Inconsistency
You’re kidding yourself if you think sporadic healthy eating and exercise is enough. Ask yourself are you really being consistent?
Write down your food intake and exercise for two weeks and find all the gaps. Consistency with your eating habits and workouts is key to reaching your weight loss goals.
Not Enough Sleep
Our brains and bodies rely enormously on a variety of hormones that regulate when we eat and sleep, called circadian rhythms. This means that we function optimally when we eat our meals, and sleep and wake at the same time each day. Many studies show that growing obesity has been accompanied by a parallel growth in chronic sleep deprivation. This means the less sleep you have, the more weight you are going to put on! Plus, being tired can urge you to eat unhealthy options or sip on multiple cups of coffee throughout the day.
To combat this, turn off your electronics 30 minutes before bed time, stretch for 10-15 minutes or try meditating. Alarm clocks are very useful here!
Lack of Variety
If you only do the same thing over and over, the body learns and develops muscle memory. Then you’ll feel like you’ve plateaued and won’t see any further improvements. Plus, don’t forget it’s much easier to lose weight when you’re at your heaviest than it is when you start losing more and more weight.
Increase your routine in difficulty and variability, or take up a new challenge or class. Chat to one of our personal trainers about changing things up for you!
You’re Building Muscle
Weight and fat are two different things! The number on the scales may not be moving, but get your body fat percentage checked. Muscle is heavier than fat, and as you work out more and increase your muscle mass, the numbers on the scale may stay the same. It is possible to look and feel slimmer even if your body weight remains the same.
Your Expectations Are Unrealistic
Weight loss is slower than we want. Unrealistic expectations of what is achievable with a healthy diet and exercise is all too common, and unfortunately not everyone can look like a fitness model or bodybuilder. But keep trying, keep pushing harder, change things up and at some point you will look back and see all the amazing changes you have made.