10 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight Part 2

A couple days ago I posted the first 5 reasons you are not losing weight. Here are 5 more reasons you are not losing weight. Check out the first article if you missed it: 10 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight Part 1

Peep these second 5 five items in my list of 10 possible ways you could be sabotaging your diet.

1. Slacking on Your Sleeping

   Research has shown time and again that a shorter sleep cycle in linked to a higher body fat composition, bigger appetite, and increased hunger. Tiredness leads to laziness, which leads to grabbing quick snacks and meals that are often higher in sugar, fat, and calories.

   Too tired to make a chicken salad? Think grabbing fast food at the drive-thru will be easier? It might be easier, but it’s also way more expensive – dollar-wise and calories-wise.

2. Maintaining an Unhealthy Environment

   When you watch TV, they stick fast food commercials in your face. When you drive to work they bombard you with billboards. Even when you listen to the radio they tell you all about that new bacon lover’s fried mushroom burger at your nearest Taco McKing’s. Your environment revolves around eating junk food, so you need to cleanse it.

   I recommend trying some of these suggestions:

   • Purge your home from junk food.
   • Keep away from the free-food area in the break room at work.
   • Stay out of site from your co-workers’ bowls of Hershey Kisses.
   • Make it a law that you NEVER put money in a snack food vending machine.
   • Always pack a healthy snack for emergency situations.

3. Skipping Meals So You Can Indulge in Junk Food Later

   A piece of dark chocolate here, a chewy chocolate chip cookie there, no harm, no foul. Don’t get carried away with your indulgences. Don’t ‘save’ your calories for 10pm when the kids go to sleep, so you can watch TV with a bag of chips and bowl of ice cream.

   If you’re not fasting on purpose, then you’re just skipping meals. Replacing those calories later with junk food is not the solution for your diet. Calories are not always just calories, the type of food you eat matters too. Fill up on protein and fiber to keep yourself feeling full, and to avoid a blood sugar drop that will shift your cravings into overdrive.

4. Not Knowing If Your Medication Has Weight Gain Side Effects

   You should check with your doctor to see if any medications you are on, are known to cause weight gain. Many medications that are commonly used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar, and depression, are infamous for causing weight gain. Heart and blood pressure medications are responsible too.

   If you ask, you will most likely be able to find a suitable replacement without side effects. A friend of mine recently went off Seroquel and switched from Paxil to Venlafaxine in the hopes that it would reverse his 50 pound weight gain over the last 5 years. Within 3 months he had lost 45 of those 50 pounds and his depression symptoms are actually better than ever.

5. Hanging Out With the Wrong Crowd

   Granted, you can’t choose your family and you are probably not going to dump your friends just because they are overweight. However, it is widely accepted that you become like those with whom you spend the most time.

   You might not want to turn down Grand Ma-Ma’s chewy M&M cookies. Maybe your spouse is not dieting, so you’re forced to fight the temptation of brownies in the pantry. Your friend wants to go to Margaritas for a night of drink and debauchery. So what are you going to do?

   Face the facts. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that your chance of becoming obese increases by 57% if your close friend becomes obese, and isn’t your spouse usually also your best friend? Maybe you could inspire those around you to eat healthier, but if not then you must remember that you are in control of your own destiny.

Bonus Tip

Don’t make the mistake of being overly restrictive.

If you are too strict, diet hard for too long, set unachievable goals, or put too many limits on yourself, your mind will become resentful of your efforts. You don’t want to hinder weight loss by ruling your own life with an iron fist.

When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race. Aim to lose a couple pounds a week and keep off the scale. You should check your weight and bodyfat, at most once a week at the same time on the same day.

Didn’t it take you a couple months or even a couple years to gain that weight? Well it’s going to take you a while to lose it it too. It takes a certain type of personality and genetics to lose 20 pounds of fat in one month, and keep it off permanently. You should know by now if it’s possible for you. FYI: it’s probably not.

No one is perfect. At your job, in relationships, in school, and even when dieting, it is just asking too much of yourself to be perfect all the time. Accept that you will slip up. Accept that you CAN eat bad food in moderation. Accept all of these things and set your sights on moderation and long-term health, then you will be successful with weight loss.

Feedback Needed!

What do you think about these second 5 tips?

Are you guilty of any of these saboteurs?

If so, which ones? Why do you do them? And do you plan to make a change?

Tags: build muscle, Diet, dieting, fat loss, food, gain muscle, lose fat, lose weight, meal planning, meals, muscle gain, nutrition, sabotage, weight loss

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