Let’s face it, we all have those pounds that we seem to never be able to lose. It may be just those five pounds you have left before you hit your goal weight, or maybe you have 15 to lose to get you back to your healthiest. Either way, it can be difficult to get rid of those stubborn pounds, especially if you feel like you’re doing everything right. So I have found some reasons you may not have thought of or considered, that could be the reasons why you aren’t losing weight.
Sometimes it really is that simple; calories in vs. calories out. It doesn’t matter that you are only eating chicken and broccoli if you are having it six times a day. To lose weight, you need to be consuming fewer calories than you are burning. I am not a huge calorie counter, but when I want to lose a couple of pounds, I track my calories for a week. You can download any calorie counter app, my favorite is MyFitnessPal. Just input the prompted information and your goals and it will show how many calories you should be consuming daily. This will help you see if you are simply overeating and you can adjust accordingly. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why you aren’t losing weight.
It’s great to have fitness be a part of your weight loss, but if you are doing the same workout day after day, week after week, you may have found your issue. Your body is smarter than you think, it adjusts to its environment. If you start running 3 miles a day, five days a week, you will lose weight… for a while. But eventually, your body will adapt to its expectations. The 3 miles will become easier and easier, and that means you will not get the same weight loss results you did when you started. You need to switch it up. I’m not saying you have to do a different workout every day, but consider changing it up every couple of weeks. Something as simple as changing the speed of your run from steady to intervals could help you lose the weight.
It may seem crazy but, not working out can help you lose weight. Your body needs rest, it needs to recover in order to perform properly. If you are hitting the gym twice a day in hopes of slimming down for summer, I have bad news for you; you are going to burn out. By giving your body 24 hours between intense workouts, and at least one full day off a week, you are allowing your body to sustain this type of activity rather than putting it into a panic, where it will hold onto fat and not perform during physical activities.
This is a big one for me. I am a firm believer in racing against yourself. If you are doing a workout, maybe you’re running, or walking on an incline, or doing a circuit, ask yourself if you are pushing as hard as you can. If you want to get to your best self, you are going to have to push through your worst self, the one who wants to stay in the comfort zone, who offers all the excuses to quit early, or who says you’ll look stupid if you try that exercise. You are the only person who can push yourself, no one will do it for you, and so make sure you do. Don’t let yourself be one of the key reasons why you aren’t losing weight.
It is insane the control our minds have over our bodies. Stress is probably one of the biggest reasons people hold onto weight. Stress increases cortisol levels in your body which can cause your blood sugar to drop and your body to crave what we call comfort foods. Here’s the simple version, stress leads to binge eating and fat storing. So you may be doing everything right as far as clean eating and exercise, but if you are constantly stressing over one thing or another, you are sabotaging your weight loss goals. My tip is to find a time to decompress every day, either first thing in the morning or right before bed. This will help you keep an internal environment that is primed for weight loss.
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