Eat Less. Move More. Is it really that simple? Not really.

The Eat Less, Move More mantra may sound good, and for many people it can be a great first step on a health and wellness journey, but for the most part it is overly simplistic and not very helpful. 

For example, if you are someone who currently consumes 3,000 calories a day, works a sedentary job and comes home and watches a Netflix marathon; then, eat less, move more would definitely benefit your health. Conversely, if are you someone who currently eats 1,200 calories a day and spends hours doing excess cardio trying "burn" another 1,000 calories; then,  eat less, move more would cause more harm than good for you (And if this is you, stop doing this as you are putting your body under an extreme amount of stress as well as damaging your hormonal balance).

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. And while the Eat Less, Move More mantra sounds catchy, determining how much less and how much more is not so simple.

Eat Less, Move More also ignores the quality and nutritional content of food.  If you eat nothing but 2,000 calories of fast food each day, and then switch to 1,500 calories of fast food each day, then you are still on track to lose a pound a week, but, you are not nourishing your body and the quality of food you are consuming is not benefiting your health.

Weight loss, or more specifically, fat loss is caused by a caloric deficit.  If you burn more calories then you take in, you will lose weight ~ that is the science of weight loss.  However, there are a host of things that can affect this process. 

Most people don’t really know how many calories they take in and how many calories they burn.  There is a lot of trial and error that goes into finding the right calorie balance for weight loss and weight maintenance.  It is a slow and sometimes grueling process.  Eat Less, Move More won’t work until you have a good understanding of the amount of energy you need to maintain and lose weight.

Stress and lack of sleep can have a huge impact on your hormonal balance and ability to lose weight.  There are a variety of factors that contribute to causing stress to your system and problems with quality sleep including undereating, chronic dieting, over exercising, daily life and work demands, raising teenagers!, and more.  Eat Less, Move More doesn’t address these concerns which can greatly hinder your progress and results.

There is no one size fits all when it comes to creating a nutrition and fitness plan. There are basic principles that can apply to all, but as always, the devil is in the details and detailing a plan specific to yourself is the way to find success.

Eat Less, Move More does not encompass an overall health and wellness strategy and if the mantra is not speaking to you or working for you, that is ok.  You can find success in a variety of other ways.  Start by learning to Eat Well instead of eating less; and develop habits for daily movement and intentional exercise instead of moving more.