7 Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Weight Loss
Here you stand, another effort of yours to get rid of a few pounds has been in vain. It’s leaving you frustrated and resigned, clueless as to what the problem can be. You used all the recommendations you could find: You cut way down on carbs, increased your treadmill time, and enjoyed fresh healthy food.
So what’s the problem?
Despite your willpower and determination, you could be making simple mistakes that are making a big impact on your health. These things could simply be misinformation, which has you trying to lose weight the wrong way or ineffectually. You could even be gaining weight, and discouraged due to that fact.
If you want to quit — don’t. Make some changes and keep moving forward. You’re capable of so much more than you think.
The first thing that may be keeping you back is a lack of water. Not enough water means dehydration, which stops weight loss. When you’re thirsty, you may mistake the sensation for hunger and eat more. Eight glasses of eight ounces of water every day is the recommended allocation. If you drink cold water, it helps increase your metabolism.
Speaking of food, you may be consuming too little or too much! A portion distortion can keep those stubborn pounds on and can be so subtle you don’t even notice it. Statistically-speaking, Americans eat an average of three hundred more calories per meal than they did in 1985. More often than not, one restaurant-sized portion is enough to feed two (and, in some cases, even three) people. The difference between a serving size and a portion is an important thing to learn.
That being said, being stressed can also be keeping you fat. Stress, which releases cortisol in the body, triggers cravings in the brain for unhealthy food and it can transfer fat from other parts in the body to the abdomen. Relieve stress by practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing, or meditation, delegating some tasks so that you don’t have more than you can handle, and taking a break to enjoy something that makes you happy.
Something that might put a smile on your face is a short nap. After all, we all should be getting a minimum of seven to eight hours of sleep every night, less can interfere with weight loss as well as increase stress levels. Leptin, the hormone that lets you know when you’re full, decreases when you’re sleep-deprived. Meanwhile, ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates the appetite, increases.
As your eating and exercise habits change, the body has to adjust and initially you may see a weight reduction. Over time, the body gets used to the new lifestyle and it becomes less effective. If you’re sticking to the same exercise and diet for an extended time, that becomes even more likely. Changing up your routine can provoke another round of weight loss. You can add speed intervals to the cardio or use different equipment than you have been using. Cutting a few calories here and there, then having a healthy snack to replace them, can also provoke this change.
Be patient with yourself and listen to what your body needs, in most cases the weight did not appear overnight and it will not leave overnight.
