We’re well into the new year, and if you’re one of the thousands who made a commitment to lose weight in 2018, and have been practicing a healthier diet, you should be down a few pounds by now. If you made significant changes to your eating habits and haven’t seen any results, here are a few reasons why this might be happening.
Underestimation and Overestimation
The weight might not be coming off because of your estimation skills. You might be underestimating how many calories you’re consuming and overestimating how many you are actually burning.
It’s easy to forget what we put into our mouths each day. Keeping track of what you actually eat with a food diary can help you be more aware and lose more weight. Estimating portion size instead of using a scale can get you off track. Weighing food can help you better estimate calorie intake and keep you from eating too much.
Overestimating how many calories you burn during a workout can also keep you from losing weight. If you reward yourself with a big meal or a smoothie after every workout, you might be eliminating any benefit you just got from the gym.
Watch out for high sugar sports drinks, protein bars, some vitamin waters, and mixed coffee drinks – they typically have a lot of calories.
Not Enough Sleep
Our bodies need time to recharge. If the body does not get enough sleep, it can go into a carb and fat-craving cycle. Too much sleep can also be a problem. Too much or too little sleep can throw off the hormones that control appetite and hunger.
To figure out how much sleep you need, for about a week, try going to bed about eight hours before you need to wake up. If you wake up before the alarm, you might be able to get by with less sleep. If you hit snooze, you might need a bit more sleep.
Wrong Workouts
Exercising is the key to losing weight, but the wrong kinds of exercise might be keeping you from losing weight. The more muscle you have, the more fat you can burn.
Lifting weights or resistance training is a good way to keep or build muscle mass. It can also prevent your metabolism from slowing down. At the same time, don’t skip cardio. It’s an effective way to improve your health and burn a large amount of calories.
Get at least 150 minutes of exercise each week and mix up the routine a bit. Your body adapts to a workout over time, and it won’t have as much impact.
Drinking the Wrong Things
Water is one of the body’s favorite things. Drinking too little of it can keep you from losing weight. One study shows people who drank 500ml of water 30 minutes before each meal lost more weight than people who did not. Drinking water can also boost your metabolism.
Alcohol, in particular, is a drink that has a lot of calories. Therefore, drinking too much could sabotage weight loss.
Just make sure you’re aware of the amount of calories in a certain drink before consuming it – you might be drinking more calories than you think.
Unrealistic Expectations
We like things to happen quickly in our lives, and sometimes weight loss just isn’t one of them. The focus shouldn’t be on losing a lot of weight in a small amount of time, but rather developing healthy eating habits that can be maintained over a long period of time, which can also end in weight loss.
Setting a goal weight can also be counter-productive. Instead, try focusing on a goal body fat percentage.
If you want to talk with someone about losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the professionals at B3 Medical can help. Give us a call today.
