them.
-
Jayd (00:00):
As a personal trainer, the majority of my clients come to me because they want to burn fat, and they usually have tried a bunch of things before they come to me to burn fat on their own with varying levels of success. And oftentimes, there are a lot of things that they're doing right and that they're on the right track in. But then there's also a lot of key areas where people tend to make mistakes. And so today what I want to share with you is five of the most common mistakes that I see people making in their fat loss journeys. And I'm going to share with you how I as a coach, work with my clients to fix these mistakes so that they can get back on track in their fat loss.
(00:48)
Welcome to the Coaching Corner podcast. I'm Jayd Harrison, AKA Jaydigains. I've been a personal trainer for over 10 years, and I've created this podcast to share with you some tips and tricks to get in shape, get lean, get strong without shame and without burnout. In today's episode, I'm going to share with you five common mistakes that people make in their fat loss journeys. And I'm also going to share with you some tips for how to get back on track and fix these mistakes so you can make progress in your fat loss. And before we get into the episode, keep in mind that I am enrolling clients right now into my 90 day fat loss transformation program. So if you want a little bit more guidance and structure around your fat loss journey so that you can lose up to 25 pounds in three months, click on the link that is below this video or in the show notes and check out the program today. Also, make sure to like this video if you're watching on YouTube and subscribe to my channel so you never miss a new video. And if you are listening to this podcast, thank you so much. Make sure to follow the show so you get the latest episodes always delivered right to your device. And without further ado, let's get into the episode.
(02:01)
As a personal trainer, there are five main mistakes that I see people making when they first come to work with me on their fat loss. And making these mistakes can easily sabotage your fat loss progress, causing you to hit a plateau and stop making progress, or it could even cause you to start gaining fat again. The number one mistake that I see a lot of people making when they're on a fat loss journey is they are way too aggressive with their calorie deficit. Now, it's true that in order to burn fat, you do need to be in a calorie deficit, which means that your body is burning more energy or more calories than what you're taking in through the food that you eat. So you may be thinking, oh, if I just eat less than I should be able to burn more calories, and the lower I go in my calorie consumption, the less that I eat, the more fat I will burn.
(02:53)
And yes, that does make sense in theory, but in practice, this type of tactic usually backfires because severe calorie restriction can increase your hunger levels and make it harder for you to actually stick to your calorie deficit. When you go super low in your calorie intake, your body will up the cravings that you have, especially for high sugar, high calorie foods. And because you have less energy in your body and less energy going to your brain, it gets a lot harder to resist these cravings. And so you may find yourself splurging and going overboard really often because it's just really hard on your mental health to stay in such a low calorie deficit and you're also fighting against your body's biology. Your body is built to prevent you from starving to death. And so when you go super, super low and your calories that sends off alarms and your body and your body and your brain are going to fight against you.
(03:55)
So even though you may want to eat a lower calorie intake, your body may override you and make it really hard for you to stick to that plan and it could backfire to the point where you actually start gaining weight because when you splurge, you massively overshoot your calories and go into a calorie surplus to the point where you're actually eating more calories overall than what your body is burning. Another way that going too low in your calories can backfire is that it can cause a breakdown in your muscle tissue, especially when you are in a really low calorie intake. Your body doesn't just break down fat and burn fat to make up for the energy that it isn't getting through your food. It also breaks down other tissues, including your muscle, and your muscle is one of the main drivers of your metabolism. So as your muscle breaks down, your total calorie burn every day will go down as well, so you'll have less energy overall.
(04:52)
And when you do get active in exercise, you will burn fewer calories because you just don't have as much of the engines, namely your muscle burning calories like before. So overall, this can make it so that even if you eat a calorie deficit because your body isn't burning as many calories as it used to be before, you're not actually in as much of a calorie deficit as you think because you have reduced the total amount of energy that your body burns. And remember being in a calorie deficit is about making sure that your body is burning more calories than what you're taking in. So going too low can actually get your body to burn fewer calories, which is the opposite of what we want when we're trying to burn fat. So just keep in mind that you do not need to go into a really super deep calorie deficit.
(05:42)
A moderate deficit of between 300 and 500 calories below your maintenance level of calories is enough to make sustainable fat loss progress. It takes 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat, so spread that out over a week with a 500 calorie deficit every day, eating 500 calories below what your body normally burns and you can burn a pound of fat a week, but going lower than this, you risk losing muscle tissue and getting the mental health backlash that might cause you to splurge and overshoot your calories while also reducing the number of calories that your body burns every day. So be careful about going too low in your calorie deficit, and if you do decide to go into a really steep calorie deficit, be low 500 calories below your maintenance, then make sure that you have a clear cutoff point. You don't want to be super low in your calories for an extended period of time, which is another mistake that a lot of people make when they go into their calorie deficit.
(06:46)
They think, oh, I'm going to just be eating 1000 calories below my maintenance level of calories indefinitely. When I'm coaching my clients in a fat loss phase, I usually have an end point in mind that we are going to be cutting calories for no more than 12 weeks at a time. The deeper the calorie deficit, the shorter amount of time that we will be eating that amount of calories. So if I have a client who's doing a 750 calorie deficit or eating 1000 calories below their maintenance, I'm usually not going to have them be at that level of calories for longer than six weeks because it's just so difficult to maintain long-term and also tends to lead to muscle loss and a fat loss plateau. The second common mistake that I see a lot of people make when they are trying to burn fat is that in their exercise they do a ton of cardio, but they don't really do any strength training.
(07:40)
Now, cardio is a really great style of exercise to do for getting your body to burn a lot of calories In a cardio session. You can get your body to burn as much as 300 to 500 calories in 30 minutes depending on the type of exercise you're doing and how fast you're moving, how hard you're working. So if you want to increase the amount of calories that your body is burning within a workout, you should do some cardio for sure, but don't forget that your muscle is one of the main drivers of your metabolism. So it's really important that you are building muscle to one, prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue. That happens naturally whenever you're in a calorie deficit because remember, your body doesn't just burn fat. It also breaks down muscle when you are eating fewer calories than what your body is spending doing strength training can help prevent your body from breaking down muscle tissue, and it can even help you to build more muscle tissue, which will help your body to burn more calories every day, even on the days that you don't work out.
(08:38)
And you don't have to do a super crazy intense strength training program doing something as simple as once or twice a week of a total body routine where you hit all of the major muscle groups, push them to muscle fatigue with compound exercises that hit multiple groups at same time, that is enough to help you to prevent muscle loss and to build muscle and rev up your metabolism. Remember that more muscle means that your body's going to burn more calories, which means that it'd be easier for you to burn more fat without necessarily having to eat less. And also remember that strength training is what creates that toned look that most people are after because most people that come to me for personal training say they don't just want to be skinny, they want to look fit, they want to look toned, and strength training is what's going to get you there, so make sure that you're incorporating strength training into your total fat loss plan.
(09:31)
Number three, another mistake that people often make in their fat loss journeys is that they're not tracking what they're eating or measuring their portions. They're just kind of eyeballing it and not being mindful of the amount of cooking oils or butter that they're adding when they're preparing their food. And they're also just making a lot of assumptions about how many calories are in the food that they're eating. But when you actually take a second to track what you eat, you become more aware of how many calories are in the foods that you're choosing. The first thing that I do with my fat loss transformation clients is I have them start tracking everything that they eat and drink. And the first week of our program, this helps them to build some of that awareness around how many calories are in the foods that they're eating every day.
(10:17)
Then we are able to make decisions about what kinds of foods we maybe need to reduce or substitute in order to help get them on track towards their fat loss goal. But even if you're tracking your food, if you're not measuring it, if you're just eyeballing it, it's very easy to overconsume calories, especially when it comes to cooking oil and butter that you might be adding to your foods. One tablespoon of olive oil is about 120 calories. So if you're just dumping oil over your vegetables or in the pan, you could easily accumulate 300 to 500 calories in just one meal because of the added oils. So this is why tracking is so important, even if you just do it for a little while to develop some self-awareness around how many calories are actually in the foods that you're eating. Even some really healthy foods have higher amounts of calories in them than you would probably think.
(11:12)
For example, avocados, nuts and seeds, these are foods that are very calorie dense, although they are healthy and they're very good for you, they have a lot of vitamins and minerals and fiber that your body needs. A lot of people will snack on these things without measuring or tracking it and not realize that they're adding another 300 to 500 calories to their daily intake because they're just snacking on almonds or they're snacking on guacamole with chips. So become more aware of exactly how much energy you're putting into your body because any unused energy that you take in through the food that you eat, even when you're eating healthy foods, is likely going to get stored as fat. Number four, another common mistake people make in their eating is that they're not eating enough protein. This is an incredibly common problem. A couple of years ago, I had a client, we'll call her Serena, and Serena is a vegan.
(12:07)
And a lot of times I do find that vegans and vegetarians do particularly struggle to eat enough protein. That's not always the case. And there are plenty of people who are not vegan and vegetarian who struggle to get in protein as well, but she in particular was having a lot of trouble sticking to her calorie number that we had decided on for her fat loss plan. She was finding that she was having a ton of cravings for super sugary or super salty snack foods, and these cravings were like period cravings or pregnancy cravings, like very intense, very difficult to resist, which meant that she was a lot of times splurging and overshooting her calories. So we took a look at her tracking and it turned out that she was really undershooting her protein intake. If you are low on your protein intake, it can actually cause your body to crave more sugary foods.
(13:01)
As soon as I had her start eating more nuts and seeds and beans, which are good vegan sources of protein, her cravings went down and so did her weight. So in general, shoot for eating enough protein every day. A good rule of thumb to shoot for is 0.8 grams of protein per pound of your body weight. If you have a lot of excess body fat, I wouldn't measure your protein intake by your body weight and instead would base it on your height, so you should shoot for one gram of protein per centimeter of your height. Now the amount of protein that you need, maybe more or slightly less so you'll want to kind of listen to your body and track what you eat, making sure that you're paying attention to how much protein you're eating, and then see how you're feeling after you have been eating a certain amount of protein for a week or two, and then make adjustments from there.
(13:55)
Eating enough protein is a great strategy for helping you to burn fat protein in general. It makes you feel more full when you eat it, and it keeps you feeling fuller for longer, so you're less likely to experience cravings or the temptation to splurge or eat between meals, and especially if you are choosing lean sources of protein, then you're also likely going to be taking in fewer calories than you would if you were eating a really high carbohydrate dense meal or snack. In practice. For most people, this looks like shooting for at least 25 grams of protein in every meal that you eat and whenever you're going to have a snack. I generally recommend my clients try to choose snacks that have at least 10 grams of protein in them, which is a good minimal amount of protein, but your body likely needs more, especially if you're exercising and your body needs more protein, especially when you are in a fat loss phase to help prevent the breakdown of your muscle.
(14:55)
And now number five. Another really common mistake that people make in their fat loss is that they expect linear progress. Fat loss is never linear. I've never worked with a client who's experienced a straight down progression of their fat loss over time, especially if you have a big fat loss goal, expect your fat loss and your weight loss to happen in spurts or cycles. There are going to be periods where you're not going to see the scale moving very much, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not making progress, especially if you're building muscle at the same time that you're trying to burn fat, which is what I recommend. It's not uncommon to see a weight loss plateau when your body is recomposition, meaning you're burning fat and building muscle at the same time. When this happens, it's really important that you continue to stay the course.
(15:54)
A lot of people, when they see the scale stop moving, they panic and they spiral and they give up. But that is the worst thing that you can do when you hit a weight loss plateau. What you need to do is stay the course, continue to reach your daily calorie goal and continue to reach your daily protein goal while sticking to your exercise plan. If you think you've hit a weight loss plateau, give it two or three weeks because sometimes the plateaus are only going to last for a couple of days or maybe for a week. And if you stick to the plan, you'll start to see the scale go down again. At the same time, you should also be taking your measurements, especially the measurements around your belly and your hips, because a lot of times when the scale isn't moving, my clients notice that they're still losing inches or centimeters around their waist because their body is still burning fat even though the scale isn't showing it.
(16:52)
So make sure you're also keeping an eye on other markers of fat loss progress, like your clothes fitting more loosely or the number of inches or centimeters around your belly going down. Try to avoid putting too much importance on the number on the scale because it's just one measurement of your progress. And also keep in mind that your body weight is going to fluctuate not just because of how much fat you have, but also according to how much water your body is retaining. If you have a day where you eat a lot of carbohydrate rich foods or sodium rich foods, your body's going to naturally retain more water. If you are female and you are on your period or you're about to start your period, your body is going to hold onto more water as well. So you may see your body weight spike up or plateau and stay the same during different points of your cycle.
(17:44)
So I want to challenge you to stay the course. If you've hit a plateau or you you've hit a plateau, give it two or three weeks to make sure that you actually have hit a plateau and make sure that you're also taking your other measurements and paying attention to how your clothes are fitting. Now, if you continue to stay at the same weight for two or three weeks or more, and then you're also not seeing your measurements go down, and also you're not noticing any progress in the gym, like you're building more muscle or you're able to do more weight or more reps on different exercises. If you're not noticing any of these changes, then yeah, you might have actually hit a plateau. And in that case, we need to step back, assess what you're doing, assess the plan, and assess the data of what the scale says and what your measurements say, and then make a decision on what we're going to do to help get your body back on track.
(18:34)
Now, if you need help with this, I am taking on new clients to my 90 day fat loss transformation program, and people who have just started on their fat loss journey and people who've been on it for a while are welcome to join this program. You will learn so much about your body and about how to burn fat effectively and keep that fat off for good. So check out the link for that in the show notes or in the video description below if you're interested and getting some accountability, some structure and some guidance so that you can avoid these and other mistakes that are very common on a fat loss journey.
(19:15)
Thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of The Coaching Corner podcast. Again, I'm Jayd Harrison, AKA Jaydigains. Make sure to follow me on my socials. I am Jaydigains everywhere. That's J-A-Y-D-I-G-A-I-N-S. If you're interested in working with me, check out my website. That's Jaydigains.com. Let me know what you think about this episode in the comments below the YouTube video, and also let me know if you have any questions or things that you would like me to discuss on the next episode of the Coaching Corner podcast. I'll see you then. In the meantime, make sure that you're taking good care of yourself. Eat your veggies, eat your protein, and drink your water, and I will see you soon.
Mistake #1: Being Too Aggressive with Your Calorie Deficit
Yes, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. But going too low with your calories almost always backfires.
When you severely restrict calories, your body fights back. Hunger levels spike, cravings intensify (especially for high-sugar, high-calorie foods), and your willpower weakens because your brain has less energy to resist temptation. You might find yourself splurging so often that you actually end up in a calorie surplus overall, defeating the entire purpose.
There's another problem: extreme calorie restriction causes muscle breakdown. Since muscle is a primary driver of your metabolism, losing muscle means your body burns fewer calories each day. You end up burning less energy even during exercise, making it harder to maintain the deficit you think you're creating.
The fix: Aim for a moderate deficit of 300-500 calories below your maintenance level. This is enough to lose about a pound of fat per week (remember, it takes 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat). If you do go below 500 calories, have a clear endpoint—I typically keep clients in deep deficits for no more than six weeks, and standard cuts for no more than 12 weeks at a time.
Mistake #2: All Cardio, No Strength Training
Cardio is excellent for burning calories—you can burn 300-500 calories in just 30 minutes depending on intensity. But here's what many people miss: cardio alone won't give you the results you're after.
When you're in a calorie deficit, your body doesn't just burn fat—it also breaks down muscle tissue. Without strength training, you'll lose the very muscle that keeps your metabolism running high. Plus, strength training is what creates that toned, fit look most people want.
The fix: Incorporate strength training at least once or twice a week. You don't need anything crazy—a total body routine hitting all major muscle groups with compound exercises taken to muscle fatigue is enough to preserve muscle and even build new tissue. More muscle means your body burns more calories every day, even on rest days.
Mistake #3: Not Tracking Food or Measuring Portions
Eyeballing portions and making assumptions about calorie content is a recipe for stalled progress. This is especially true for cooking oils and butter—just one tablespoon of olive oil contains about 120 calories, meaning you could easily add 300-500 calories to a single meal without realizing it.
Even healthy foods can be surprisingly calorie-dense. Avocados, nuts, and seeds are nutritious and packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but snacking on these without measuring can add hundreds of unexpected calories to your day.
The fix: Start tracking everything you eat and drink, at least for a few weeks. This builds awareness around the actual calorie content of your food choices. Measure your portions, especially oils, nuts, seeds, and other calorie-dense foods. Once you develop this awareness, you can make informed decisions about what to reduce or substitute.
Mistake #4: Not Eating Enough Protein
Low protein intake is incredibly common, and it sabotages fat loss in multiple ways.
I once worked with a vegan client (we'll call her Serena) who struggled intensely with cravings—the kind that felt like period or pregnancy cravings, impossible to resist. She kept overshooting her calorie goals because of these cravings for sugary and salty snacks. When we examined her food tracking, we discovered she was severely under-eating protein. Once she increased her intake with nuts, seeds, and beans, her cravings decreased dramatically, and so did her weight.
Protein keeps you fuller longer, reduces cravings, and helps prevent muscle breakdown during fat loss. If you're choosing lean protein sources, you're also likely consuming fewer calories than you would from high-carb meals or snacks.
The fix: Aim for 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you carry significant excess body fat, base it on your height instead—about one gram per centimeter. In practice, this means targeting at least 25 grams of protein per meal and choosing snacks with at least 10 grams of protein. Track your intake for a week or two and adjust based on how you feel.
Mistake #5: Expecting Linear Progress
This might be the most important point: fat loss is never linear. I've never had a client experience a straight downward progression on the scale, especially when building muscle simultaneously.
You'll experience plateaus—sometimes for days, sometimes for a week or more. This doesn't necessarily mean you're not making progress. If you're building muscle while burning fat (which you should be), the scale might not budge even though your body composition is improving.
Your weight also fluctuates based on water retention. Eating more carbs or sodium? You'll retain more water. About to start your period? More water retention. These fluctuations are normal and temporary.
The fix: Stay the course. If you hit a plateau, give it two to three weeks before making changes. Continue hitting your calorie and protein goals while sticking to your exercise plan. Most plateaus resolve on their own.
Track more than just the scale: measure your waist and hips, pay attention to how your clothes fit, and notice your strength improvements in the gym. Often, my clients lose inches around their waist even when the scale isn't moving.
If you're still stuck after three weeks with no progress in any measurements or strength gains, then it's time to reassess your plan and make adjustments.
Final Thoughts
Avoiding these five mistakes can mean the difference between a frustrating fat loss experience and a successful transformation. Remember: sustainable fat loss comes from moderate deficits, balanced training that includes strength work, mindful nutrition tracking, adequate protein intake, and patience with the process.
Your body is complex, and progress isn't always visible on the scale. Trust the process, stay consistent, and give yourself grace when things don't go perfectly. That's how lasting change happens.
If you need help navigating your fat loss journey and want accountability, structure, and guidance to avoid these common pitfalls, check out my 90-day fat loss transformation program. Whether you're just starting out or have been at it for a while, you'll learn how to burn fat effectively and keep it off for good.
Subscribe for Updates ✉️
Sign up to get notified whenever new episodes drop. Opt in for more tips on training, fat loss, and nutrition by filling out the form below:
Your privacy is important to me! I will never share your information with any third party. Unsubscribe from the email list at any time.
