You’re going to the gym, but just not seeing the results? You’re trying to change your diet but still the scale isn’t going down. There are many reasons why weight loss doesn’t happen the way you want it to. Not sure what’s wrong and where to start? Here are 13 reasons why you’re still not losing weight and what you can do about it, to start getting results today.
Reason #1 – You’re Not Eating Enough Calories
Yes, it’s true, if you’re under eating, the result can be just as catastrophic to your weight loss efforts as eating too much. While it is important to eat fewer calories in order to lose weight, you also don’t need to go to extreme low calorie reductions either.
For one, when you under eat for prolonged periods, the body thinks it’s in starvation mode, and as a result instead of burning off fat it stores it! In fact, this can also up-set your metabolism. Studies have shown that prolonged ultra low calorie diets slow down metabolic rate, and can cause uncontrollable cravings and hunger, while also reducing lean mass. That means your body eats away at available lean protein from your muscle, and holds on to your fat! The result – you look skinny fat instead of trim and toned!
Reason #2 – You Think Fat Makes You Fat
The Mediterranean diet has long been shown to have many health benefits, and many of those benefits have been linked to its high fat content from monounsaturated or MUFAs and polyunsaturated fats or PUFAs. These fats have been suggested to increase fat oxidation, decrease fat storage, reduce hunger and improve body composition.
Eat a diet that provides healthy fats rich in both MUFAs and PUFAs including olives, olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, nut butters, seeds and coconut oil. Your diet should provide about 30% of its calories from healthy fat options.
Reason #3 – You Still Drink Your Calories
If you have been following a healthy, reduced calorie diet but are still drinking juices, adding cream to your coffee and drinking alcohol you’re not helping yourself. Fruit juices can deliver extra calories in the form of sugar, while a dab of coffee cream might not seem like many calories, having multiple coffees can cause the calories to quickly add up!
As for alcohol, not only does it provide empty calories, the process of metabolizing alcohol causes every other process in your body to stop in order to remove the alcohol – including fat burning.
Switch most of your beverages to water instead of juice, trying having your coffee black or with non-fat milk and limit your alcohol consumption.
Reason #4 – You Don’t Sleep Enough
Being busy can mean limited sleep. Sleep is critical to feeling energetic, recovered and keeping you healthy. But did you also know that a lack of sleep can slow weight loss.
Recent research has shown that not getting enough sleep can actually affect your ability to lose weight. It was found that those who got 5.5 hours lost less fat and more muscle than the group that got 8.5 hours of sleep. All participants were given the same caloric intake and activity regimen. Losing lean body mass is an unwanted side effect of all weight-loss diets. After all, the more lean mass you have the more active your metabolism will be!
What’s more, limited sleep can also result in an up-set of the regulation of two important hunger hormones, ghrelin and leptin. Without sleep, these hormones remain turned on, causing hunger to continue. Aim for at least 8 hours of sleep every night!
Reason #5 – You’re Expectations Are Wrong
Weight loss takes time. Healthy and sustainable weight loss should occur at a rate of 0.5 to 1 kilo per week. Although, it is possible to lose more weight in the beginning, over time this weight loss will slow down.
To make the most out of your weight loss, it is important to set realistic expectations, it’s not enough simply to diet and exercise. You need to make sure you’re following a consistent approach with your diet, including eating the right food and the right amounts, combining it with consistent exercise.
Remember that it’s not just about the number on the scale, you don’t want to just lose weight but also change your body composition to one that is leaner, trimmer and more metabolic!
There you have it, five simple reasons on why your weight loss is not working for you!
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