The struggle of losing weight is often made harder by not seeing the results. You’re eating right, exercising regularly and getting all your recommended vitamins, proteins,
• You Aren’t Eating Enough
Once again, this might seem like it shouldn’t be true but it definitely is. Not eating enough food triggers your body in negative ways. Because you’re denying it a consistent and normal amount of nutrients, your body is trying to preserve itself. Your metabolism will slow and you won’t see results immediately.
• You Don’t Move Enough
Sure, you get your five to six workouts done each week and you feel great. But how much more activity are you getting beyond that hour of cardio? If you spend most of your other time sitting, this is likely why you aren’t losing the pounds. Sitting all day at work or when you’re at home contributes to a sedentary lifestyle.
• Too Many Workouts
It might sound impossible, but you may be working out way too much. You might feel great during these workouts but the long-term effects might not be what you’re chasing. When you work out too often, you use up a lot of energy and burn calories that your body will want to replace. Controlling your appetite will also become much harder.
• You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep
Sleep is an essential part of any healthy lifestyle. In fact, there are many people who use supplements to help get a better sleeping experience. But if you’re not getting enough, it’s likely your body will cling to that extra weight. Being chronically fatigued can lead to sluggishness, overeating and weight gain.
• You’re Eating More Than You Need
This is a symptom of working out and increasing your metabolism. Your body will crave to have food as you continue to work out and make healthy life changes. But if you’re not careful, you’ll be working against yourself. Keep a food journal and make sure that it’s completely accurate. That means no skipping entries, no guessing at how many calories you think are in your afternoon snack and no skewing the numbers. Actually cut your daily caloric intake for how much you need to lose weight and don’t stray from that number.
• You’re Eating The Same Things
You might think you have to follow an extremely strict diet down to every last bite to lose weight. But that’s not true. While you need to definitely monitor your foods, this doesn’t have to be boring. Having a variety of foods will help keep you interested in continuing your diet. But there’s also an added benefit to having diverse meals. Your body will continue to crave all of the foods you were eating before you started your weight loss journey. So if you continue to add new foods and tastes, you’ll be able to satisfy some of those cravings in a positive, helpful way.
• You’re Stressed Out
It’s hard enough trying to focus only on losing weight. But add the stressors from work and life and you have to work extra hard to keep losing weight. Stressing out causes your body to release a hormone called cortisol. Among other things, cortisol is an appetite stimulant. So basically, when you begin to stress about something, you’re also telling your body that you need to eat.
• You’ve Hit The Dreaded Plateau
Unfortunately, no matter how hard you work or how well you control your foods, there will come a time where your weight loss simply stops. This is known as a plateau. Generally, the cause of this is when your body has adjusted and made your new, lower calorie-count the standard of how you live. Overcoming this plateau isn’t as difficult as you might think. Adjust your diet and exercise regimen to reflect the new you that’s lost the weight and you should be able to get back on track toward your goals.
There are many struggles involved with losing weight. From finding the time, energy and sometimes money to be able to commit to a full diet program is hard. But it’s especially hard if you feel like you’re working nothing. With a few strategic adjustments, you can get the results you’re after. Remember to fully commit to caloric and dietary changes and to be consistent. Otherwise, you’re just cheating yourself. You have to understand that the results you’ve already seen, and your overall weight loss, no matter how long, is part of a process.
