Why are you not losing weight?

This article talks about reasons why you are not able to lose weight, and ways to overcome your weight loss plateau.

• Keep track of your eating: Being aware of what you are eating is very important, so try to keep a food diary when you are trying to lose weight.

• Lack of protein: Protein is the most important macronutrient when it comes to losing weight. It helps to boost metabolism, reduces cravings and helps to control appetite. High protein intake also helps to prevent weight regain, therefore keep up with a high protein intake.

• High-calorie intake: If you are facing difficulty in losing weight then you should keep a check on your total calorie intake as you may be eating more calories. Track your calories and keep a nutrition goal where 30% of your calories should come from protein.

• Eat whole foods: The quality and quantity of food that you eat plays a big role in weight loss. Eat good quality whole foods and avoid processed food items as much as you can in your diet.

• Resistance training: It is very important to lift weights when you are trying to lose weight as it helps to maintain your muscle mass and helps your body to burn more body fat. Strength training helps to boost our metabolism and contributes to a long term fat loss.

• Binge eating on healthy food: It is a side effect of “dieting” when you rapidly eat more food than your body requirement. Healthy foods like nuts, dark chocolate, nut butter, etc. are high-calorie foods, and binge eating on them can ruin your weight loss efforts.

• Do cardio: Aerobic exercise like cycling, jogging, swimming increases our heart rate and helps to improve our overall health. It is the best way to burn the disease-causing visceral fat (belly fat) that builds up around our organs. Perform cardio exercises as it is the best way to overcome a weight loss plateau.

• Avoid drinking sugar: Beverages like vitamin water, colas, fruit juices are all loaded with sugar which is the most fattening item. To avoid all these sugary beverages and eat whole fruits.

• Sleep well: Good sleep is directly related to ones mental and physical health. Poor sleep causes weight gain and hinders your weight loss progress. Maintain proper sleep hygiene.

• Hydration: Drinking adequate amount of water helps to lose weight. It reduces our calorie intake and boosts calorie burning.

In conclusion, weight loss depends on a lot of factors. So it becomes very important for us to be mindful of our eating and adopt strategies ranging from doing strength training to eating a high protein diet. It is all about self-discipline, dedication, resilience and perseverance.

References :

• Hoertel, H. A., Will, M. J., & Leidy, H. J. (2014). A randomized crossover, pilot study examining the effects of a normal protein vs. high protein breakfast on food cravings and reward signals in overweight/obese “breakfast skipping”, late-adolescent girls. Nutrition journal, 13, 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-13-80

• Hunter, G. R., Byrne, N. M., Sirikul, B., Fernández, J. R., Zuckerman, P. A., Darnell, B. E., & Gower, B. A. (2008). Resistance training conserves fat-free mass and resting energy expenditure following weight loss. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 16(5), 1045–1051. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.38

• Vartanian, L. R., Schwartz, M. B., & Brownell, K. D. (2007). Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American journal of public health, 97(4), 667–675. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2005.083782

• Cappuccio, F. P., Taggart, F. M., Kandala, N. B., Currie, A., Peile, E., Stranges, S., & Miller, M. A. (2008). Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep, 31(5), 619–626. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/31.5.619

• Boschmann, M., Steiniger, J., Hille, U., Tank, J., Adams, F., Sharma, A. M., Klaus, S., Luft, F. C., & Jordan, J. (2003). Water-induced thermogenesis. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 88(12), 6015–6019. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-030780