Working out like crazy and (supposedly) eating right but still not dropping the pounds? Want to but can't check off "athletic" on your internet dating profile? Check out these reasons why you're NOT losing weight that you might not have ever known about:
You don’t really know what’s healthy
There are so many misconceptions about what makes for healthy munching. Some bad foods have been mislabeled as good-for-you foods for so long that it can be surprising to learn the truth. Do yourself a favor: if you’ve been busting your ass working out and you believe you’re eating the right things, break down your diet and research every single thing you’re eating.
For example, you might think you’re loading up on protein with all those nuts you snack on throughout the day but you’re not paying any attention to the fact that a lot of nuts are 50% fat. You might be getting protein to help fuel your workout but you could still end up packing on the pounds. Don’t rely on what you think you know; research your food for real.
You’re in a workout rut
Remember when you first started that routine of a 20 minute run followed by 30 minutes of intense yoga and it completely killed you? Gradually, it got a little easier and eventually, you could kick through it with hardly breaking a sweat. Chances are the changes you were seeing in your body upon first starting this program started to level out as your tolerance adjusted.
Maintaining what your body is used to is a fine way to maintain your current weight but if your goal is to continue to drop the pounds, you have to consistently challenge yourself. If you’re ass isn’t kicked by the end of every workout, you weren’t trying hard enough.
You get distracted
Bringing a friend to the gym can be great motivation; a little healthy competition can often give you the push you need. But this plan can backfire when you and your pal end up gabbing the whole time. You might not realize it but if you have enough energy to get wrapped up in a play-by-play of your date last night, you probably aren’t dedicated as much power to your workout as you could or should be.
So don’t be surprised if buddy time at the gym yields less amazing results than you’d like. Same goes for things like watching TV or talking on the phone. Let exercise time be your focus-and-unwind time. Concentrating that hard on your body’s subtle movements for long periods of time can do wonders to clear your mind and relax you.
You’re not eating
You’ve probably heard it before but I’ll say it again: you have to eat to lose weight. You just have to. I know that you know this but I also know that when you’ve been working out hard and you’re feeling like you’re starting to make a little progress, every bite you take makes you feel like you’re derailing your progress.
It can be a hard mentality to break out of. The trick is to re-program your brain into thinking about food as fuel, not food as fat. As long as you’re choosing the right things to put into your body, they’re going to do nothing but increase your metabolism (so you start burning calories faster) and give you greater workout energy. The truth is, if you eat very little (or not at all…but don’t do that), your body functions slower and it instinctively holds onto the fat it has.
Hot-Flash
50 / Female
Comments: 13
Posted on October 26, 2009, 9:35 am
You're right on with the last point. Far too many people try to shed pounds by "just not eating".
