Losing weight can be a frustrating process. You may feel like you’re doing everything right – eating healthy foods, exercising regularly – but the scales still won’t budge. Before you get discouraged, there are a few important things you may not have considered that could be sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Read on to learn about five sneaky obstacles that may be preventing you from losing weight.
Not Enough Sleep
Are you getting at least seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night? Lack of sufficient sleep can seriously inhibit weight loss in several ways. First, being tired dulls your metabolism, making it tougher for your body to burn calories efficiently. Second, fatigue causes cravings for sugary, high-calorie foods to get a quick energy boost. Finally, too little sleep impacts hormone regulation, which can promote fat storage. Make getting adequate rest a priority in your schedule.
Too Much Stress
Chronic stress takes a major toll on your metabolism and weight loss capabilities. Stress hormones like cortisol trigger visceral fat storage, especially around the midsection. This type of fat is the most dangerous for your health. Stress also inflames digestion, causes erratic blood sugar spikes, and promotes overeating inflammatory foods. Engage regularly in stress-relieving practices like yoga, meditation, journaling, or talking with friends.
Not Enough Gut Bacteria Diversity
Emerging research shows that the trillions of bacteria living in your digestive system play pivotal roles in weight management. Having a diverse community of healthy gut flora directly correlates with easier weight loss. Unfortunately, factors like restrictive diets, antibiotics, and environmental toxins deplete beneficial bacteria. This digestive imbalance makes losing weight a much tougher task, and you may experience bloat and fatigue. If you suffer from bloating and weight loss is your goal, you’ll need to learn more about how to help with bloating and fatigue via this resource.
You can start to nurture healthy gut flora by eating fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Consider taking a broad-spectrum probiotic supplement as well.
Too Many Hidden Sugars
You may avoid fizzy drinks, sweets, ice cream, and other sweet treats, yet still ingest tons of harmful hidden sugars each day. Some common culprits include condiments, flavoured yogurt, processed meats, packaged meals, baked goods, and even health foods like protein bars. Read all ingredient labels carefully to look for sugar disguising under other names like cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, sucrose, and others. Limit your intake to under 25 grams of added sugar per day.
Not Lifting Weights
Are you only focusing on cardio exercise to lose weight? This is a big mistake – you must incorporate strength training to build metabolically active muscle mass. Muscle burns over three times as many calories as fat when the body is at rest. Plus, weightlifting triggers excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) for hours after your workout – meaning you’ll incinerate more fat. Aim for two to three resistance training sessions weekly using weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight. Squats, lunges, planks, and push-ups are great calorie-torching exercises.
Losing those stubborn extra pounds involves much more than just eating less and moving more. Factors like poor sleep, chronic stress, gut health, hidden sugars, and muscle mass all play major roles as well. Target these five key areas and be patient with yourself in the process. Implementing positive lifelong lifestyle changes takes commitment, but the health rewards make it beyond worthwhile.
