Why you’re exercising but not losing weight
PEOPLE get easily demotivated and frustrated when they don’t see results after taking action, and this also spills over into the fitness arena. You can get discouraged when you’ve put in months at the gym but the needle on the scale isn’t moving. However, fitness trainer Rohan Gordon says that exercising alone won’t automatically guarantee you a flat stomach and toned legs.
Below he outlines some reasons that explain why you may be unable to lose weight although you are exercising.
1. You need to move around more. Some people spend a lot of time sitting down and doing nothing when they are not at the gym. You need to keep going. Do other activities besides exercise that will require you to move around.
2. Increased oestrogen levels and other hormonal changes in women can lead to greater water retention, which is reflected in scale weight. This means you are losing fat but retaining water. There are solutions to water weight problems.
3. Eating too many calories. Some people believe that exercise means that they don’t have to watch what they eat. This is wrong. A balanced diet works in tandem with exercise.
4. You do not track your calorie count. This is important because we often put back what we burn. For example, you do a workout that burns 100 calories, and later in the day you eat food with 100 calories. This just defeats the purpose.
5. People who don’t watch what they eat may underestimate what they consume daily, and actually eat too many calories.
6. You overdo it. Too much of one thing is not healthy, and some people overconsume healthy foods in the wrong portion sizes.
7. Overexercising can also cause problems. Most of us believe in forcing our bodies to burn more calories by exercising too much, and we push ourselves too hard. Excessive exercise is unsustainable in the long term for most people, and may lead to stress. In addition, it may impair the production of adrenal hormones that regulate stress response.
