A lot of people who want to lose weight torture themselves with one diet after another, with none ever leading to the desired results. Sometimes you feel like you’re doing everything right, yet still not getting results. But you might be surprised to find out that a few simple changes will lead to big results on the scale. So before you give up all hope, let’s take a look at reasons why you’re not losing weight.
1. You Don’t Drink Enough Water
Drinking water cleanses your body of toxins and keeps it well hydrated. Without enough water, your body will retain what little moisture it has, resulting in the dreaded “water weight”. Ironically, the answer to the water weight problem is drinking more water. Your body will then realize there isn’t a drought after all and flush out whatever it doesn’t need.
2. You Don’t Have a Support Team
Going it alone is especially hard on those nights when your partner is chowing on a huge plate of nachos. If you can’t get him or her to join in your healthy lifestyle, try reaching out to a friend or coworker who has the same mindset you do. Be a support to each other by planning your meals for the week together and calling or texting when you feel the urge to cheat.
3. You Don’t Sleep Enough
Sleeping regenerates your body so you can face another day. Lack of sleep causes cravings for sugary foods, since they are a quick pick-me-up. However, they are also laden with calories. Not sleeping enough also causes your body to emit stress hormones that impede your weight loss. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night, and make sure you put away electronic devices well before bedtime to avoid needless stimulation.
4. You Don’t Get Enough Veggies
Vegetables cleanse the blood and provide valuable nutrients to keep blood sugar levels healthy. This aids in eliminating food cravings and keeping hormone levels in check. Work up to filling your plate 50-75% full with vegetables.
5. You’re On a Diet When It’s Convenient
Often, we have the misconception that we can only eat healthy when we’re home, it’s been thoroughly planned out, and there are no extra events or stress going on in life.
If you only diet when this is the case, you’ll probably find that you’re only eating healthy about 5% of the year. In fact, healthy choices are abundant, and when they are incorporated into your lifestyle it won’t seem like a stressful event every time you’re scrounging around for something to eat — it will just be second nature.
6. You’re Drinking Your Calories
A bottle of cola contains upwards of 240 calories! That may not seem like a huge number, but if you have even two sodas a week, you are adding almost 25,000 calories to your diet every year! That’s around seven pounds of weight gain.
Not to be overlooked are sugary coffee drinks, energy drinks, and fruit juice drinks. All of these could easily be the culprit in your weight gain. Even diet soda has been known, not only to cause health issues, but also to mess with your metabolism in a negative way.
So skip the liquid calories, and reach for a bottle of water instead.
7. You Don’t Eat Breakfast
In theory, skipping a meal creates a calorie deficit, and that’s good, right? Well, in practice it actually slows down your metabolism, leading to weight gain. During the night you have been fasting. Now that you’re awake and need energy, you need to let your body know that you’re not in starvation mode.
8. You Think Walking Fluffy Is Enough Exercise If you have any beloved furry friends, you likely take them out for walks so they can do their business. However, chances are this is not the calorie-burning exercise your body requires for weight loss.
We tend to mosey and meander with our pets, which doesn’t exactly burn the fat. Of course, any movement is good so don’t give up walking your poochie (for both of your sakes). You’ll just need to add some real cardio into the mix as well.