Have you been dieting, spending time in the gym yet not seeing any improvements on the scale or your physical appearance? You are not alone! This happens to many people, though not for the same reasons, there are common reasons why some people don’t lose weight.
While nutrition and exercise is important, your mindset plays a big role. The number of hours you spend in the gym don’t matter, it’s what you do while you are there.
You should able to manage your expectations and stay focused throughout the process even after successful weight loss. Most people tend not to hold on to habits that helped them lose weight in the long term, exercising more and eating healthy always will guarantee success.
#1. Unrealistic expectations
It is important to put everything into perspective before you set your goals and expectations. Setting goals and having plans is necessary but you should be realistic with the goals. While there is always a long term goal or the desired end result, I encourage you to set short term goals of 1 to 3 months. It’s very difficult to plan for a whole year yet we don’t what tomorrow holds.
If your goal is to look like a fitness model in one year, you need to have a better understanding of how these people acquired their physique. Truth is these individuals have put in a lot of effort, time and money to look that way since it’s their job.
This is not to say that these physiques can’t be attained by most people, I just think it will need a lot of effort, time and focus on your part. Some people tend to get frustrated when they consistently go to the gym and not see any results. Going to the gym daily or spending long hours there doesn’t guarantee success, you need to spend the time you are there effectively and make the most out of each exercise.
Instead of focusing on the desired end result focus on everyday habits like cooking your own food, eating healthy foods, more challenging workouts, getting enough sleep and moderate drinking of alcohol.
Your level of commitment should be as high as your expectations. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Don’t expect much when you put in less work.[/inlinetweet]
#2. Short term outlook on weight loss
While fitting in that wedding dress or tux is a good thing, it shouldn’t be the only reason you want to lose weight. What will happen after that? Will you stop exercising? Will you stop eating healthy?
The problem with such short term goals is that they lead to short term success. I have seen it happen with some of my friends time and time again, trust me this kind of approach DOES NOT WORK. It leads to the infamous yo-yo cycle and as one gets older it becomes harder to shed a pound.
Not to mention, weight fluctuation has a negative effect on metabolism and insulin resistance.
View health and fitness as a lifestyle, think long term. Make exercising and eating healthy part of you, remain consistent even after you have attained your weight goal, that’s what successful people do.
[adToAppearHere]#3. Excess Calorie Intake
I’m sure we’ve all heard this rule, to lose weight you must intake lesser calories than you burn. The fact that you are eating healthy foods doesn’t guarantee weight loss if you are not creating a calorie deficit.
If you are not good at estimating portions I would suggest you count calories, yeah I know it’s hectic and time consuming but it’s the only way to determine the number of calories you consume. Do it until you can easily estimate portions.
#4. Relying on exercise alone
While exercise helps burn calories and has other health benefits it can’t be your only tool for weight loss. The main reason being; exercise doesn’t burn as much calories as most people think.
For most people, an intense one hour workout only burns 400-500 calories, not what you expected, huh? Yet it’s so easy to consume 500 calories in less than 5 minutes.
To lose weight you need to control the calories you consume. For better results don’t even account for exercise when calculating your daily calorie intake.
#5. Keeping Bad Company
Most people tend to underestimate the importance of relationships. Having friends who have healthy weight and who live active lifestyles is winning half the battle.
It’s not easy to live a healthy lifestyle if you have an overweight spouse or if you hang out with people who are overweight. It won’t be easy for you to cook if all your friends eat out or order pizza for supper.
If you are around people who exercise regularly or a serious workout partner you will most likely end up picking up the same habits.
#6. No Plan or bad adherence to the plan
One of the biggest contributing factors to weight loss success is adherence to the plan. This doesn’t have much to do with what the plan is rather following through the plan to the end.
If your plan is to run 5 times a week, three miles every session, are you adhering to that? Consistency alone is not enough, stick to what you have planned to the end, unless you get an injury or something inevitable occurs.
Same goes with diet and weight training, most people tend to only repeat the exercises they like rather than engaging in other exercises that they had planned for.
Please share any other reasons that my have setback your weight journey in the comment section below.
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