5 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight
The quest to losing weight isn’t always straight forward. The principal of how to lose weight is simple, ingest less calories than your body is using. This means eating less and get moving more.
There are times during the weight loss journey when your body will seem to be holding onto weight. This is a frustrating pattern and many people give up at this point. Before you give up let us offer you some suggestions of behaviors which may be interfering with your weight loss efforts.
5 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight
1. Too Many Calories
Whether it’s healthy choices or not, you cannot eat more calories than your body needs during the weight loss cycle. After spending an hour at the gym it might feel like it makes sense to either refuel or reward yourself with a treat but in fact you have to calculate what this reward will cost you.
If you are a snacker you may find that you have to cut down meal portions to allow for the mid-day snacks. By measuring out your food, keeping a detailed food journal and tracking your calories throughout the day you can control your calories with confidence.
2. Too Few Calories
Are you really aware of how much you are eating? You could be eating too few calories! Get out your food diary and start taking notes of what you’re eating, you may realize you’re not actually getting the recommended calories to lose weight.
Studies show that when your body doesn’t get nutrients for more than 10 hours it begins storing fat. This means that if you sleep for 8 hours and skip breakfast your body begins the fat storing process.
Aim for eating 3 well balanced meals a day with 2 snacks in between, this will keep your metabolism moving.
3. Not Enough Exercise
Exercise is key to weight loss. Your body needs to burn more calories than you are eating to burn off fat stores. If you’ve been exercising for awhile and notice that you’ve stopped losing weight, chances are it’s time to up your exercise routine.
Your body may have become more efficient at the exercises you’ve been doing and is ready for more of a challenge. Try doing different exercises or increasing the intensity of your work outs. Remember to determine your optimal heart rate for weight loss and check your pulse rate several times during your work out to make sure you’re consistently in the desired calorie-burning zone.
4. Poor Food Choices
Not every calorie is created equally. When you choose the wrong foods your body won’t be getting the benefits it would if you selected healthier nutrition. Foods which are high in sugar such as white breads, candy, pop, juices, potato chips, are quick fixes. Your body digests them rapidly and leaves you feeling hungry sooner.
By choosing alternate foods which are high in fiber your body will feel full for an extended period of time and you’ll be eating less.
5. Being Inconsistent
Even worse than eating too little or too much is flip flopping between the two. If your are constantly giving your body different signals, you’re playing havoc with your metabolism, which will cause your body to store even more fat.
When you’re trying to lose weight it’s important to be consistent, plan your meals and snacks in advance so your body will begin to burn fat and continue to do so.