Fitness Lookout: Weight Loss

Feeling worried that you've not been losing weight no matter how hard you try? You've cut down on sugar, cut down on processed carbs and fried foods and even do exercises yet you didn't see any changes in your weight? If yes, you surely have to know the reasons you're not losing weight.

1. You don't have enough sleep

Lack of sleep can negatively affect the way you eat. For an instance, when you sleep late, due to one reason or the other, you may feel hungry and be tempted to go to the kitchen or refrigerator and eat something - probably something junky to quench the hunger and then go to bed.
The next day, you wake up with a feeling of tiredness and confusion, then you skip exercise or do less physical activity, hence burning a very little amount of calories.

Are you following?

Therefore, the calories you consumed will be greater than the calories your body will use that day, which ultimately lead to weight gain.

Here's the solution: Try to have 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. Anything that can make you sleep late should be stopped. If it's TV that makes you sleep late, turn it off at a specific time and sleep wonderfully to avoid night cravings, regain your energy in the morning and feel good throughout the next day.

2. You're eating too much everyday

Tracking the amount of calories you consume and the amount of calories you burn is a good step to weight loss but unfortunately, many of us don't care about this. If you consume about 1500 calories today, you also have to burn these calories in order to stay fit.

Eating too much, especially at restaurants, will lead to intake of excessive calories and further lead to extra fat storage which finally causes weight gain.

Here's the solution: The more you eat, the more you'll need to exercise. Hence, eat less if you're lazy to exercise.

3. You're living a stressful life

Stress also has a hand in your weight issue. It either makes you lose weight or gain weight.

Why?

That's simply because our bodies respond to stress in different ways. Some people gain weight while some lose weight. You may gain weight due to increase in the cortisol (the stress hormone) levels which causes an increase in blood sugar and increase in appetite which often leads to overeating which now causes increase in fat storage.

Here's the solution: Reduce your stress at home and at work by taking short breaks for yourself and taking deep breaths.

4. You do little exercise

30-minute exercise everyday won't help you lose weight. You have to workout your whole body for a long time before you can lose the weight to your satisfaction. If your goal is just to lose 2kg, your exercise will be little but if you want to lose a greater number of kilo, you'll need to exercise more.

Are you following?

So, if you say that you've been exercising but not losing enough, it simply means you're not exercising enough.

Here's the solution: Either do 60-90 minutes exercises everyday or 30-minute high-intensity exercises everyday to greatly reduce the number you see on the scale.

5. Your metabolism is slowing down

At age 40-50, your metabolism becomes slower than how it used to be in your 20s. This can make your weight remain the same when you do less exercise and eat more food because slower metabolism (due to aging or any other reason) coupled with muscle loss brings about a reduction in the rate at which your body burns calories even at rest while increasing your fat mass.

Here's the solution: Eat less and exercise more to maintain muscle mass which will help burn more calories and lose weight.

6. You're taking some medications

There are some drugs you take that have side effects and weight gain may be one of them.
Some of the medications that can cause weight gain are:

Medications for treatment of Diabetes mellitus
Beta-blockers for treatment of High blood pressure
Antidepressants
Corticosteroid medications
Medications for seizures, etc.

Here's the solution: Don't stop using the drugs. Simply ask your doctor for an alternative drug that won't affect your weight and which will be as effective as the one you use.

7. You have a medical condition

If you've tried to eat healthily and do more exercise but you don't seem to be losing it, it's high time you stopped wasting time and go see a medical doctor to help you find out the cause of this weight gain.
Some health conditions that may cause weight gain are:

Cushing's Syndrome
Kidney Problems
Thyroid disorder
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Here's the solution: Visit your doctor for a medical checkup to know your health status.

8. You focus so much on the goal

I say this always and I'll say it again.

A realistic goal is one that can be achieved through stages. Hence, don't just think of accomplishing a goal which can never be possible. You need to learn how to set a realistic goal. For an instance, you have any fitness goal you want to achieve. you say, "Okay, I'm gonna achieve this goal by dieting and exercising". You started doing that but soon realized that you haven't even achieved anything".
Why?
...because you focused on that big goal alone instead of focusing on the small things that make up the big goal.

Here's the solution: Find out what's drawing you back or the thing that's not making you to achieve that your goal. Is it sugar? Is it overeating? Is it lack of sleep? Is it lack of exercise? Is it....?
Find solutions to those things and be glad that you ironed out those little things standing as obstacles.
So, FOCUS on the small things to achieve your realistic goal.

To summarize it all, this is a recap of the reasons you're not losing weight:

Not having enough sleep
Living a stressful life
Eating too much
Not exercising enough
Taking some drugs that may cause weight gain
Medical conditions
Focusing so much on the end goal

And what you should do now:

Try to have 7 to 8 hours sleep every night.

Either do 60-90 minutes exercises everyday or 30-minute high-intensity exercises everyday to greatly reduce the number you see on the scale.

Eat less and exercise more

Reduce your stress at home and at work by taking short breaks for yourself and taking deep breaths

Visit your doctor for a medical checkup to know your health status if diet and exercise failed you.

Read the instruction paper that comes along with drugs. Check the side effects, if weight gain is one of them, ask your doctor to provide you with an alternative.

Focus on the small things to achieve your realistic goal.

Congratulate yourself on every little thing you achieve while pursuing your weight loss goal. These little things make up a great thing!

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What Foods Should I Avoid to Speed up Weight Loss

Some of us trying to lose weight often ask this question:
What foods should I avoid to lose weight fast?
This is a very good question to ask when trying to lose weight.
Before I proceed, I promise that at the end of reading this article:
you will know which foods you eat that have been secretly providing you with surplus weight.
you will know what these foods contain that causes weight gain.
how to avoid these foods.
So let me begin to fulfill my promise to you by providing you with the list of foods you need to stay away from.

Processed Foods
Fried Foods
Sugary beverages and drinks
Ice creams
Cookies and Cakes sold at Stores
Candy
Beer

Now let's know what these foods contain that is causing weight gain and making it hard for you to lose weight.

Processed foods

Foods that are industrially processed, such as canned foods, processed pounded-yams, processed meats, and packaged snack, contain sugar and fat. And not only that, but also artificial preservatives and colours which are not necessary for you.
Hence, avoid any food that is processed. If you're used to eating processed foods, you should start avoiding them by following these simple steps:

Try to make your foods yourself
Eat processed foods twice a week
After some weeks, begin to eat processed only once a week until you stop eating them eventually.
Finally, congratulate yourself.

Fried foods

Nutritionally, fried foods like fried chicken, are not a good source of protein and they are high in fat because of the oil used to fry them, which increases risk for obesity.
Other than obesity, consuming fried foods every time also increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke.
Instead of frying, choose low fat cooking fat methods such as boiling, roasting and grilling.

Sugary beverages and drinks

Sugary beverages and drinks like soda and carbonated soft drinks contain sugar and high amounts of liquid calories that bring about weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
They do not make you feel full quickly and this makes you consume them in excess.
If you want fast weight loss, cut off sugary drinks from your diet and replace them with fruit juice - fruit juice made by you.

Ice creams

Ice creams contain lots of sugar and fat which result in craving for more of it or other foods, making you overeat. It's just a high-calorie junk with little or no nutrient.
Avoid this sweet junk as soon as possible to speed up weight loss.

Cookies and cakes sold at stores

Most cookies and cakes, if not all, that are sold at stores are full of added sugar, trans fat and refined flour which contributes to weight gain.
Instead of eating these junks, just grab an apple to eat. Fruits are healthy for the body. So, buy fruits like apples, oranges, lemons or almonds to keep yourself full when you're hungry rather than eating cookies, cakes or pies that will make you hungry again immediately you finish eating them.

Candy

The contents of a candy are refined flour, preservatives, sugar, fat and oils. They offer you a nice gift of calories to help you gain weight...but you can refuse the gift by avoiding them completely. Don't buy candies. Stay 5 miles away from them!

Beer

If you want to stay fit, have a healthy weight and a flat belly, you'll need to stay away from taking alcoholic drinks - like beer - because they are full of calories and sugar. Though some beers may taste bitter, they all contain sugar.
Therefore, avoid any alcoholic drink for you to live a healthy and happy life and to speed up weight loss.

Eventually, I fulfilled my promise to you.
Now what you need to do is to stay away from these foods to have a quick and successful weight loss. Apart from avoiding these foods, you also need to eat smaller portions of foods and get involved in some exercises to burn off excess calories that cause weight gain.
Amanda Jayne, a nutritionist and dietary & lifestyle consultant, says,

‘Here are a couple of things to focus on that will help you loose weight:

- Weight loss is about consuming less calories than your body uses in one day. Find out your daily energy expenditure requirements first (Google EER calculator). To loose weight, eat less than that amount. NOTE: If you work out, calorie expenditure is greater so you can eat more. You would need to calculate how many calories that exercise equates to.
- Eat as close to nature intended. If it come from a plant, grew naturally or is a from an animal, go for it! If it came from a factory, avoid it!
- Drink a big glass of water with lemon juice 15min before eating. We often over eat because we are actually thirsty & the lemon helps to prepare the stomach for food and better digest it by secreting digestive enzymes.
- Watch you portion sizes! Most people eat way more than they need to. I eat off a small plate for example as it tricks the brain to thinking you’ve eaten a lot because the plate looks full. I recommend serving yourself less and to eat very slowly (you can always have seconds!). This allows your food to reach your stomach and feel full without overeating.
Example: Protein, size and thickness!of your palm. Vegetable 2 handfuls. Complex carbohydrates 1 handful.’

Hence, you have too avoid foods that give you high amounts of calories, eat small portions of foods, and exercise your body to increase calorie expenditure which speeds up weight loss.

Remember, the list of foods you should avoid to speed up weight loss are: