Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Why Isn't My Weight Loss Routine Working??

photo courtesy of lusi

During initial fitness consultations, the most requested goal is that of losing weight. There are very few people that walk through the door that want otherwise. Personal training for over 8 years, I’ve seen many who start off pretty good; they come to the gym on a consistent basis, they watch what they eat, they work hard, but then everything comes to a halt. What goes wrong? Is it the eating? Is it missing that one day at the gym, that turns into weeks and months missed? There are a number of reasons why, but today I will point out a few common reasons. Hopefully they will help you in your weight loss quest.

Reason 1--Skipping meals/Starving in order to lose weight

Life today is on the fast track. We eat on the run, we skip breakfast, and usually have a heavy dinner. This leads to a slower metabolism. It is very important to never skip breakfast. Literally, it is the most important meal of the day. Think of eating breakfast as BREAKING THE FAST.

Along with eating breakfast, you should add 4-5 more small meals per day, every 2 1/2-3 hours. Feeding your body constantly ensures an increase in metabolism over time and it helps the body to digest the food better. One key point to remember—skipping meals causes your body to flip on the survival mode, which means that it will store fat because it does not know when the next meal will come.

Reason 2--Overtraining

Our bodies are like fine machines that need caring. Going to the gym on a daily basis, continuously lifting weights, with no days of rest in between, can hinder your weight loss progress. Signs of overtraining include fatigue, insomnia, regular soreness, and injuries. Allowing your body to rest and recover is a vital part of achieving at any fitness routine.

Reason--3 Lack of Sleep

The recommended 6-8 hours of sleep is nothing new; we’ve all heard it before. Not only does that apply to non-exercisers, but it applies to those who exercise too. More importantly, those who exercise with the goal of losing weight should really try to get those hours in. Sleeping under 6 hours causes the levels of leptin to lower, which is a protein hormone that helps suppress your appetite. In turn, the ghrelin level is increased; a hormone that stimulates hunger.

So, to sum it up, your body needs at least 6 hours of sleep per night. Otherwise, your appetite will increase, counterattacking your goal of weight loss.

Reason 4--Lack of Water Intake

It may be hard to believe, but good old H2O lowers the amount of fat stored in the body. If you neglect your water intake, your kidneys start to chill out and get lazy; they end up giving their work to your liver, which is responsible for helping the body burn stored fat for energy. That means, if the liver is doing 2 jobs, it does neither 100%; its fat burning potential is decreased causing your body to store more fat.

**DRINK 8+ glasses of H2O per day!!!

Reason 5--Same Routine Syndrome

Anything that is repetitive gets boring after awhile. When it comes to exercise, I can tell you, doing the same thing WILL GET BORING. Plus, your body and muscles will adapt to the routine, hindering progress.

There are a few ways to change your routine; add different exercises for various body parts, increase the weight, the number of reps and/or sets, or increase/decrease the number of cardio days/weight training days.

**CHANGE=PROGRESS

As I said early on, there are many reasons why one’s weight loss program doesn’t work; I’ve only touched on a few, but I hope these tips help you in your journey to weight loss. Feel free to leave your comments, concerns, and questions in the comment area.

7 comments:

virgo27

the 2 main points i want people to adhere to are increasing water intake and getting more sleep!!

Susan Blake

Fabulous post! Lots of information here and the one I need to focus on is varying my workout routine - summer coming should help!

LazyKing

great post very helpful.
Thank you for sharing

CW

One the problems I run into is just getting overwhelmed and feeling like it's impossible. If I focus on how many pounds I want to lose it just doesnt work. Then I stumbled on this book called THe Power of Small. they have tips for making these things maneagable- now I take it one meal at a time. Every time I walk by the kitchen I make a conscious decision to keep on walking or to go in and get a piece of fruit or healthy meal. Check out the book its an easy read but really helpful!

virgo27

i thank you all for stopping by!

@suZen, i would suggest adding one new exercise or a variation of an exercise every week. flip thru mags while ur in the grocery line or browse the net for new moves.

@lazyking, glad u enjoyed the post.

@cw, i will check out the book. thanks

3L

Thank fully I'm losing weight but I have not been constant with my workout routine. I first failed with over training; I remember what I use to do and I think that by pushing hard I can achieve my goals faster. Now I find myself failing 1, 3 and 4. Stress makes it hard for me to sleep and eat and makes me forget to take time to get a glass of water ever couple of hours.

Reading this list helps to put somethings in perceptive for me. Even if I push through and workout on 2 hours of sleep, the workout will not be very intense. I need to make sure to take care of my stress so that I can stay consistent and not lose the progress I've made.

Thank you Virgo27

virgo27

@llnl, glad the list helps. if you have any specific questions, let me know.

Wellness Wednesday   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP