You’re not eating enough. When you eat less calories than your body needs, your body will think it’s starving and start to store more fat instead of burning it. Make sure you are eating enough by counting how many calories a day you are consuming. 500 calories below what your body needs is the right amount for losing weight slowly and steadily. (Slowly is better so that you can actually make permanent changes to your lifestyle.)
Nutritionists recommend eating as much vegetables as possible because they have very low calories but are high in fiber, water, and volume which makes them very filling. For example, 1 cup of broccoli has 31 total calories (5 from protein, 5 from carbs and 21 from fat), while the same amount of chocolate chip cookies contains 482 calories (9 from protein, 56 from carbs and 427 from fat). It is easy to overeat on high-calorie foods like cookies that don’t fill us up! That means you can eat a lot more vegetables than sweets without gaining weight.
Cardio is a fantastic way to burn fat, boost your cardiovascular health, and improve your overall fitness level. However, there is a limit to how much exercise can be beneficial for your body. If you’re already doing several hours of cardio each week, it’s not going to help you lose weight—and could actually cause more harm than good. For the best results when it comes to weight loss, combine high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with regular strength training and consistent cardio sessions limited to 30 minutes or less. If you really want results, take these tips even further:
Challenge yourself by adding in more full-body moves that call on multiple muscle groups at once such as squats, push ups, or deadlifts.
Add in an extra day of rest per week so your muscles have time to recover and grow stronger.
Use a Fitbit or myzone heart rate monitor so you can track your heart rate during workouts and make sure you’re not overdoing it!
Caffeinated beverages and those with added sugars are the main drinks that will contribute to your weight gain. Alcoholic and sugary sodas, sports drinks, lattes, and fruit juices can all drastically increase your calorie consumption.
A good rule of thumb is to limit calories from beverages to about 10% of your daily intake. If you consume 2,000 calories in a day, a maximum of 200 of those should come from liquids. You’ll want to be conscious about what kinds of drinks you’re consuming, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.
Here are some examples of low-calorie or calorie-free beverages: water (and flavored waters), teas (hot or cold), black coffee and other coffees without added sweeteners or creamers (try almond milk instead!).
To make sure you’re doing everything in your power to meet your weight loss goals, reconsider how much sugar goes into the beverages you drink on a daily basis. Try sugar-free options when possible!
Sleep plays an important role in weight loss—it affects your hunger, your stress levels, and your body’s ability to burn calories. If you don’t get enough sleep, you may eat more the next day during the day. Or you might be too tired for your regular exercise class. Lack of sleep can make losing weight even harder than it already is.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that if you sleep long hours you will lose weight faster but if you are not getting enough sleep then it might cause some problems with losing weight
If you’re frustrated by your lack of results, don’t give up! Success is just around the corner. There are a few common reasons why people don’t lose weight, and with a simple mindset shift, you can be on your way to making progress in no time. Stay motivated and keep chipping away at it until you find what works for you. You might be surprised how many people are successful once they finally find a method that works for them.
Instead of giving up or feeling discouraged about where you’re at in your fitness journey, take a moment to regroup and set realistic goals for yourself. Rest assured that even incremental progress is still progress—and as long as you stick with it, it will amount to something great! It’s not always easy to stay motivated when things aren’t going as well as you’d hoped, but the positive results will come if you keep working towards them.