Don't Let Weight Loss Woes Derail Your Progress!

It's easy to get disheartened when going through a weight loss program, and there are many events that can occur that often derail people. Ultimately, shifting those pounds safely takes time and hard work - but there will be times when all that work doesn't seem like it is worth it. There are a few reasons why, which we will discuss in this post. But if you do face any of these weight loss woes, it's vital you keep going - even if you aren't seeing any effects. Take a reward, and bear all this in mind when you are confronting some of the most common weight loss woes.

The scales can lie

First and foremost, it's important to remember that weight loss does not usually occur on its own. As you start working out and get fit, you'll also be putting on muscle. And as any weight loss expert will tell you, muscle has a denser mass than human fat. So, the likelihood is that even though you are losing inches on your waist, you will weigh the same - or, perhaps, even more - as you did when you started out. But contrary to popular opinion, the scales can lie. Sure, you might not have shifted any pounds in your first few weeks of working out, but you are making progress. Instead of concentrating on the scales, start looking in the mirror and taking some before and after weight loss pictures. They will tell you a much more accurate tale of how you are getting on, especially in the early days.

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Fad diets are a waste of time

Fad diets are, alas, still all the rage these days. And it’s easy to see why. After all, when you cut out specific food groups completely or get close to starving yourself, it’s not much of a surprise to find out that you are losing weight. However, after this early period of what seems like progress, it will be a struggle to continue. Fad diets are virtually impossible to maintain for the rest of your life, and as you start to slip into bad habits again, all that weight will pile back on once more. So, avoid the quick fixes and vague promises of the dieting world, and instead embrace a complete change of nutritional lifestyle. You’ll be able to treat yourself every now and again, and also enjoy the food you are consuming, rather than holding your nose and eating for eating’s sake. No, you won’t get the short-term impact - but you will get the long-term benefits.

Mother nature makes it hard.

Women who try and lose weight are up against it, thanks in no small part to their own bodies. Mother nature is at fault, as the female body is designed with one purpose in mind: making babies. To help you fulfill your task, you are packed full with a hormone called estrogen, which ensures you have sufficient nutrients at any given time and provides everything you need for a baby to survive. Unfortunately, estrogen does this by multiplying the enzymes that store body fat - and it targets the meatier areas of your body as the perfect location. All this adds up to fat depositing itself around your buttocks, hips, and thighs. So, don’t be surprised if you don’t become stick-thin overnight. In fact, be more worried if you do. Embrace your curves, and focus on building up muscle strength in your core, thighs, and glutes.  

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Plateaus happen

When you start working out, you will feel yourself getting stronger, leaner, and fitter. But unless you are continually updating your program to push yourself harder, you will find you start to plateau. Plateauing in weight loss is all about getting yourself in a good position, but being unable to make any more progress. It’s going to happen, but the critical thing to remember is that you can quickly make the breakthrough if you know what you are looking for. First, try to determine what is actually causing you to plateau. Are you failing to restrict your calories, or is there a chance you are not eating enough to fuel your progress? Perhaps eating the wrong kind of food? As we discussed before, it might be that you need to take on some more strenuous exercise, too - your body might be used to your current workout. Ultimately, it will be a problem with your nutrition or your training, and a few tweaks in either problem area will usually be enough to see you right.

Exercise isn’t everything.

You’ll notice that we have been discussing weight loss in terms of nutrition and exercise in equal measure. And there’s a simple reason for that. You can spend an hour or two every day doing moderate activity, and it might make you feel like you are making good progress. But are you really? In fact, you need to exercise a lot to burn off the smallest amount of food. Let’s say you are hungry in the afternoon and grab a Subway Melt on your way home to fill the hole. That’s 400 calories you are consuming, and it takes a significant amount of work to burn off. You would have to do an hour of pretty intense circuit training to balance that single Subway Melt out - and that’s not even taking into account the rest of your meals. So, don’t expect exercise alone to help you lose weight. You will get fitter than you are now, no doubt. But you’ll also find that unless you are putting an equal amount of effort into your diet, you won’t get the results you feel you deserve.

Weight loss can be a considerable challenge, and when things look like they aren’t going to plan, it can cause a lot of heartaches. But your problem may not be as bad as you think, so you should never feel like quitting. There will be times when you aren’t losing weight, but it’s because you are putting on muscle and burning off fat. And you will plateau at some points, too. Keep going, don’t let these common issues derail your progress, and get out there and achieve your weight loss goals.