I hear people report that they diet and work out and track their calories and do all the right things but still are not losing weight. Sometimes the answer isn't easy to come by and a full health assessment by your physician is appropriate. Most often when someone isn't making progress the answer may be found in these common and all-too human mistakes.
You are eating back all the calories you burn. When you work out you are burning extra calories. That's why exercise is so important in the weight-loss process. But many people overestimate how much they burn and even use the exercise excuse to overindulge. Have you ever told yourself, "Well I worked out today so this treat is OK."? Or, "I'll have this now but work out extra hard tomorrow to burn it off."? If this sounds all too familiar it may be one reason you are not losing weight. In order for exercise to help you lose, you can't re-eat all those extra calories you burned.
You're relying on exercise alone to do the trick. Exercise alone will not help you lose wight. Let me repeat that, exercise alone will not help you lose weight. Exercise does burn calories, but usually not as much as people think. A full hour of intense exercise may only burn 400 - 500 calories for a lot of people. On the other hand, it's easy to eat hundreds, even thousands, of calories in a few minutes. If you are not changing what you eat and reducing your calorie intake, exercise alone probably won't provide the help you need.
You are not eating as healthfully as you think. We all think we eat pretty well. Especially when we frame it in the context of how others around us eat. The truth is that the majority of people could and should improve their diets immensely. If you are not meeting basic guidelines for a healthy diet (which involve far more than just counting calories alone) and you don't track your nutrition intake to see how it all adds up, you shouldn't make assumptions about how well you actually eat. For those of you choosing those weight-loss in a shake and bar solutions, it really does matter what other real foods are in your daily intake. A generally accepted guideline to sustaining a healthy diet and weight is that no more than 50% of the nutrients your body needs and gets should come from supplements (regardless of the form of the supplement). Ideally, the highest percentage of nutrients we consume should come from whole (not processed) foods. Research confirms that people underestimate the quantity of food they eat, so read labels and measure.
You're doing the wrong kind of exercise. If you are exercising regularly, you are already doing a very important thing to improve your health. But when it comes to exercising for weight loss, there's a lot of confusion out there. All types of exercise will burn calories, which can help with weight loss. Weight loss is all about burning calories and cardio is still the calorie-burning king. But, strength training is important too, so that you can manage your energy and the amount of muscle versus fat that contributes to your weight loss. The best exercise plan emphasizes cardio for calorie burning and includes strength training to preserve lean muscle. Both are important. Neither approach can do everything by itself.
You are not being consistent enough. When you are struggling to lose those last 5 or 10 pounds or to overcome a plateau, consistency in your efforts (both healthy eating and exercise) is even more important. It is common to choose and stick to a strict diet and fitness program for days or weeks at a time. But, those rigorous programs don't always help you build the healthy habits that you will be able to sustain as a new lifestyle. Short bursts of eating perfectly and exercising religiously may not show results on the scale. Assess the reasonableness and regularity of what you are choosing and doing.
Successful, permanent weight loss is not a onetime event. It is an integration of healthy diet choices and regular physical activity that becomes a sustainable new lifestyle for you and your family. That means taking the time to learn about options, find tasty, healthy food choices and explore exercise and fitness options to find ones that are fun for you.
Good luck and please feel free to contact me if I may provide additional information and support.
barbarajlaird.zumba.com
gettingfitwithbj@gmail.com
