Sticking to a strict routine of diet and exercise can be a lot of work. But the problem is, a lot of the time we’re taught that that’s the only way to really lose weight and keep it off. That’s why it’s extremely frustrating to pour all your effort into sticking to the routine and see little to no results. If you are at the point of googling “why am I not losing weight with diet and exercise,” you’re probably near your breaking point.
Don’t lose hope! You might just not be approaching your weight loss efforts in the right way. In fact, you might even be trying things that are making it more difficult to lose weight. Instead of giving up, it may just be time to reevaluate your strategy.
Here are a few things to consider before giving up on your healthy habits.
Why am I not Losing Weight with My Diet?
Food, whether it’s restricting it or changing your diet, is often the biggest struggle for people when it comes to losing weight. And that’s completely understandable. A lot of the time, the instructions differ drastically from one diet to another. More than that, they might often come across as vague or unsubstantiated.
Here are a few tips that will help you better direct your food habits.
You Aren’t Eating Enough
This might sound counterintuitive, but in reality, most people aren’t actually eating enough.
Drastically restricting your calories all at once makes your body drop into starvation mode. As a result, it sends all sorts of signals telling you to eat more.
That’s why these diet plans are unrealistic for long-term use. Instead, people usually get stuck in a cycle of dieting and binging. You can stick to the plan for a while but when you stop seeing results, you might eventually break and eat too much of the wrong things. Then, you’re back at square one.
Try thinking of starvation mode as similar to the power saver mode on your phone. When trying to preserve energy, it cuts back on several functions that burn up a lot of power. It’s the same principle.
When you don’t eat enough, your thyroid, metabolism, and blood pressure are all slowed down. Each of these functions are essential to your good health.
For women specifically, this bodily reaction can also affect your hormones, actually causing weight gain instead of weight loss.
Limit, Don’t Avoid
It’s a basic part of human nature that people want what they can’t have. Tell yourself you can’t have any carbs ever, and you’re going to break and binge carbs eventually.
But just because you are trying to lose weight doesn’t mean you have to punish yourself. Instead of cutting yourself off, go for balance instead.
Try limiting portion sizes and amounts and using the foods you love as treats and rewards. You might find that you do cut back a little, but by no means should you have to avoid it entirely.
In actuality, avoiding food also tends to cut out food groups entirely. This can deprive you of vitamins and nutrients necessary for your body to function.
Other Reasons You are Not Losing Weight
Taking care of your overall health is an important part of losing weight.
If your body isn’t healthy, the systems aren’t going to work properly. As a result, it’ll be harder to lose the fat.
Here are two things you need to do to help keep your body healthy for weight loss.
Get Enough Sleep
If you aren’t sleeping well, you are actually at a higher risk for obesity. Lack of sleep affects your hormones and metabolism, which often causes weight gain.
Not getting enough sleep will also lower your inhibitions, making you far more likely to reach for snacks. On top of that, many find that the more you eat later on in the day, the harder it is to fall asleep.
Overall, it’s recommended that adults get 7-8 hours consistently every night. Besides making it easier to lose weight, you’ll feel better, have more energy, and function better.
Reduce Your Stress
Stress is terrible for your long-term health. It slows your metabolism, causes blood sugar problems, and inflammation. Each of these problems put more stress on your body and can cause weight gain as a result.
In your body, the natural reaction to stress is to store away energy to protect you from stressful events. Your body can’t actually tell the difference between starving and running for your life from dieting and strenuous exercise. In either case, it goes into panic mode and continues to store fat as a means of protection.
The problem is, trying to lose weight in and of itself can be a stressful endeavor. You might feel like you don’t have time for exercise, or the means for cooking or eating healthy meals. Many people also turn to food as a way to soothe their stress.
These unhealthy choices add up and are detrimental to your weight loss goals.
Try to find some other ways to manage your stress, or keep an eye on how you react to stressful situations for better results.
Working Out But Not Losing Weight?
Exercise is great for your body, but it’s actually not the primary tool for losing weight.
No matter how much you exercise, it won’t do any good if you aren’t balancing it with a fully nutritional diet. Running an extra mile isn’t going to combat poor and inconsistent food choices. In some cases, it sometimes puts more stress on your systems, causing you to gain weight instead of losing it.
Focus less on strenuous exercise and more on eating to support your body’s functions.
Sustainable Weight Loss with Metabolism Reboot
If you have tried diet after diet and still feel like you aren’t making progress, contact us today to learn how Metabolism Reboot can help you make a real change.
Learn about sustainable weight loss without extreme dieting or exercise with Metabolism Reboot. We teach you how to reboot your metabolism to promote permanent weight loss. Schedule a call to learn how to rebalance your hormones and reduce inflammation.