Why are you not losing weight?

Ever felt like the saying “determination is the road to success” does not work for you especially when you really are not losing weight even when it seems you are doing the right things to achieve that.  You are not alone.

Several women spend time and hard earned money dieting, engaging in rigorous workouts and going as far as tracking their calorie intake just to lose weight but alas the weight does not come off as much as they hope and this really explains why the rate of obesity keeps rising.

Its normal to wonder why and what you are doing wrong that you are not losing weight or even feel totally discouraged and give up! Before you do however, you would be surprised that your lifestyle might be the culprit. Shocking but true, once these habits are adjusted, you would pleasantly surprise to see the weight fall off very easily.

  1. Your Body Is Under A Lot Of Stress

It is understandable that stress is a way of life in this 21st century. What with the struggle to survive in this crazy world.

Now what does stress has to do with weight you might ask. This might come as a shock to you but stress is connected to weight gain. Ever heard of the stress hormone called cortisol? The higher your stress levels, the higher the cortisol level which increases appetite and increases cravings for carbohydrates and other junk foods.

Even if and when you succeed and do not give in to craving, cortisol still leads to weight gain because it promotes fat storage especially around the abdominal area and we all know that is one of the most difficult areas for the body to lose weight.

2. Not Getting Enough Sleep Might Be Another Reason Why You Are Not Losing Weight

Research has shown that there exists a relationship between sleep duration and weight gain. Sleep duration of less than five hours or more than nine hours at night tends to increase the likelihood of weight gain. this means that even if you are doing all the right workouts and diets but still depriving yourself of sleep, the weight builds up and as such, the scales wont bulge.

Furthermore, leptin, which is a hormone that controls hunger and feeling of satiety, is only released during certain periods of sleep and skipping this sleep period causes hormonal imbalance such that instead of the body to burn calories, it stores them invariably causing weight gain.

Read Also: 10 Ways To Get Flat Belly Without diet or exercise

Yay! Now this is one perfect reason to turn in early and ignore your favorite late night show.

  1. Not Drinking Enough Water

Good old H2O is never to be ignored in your quest for an effective weight loss. Many people do not like to drink water and as such end up not drinking enough of it. They would rather prefer to drink something with lots of sugar or even caffeine of which sadly rather dehydrates the body.

Not drinking enough water throws the body out of balance by causing weight gain and fluid retention.

It is normal to confess at this point that you actually do not drink enough water. Well, if you are looking for a motivation to drink lots of it, here are some reasons why you should.

Water helps suppress appetite: whenever you feel hungry, you are always quick to reach for a snack or something filling thinking that it is all about food. Unfortunately, all the body needs might be water. In drinking water, you are less likely to eat too much and thus lose weight easily.

Water helps in the metabolism of stored fats: research has shown that when the body does not have sufficient water, fat deposit will increase and vice versa. This is so because the kidneys become dehydrated and pass on the bulk of their load onto the liver. Because the liver becomes so overworked, it is unable to metabolize the fat but instead stores it and you are unable to lose weight

Water detoxifies the system and helps with fluid retention: insufficient water in the system causes the body to hoard the available water hence resulting in fluid retention which adds to weight. To combat this menace, ensure that you drink a lot of water. Moreover, water serves as a detoxifying agent as it helps gets rid of excess sodium in the body.

It is quite easy from these reasons to see how important sufficient water intake is in effective weight loss. Endeavour to drink at least eight glasses a day(or more depending on your fiber intake).

  1. You Live A Sedentary Lifestyle

It is not just enough to engage in rigorous workouts at dedicated times of the day while claiming to be on a weight loss program and still being sedentary for the remaining period of time. It just doesn’t work because our bodies are not cut out for such.

People who are fond of sitting at their desks in front of the computers or attending to customers are the worst hit. They find out that the scales just won’t bulge despite all workouts. Well that is no surprise really because research has shown that prolonged sitting causes the body to stop producing fat burning hormones and standing more and sitting less is an easy way to burn calories.

What is the remedy? I have found that setting a timer to remind me every hour or thereabout to get up or even stretch for some few minutes just about eliminates the sedentary lifestyle.

  1. Dieting mistakes

Are you dieting but guilty of some of the below mistakes. You can be sure it is going to be an uphill task succeeding in your weight loss quest

Not engaging in mindful eating- rushing to finish is one bad habit a lot have cultivated probably due to the hectic nature of our lives. Unfortunately this has caused many to over eat because they don’t take time to savor their food and pay attention to the feeling of fullness hence eating less.

Skipping meals especially breakfast: unfortunately, this would not help in effective weight loss as people who skip breakfast usually weight more than those who don’t.

Adjust your lifestyle with the guide and you will see that the scales not only bulge the way you want but you feel lighter, happier and more comfortable with your body all day and every day.