8 weight issues resolved
LISTENING to testimonials from persons in the weight loss industry, it is so easy to believe that losing weight can be achieved simply by eating right and going to the gym. The truth of the matter, however, is that weight loss can be more complicated than that. So if you feel you have been doing everything right but you are not getting the expected results, check out the following scenarios to see why your goals are probably not being achieved.
1. My husband eats more than I do, but I gain more weight. “Women find it harder to lose the weight because they have to keep on a level of fat that just in case they get pregnant, they will have enough fat to maintain the pregnancy,” said fitness expert and nutritionist Donovan Grant. Men also generally have a higher metabolic rate than women, because they usually have more muscles which help to burn fat quicker. So try incorporating muscle-building routines into your workout session to help with the strengthening of your muscles as well. It could also be that your husband is more physically active than you; so if you are waiting on the change in your diet alone to work, you might want to get off your butt and get your body moving!
2. I became a vegetarian but I still can’t lose weight. Portion size is a key term in weight loss because too much of a good thing can still turn out to be bad for you. A serving of vegetables, for example, should be the size of two cupped hands and a serving of chicken is about the palm of your hand. It makes no sense also to slather your vegetables with fatty dressing, and even nuts can really pack on the pounds if you are not careful. Also be careful of piling your plate with too much carbohydrates like rice or pasta which should only occupy a quarter of the space. “Sometimes individuals are not watching the carbs. It is possible to be a vegetarian and you are still lazy or your portion size is too large,” said Grant.
3. The scale won’t budge after spending hours weekly at the gym. While physical activity is good, you will need to change your diet plan in order to really lose the weight. “Exercise is only a part of a weight loss programme; the eating component is also important,” said the fitness expert. A burger, for example, could amount to 500 calories, but after 20 minutes on the treadmill, you might be lucky if you can burn off a half of this amount of fat. If your diet is in order, however, and you are putting in the work at the gym, it could very well be that you are building muscles which weigh more than fat. It could also be that you are experiencing a plateau and would need to increase the amount of workouts you do.
4. I could eat whatever I wanted in my 20s, but now I only need to look at food to pack on the pounds. After the age of 35 or thereabouts, your metabolism usually slows down, making it difficult for you to burn calories as much as you were able in your 20s. Because your hormones are slowing down, don’t be surprised to find yourself accumulating fat in places such as your mid-section, hips and thighs. If you were not exercising before, it’s not too late to start engaging in physical activities like walking, swimming and cycling to burn away the calories.
5. I weigh less in the morning than I do during the day. Did I really gain three pounds in such a short time? Experts suggest you weigh yourself once per day, preferably in the morning and while naked. The discrepancy in your weight could be due to a high consumption of water during the day as one litre of water, for example, could weigh as much as two pounds. “In the morning the body is possibly the lightness because all the food would be used up,” Grant explained. If you are between your periods then you can possibly gain as much as four pounds in one day due to bloating.
6. I drastically cut my caloric intake but I am still gaining. Changes to your meal plans are better done gradually, as drastic changes can cause the body to go into starvation mode. When the body does this, it holds onto, rather than burns off food, because it thinks it won’t be getting anything else anytime soon. When you return to your normal eating pattern, your body will be so confused that it will continue to hold onto the fat that you consume.
7. My clothes feel loose after investing more time at the gym, but the scale suggests I am heavier. The scale has traditionally been the go-to tool to track weight-loss, but it does not always give an accurate account of your weight loss efforts. “Fat doesn’t weigh a lot in comparison to muscle,” said Grant, “so it is possible to be getting slimmer while at the same time pulling in larger numbers on the scale.” In the process of going to the gym, you might have been building muscles which weigh more than fat. The end result is that the scale reflects that you are heavier even though using a inch measure, for example, would show that you are slimming down.
8. I lost a lot of pounds in the past on crash diets, but they are no longer working for me, it seems. Crash diets can wreak havoc on your weight loss efforts because they slow down your metabolic rate. While this form of dieting can help you to get into a bikini in three weeks, most of the times you gain back double the amount you lost. Most of the weight loss sometimes is not from fat, but from muscle which is needed to speed up the metabolic process.
