30-Second Summary
In this article, we’ll be taking a deep dive into 6 lifestyle changes you can make to help you lose weight. We’ll look at different reasons why your weight loss journey is not progressing, and learn about simple changes that can be made to hit those goals.
- Portion sizing and snacking
- Dangers of a high-calorie approach
- The side effects of stress
- Bad sleep hygiene
- The importance of water
- Setting realistic expectations
Introduction
It’s not uncommon for weight loss journeys to hit a plateau, yet that doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to experience this kind of set-back forever.
If you’ve been working out regularly and trying to eat healthily yet you’re still not hitting your weight loss goals, it can be frustrating.
It’s important to note that you’re not alone. A lot of people struggle with losing weight, and even though the pounds may have been shedding at the beginning, many people hit a plateau at some point during their journey.
Nevertheless, we’re all different and our bodies don’t always react well to certain diet plans or exercise routines. Also, it’s not uncommon for people to self-sabotage when it comes to weight loss either by expecting results to occur too quickly or simply by not following the best diet plan for their unique circumstances.
More often than not, a few small lifestyle adjustments can make all the difference. Take the actionable steps covered in this article to get your weight loss goals back on track.
6 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight
Here are the six reasons you might be holding yourself back on your weight loss journey. Fix these minor issues and watch the numbers start to fall off the scale once again.
- Not eating adequate portion sizes – A common question that pops up for most people following some form of weight loss plan tends to be “is snacking bad?”
Eating snacks or grab-and-go foods instead of sitting down to a mindful meal makes it easier to overeat because you become out of tune with your body’s natural hunger cues.
To avoid snacking, sit down to routine meals away from different forms of distraction so you can mindfully tune back into your body’s satiety signals. This means no more “screen time dinners!”
Another tip is to make sure you’re eating slowly and savoring every mouthful. This will give your body the time to respond and realize that it’s been fed.
- High-calorie foods – Daily smoothies may seem like a healthy option, yet they can be extremely high in calories and don’t do much to satiate hunger – especially when compared to other products or options available on the market.
Most people probably wouldn’t sit down and eat four oranges in one sitting, yet that’s how many are probably in one juice or smoothie. Not to mention the rest of the ingredients list. Smoothies also contain added sugars such as syrup or honey and other high-calorie products such as nut butter.
Instead of opting for high-calorie foods, try to change your morning routine to include Modere Trim, a plant-derived conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, clinically shown to decrease body fat when used as part of a healthy diet and exercise program. Still, there are other brands on the market that you can pick.
- Your stress levels are too high – Stress signals could indicate a life or death situation. The body’s stress response system is subconscious, meaning that it responds to certain stimuli and creates a subsequent action.
Stress drives the body to produce a well-known hormone called cortisol that is commonly referred to as the “fight-or-flight hormone.” Cortisol catabolizes muscle, aggravates insulin resistance, and may promote fat storage. For these reasons, stress can be a weight-loss killer and hold you back from shedding those extra pounds.
- Sleep deprivation – Sleep is crucial in helping your body rest and recover from working out, yet it can be hard to get enough hours of shuteye.
You need to get at least the recommended amount of 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. You can also evaluate your bedroom environment and address your pre-bedtime habits that could be lessening your deep sleep windows to ensure you’re getting quality rest.
If you need to catch a few extra zzzs, then a quick power nap might do the job. Just make sure you don’t hit the snooze button on a workday, as that won’t help!
- Not enough water – Similarly to sleep, water is a vital component of weight loss.
If you’re not drinking enough water, feelings of lethargy or not functioning at your best should come as no surprise. Likewise, it’s also no wonder that the excess weight you’re putting on isn’t falling off despite your best efforts.
Without the correct amount of daily water, our bodies simply can’t work. Drink a couple of glasses of water first thing in the morning to rehydrate your body and get it ready for the day ahead. Also, it’s important to drink at least one glass of water with every meal.
- Your expectations are unrealistic – Finally, an important thing to note is that you may well be losing weight yet not be processing the figures correctly. This can occur when individuals create an unreasonable weight-loss goal that is impossible to meet within the specified deadline.
Weight loss can be a slow process. And if you’ve already made all the lifestyle changes that are covered in this article, chances are you’re already living extremely healthfully and need to give your body the time to catch up.
If you’re placing yourself under lots of pressure, you’re just going to create a stress response, and that doesn’t help with weight loss.
Conclusion
Next time you hear yourself asking why you’re not losing weight, make sure to revisit this article, and read through it again. There are reasons why people don’t lose as much weight as they intended, but it’s important to not let the scale numbers kill your motivation.
If a plateau is hit, you can always opt to try some of the best weight loss supplements on the market. These can be fantastic tools to get you back on track!
The trick is to not put unnecessary pressure on yourself. If you make these lifestyle changes, the results will ultimately take care of themselves.