3 Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight

8:50 AM Weight Loss Trainer 0 Comments

The western world has gotten into a bit of a state with regard to obesity and general unhealthy habits. You don’t have to look far to find someone who has been/is on a diet but just can’t seem to lose those extra pounds, or someone who has dieted, lost the weight and then put it all back on again. For some reason, weight loss has been built up to become an enigma, a myth, the Holy Grail that so many people search for but can never seem to get. The frustration of it all leads many people to depression and self-loathing and in the end they just give up and learn to accept that they may never have that slim, toned body they’ve long desired.

The tragedy of it all is that it’s not as complicated as a lot of people make it. With that in mind, here some reasons you may not be losing weight and more importantly, a solution on how to fix it.

Reason: You're Starting Off to Strict

People always seem to start off their weight loss battle because of a shock they’ve had, for instance, someone has looked at their, perhaps, too rounded stomach and asked them when the babies due. With that they then go out, guns blazing, trying the strictest, toughest diet and workout plan they can find, in the hope that the weight is going to fly off after one week. Ultimately it all becomes a bit too much and they go back to their old habits.

Solution: Relax

The chances are, you’re not ready for something like that, just yet. Instead, relax. Lance Armstrong didn’t start his cycling career by riding Tour De France distances every weekend; he slowly built up to it. Just start off by cutting down on your bad foods and aim to leave the gym feeling good each session, not completely fatigued. Once your comfortable with what you’re doing and you’re not craving the foods you once did, you can then start to build it up to being junk food free and start doing some tougher gym sessions.

Reason: You're Using Exercise as an Excuse to Binge

Most people are guilty of it at some stage. You have what feels like a tough workout, perhaps you’ve spent the last 40 minutes or so on the treadmill and because of that, you then feel you deserve to gorge on a large pizza.

Now it’s ok to treat yourself every now again, in fact it can sometimes be beneficial, however there is a limit, especially when you’re struggling to lose weight in first place. Sure, if it has been a tough workout then a lot of what you eat will be put to use by the body in replenishing its energy stores. However, the aim is still to cut calories and if you’ve only burnt, say 500-600 calories in that workout and then eat a 700-800 calorie pizza, you haven’t done yourself any favours.

Solution: Eat Something Healthy Straight Away

If you eat something healthy and filling as soon as you can, then you are less likely to want to binge on the unhealthy foods later. Try not to leave it too long after your workout before eating something; even better, take a protein bar/shake with you to the gym so you have something straight after your workout. That way you wont be as hungry later on and can make better food choices.

Reason: You Go Shopping on an Empty Stomach

A lot of people tend to go and do their weekly shopping just after a busy day working, they haven’t eaten anything since lunchtime and so the hunger is starting to set in. Of course the problem with this is they then see a row of delicious looking pastries or decide they cant wait any longer to cook all the food and, thus, go for the easy looking microwave dinner.

Solution: Eat Before You Go

The solution is fairly obvious; eat before you go, even if it’s just a bit of fruit while you’re walking around the aisles, anything to keep your hunger at bay so you’re not as easily tempted by the diet-finishing foods.