10 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

You are having too many extras

Keep a record for a day of all the times that food or drink enters your mouth – you may be surprised how many extras slip in there. Alternatively track your calories on an online program such as CalorieKing

You are drinking too much coffee

Black tea or coffee without milk or sugar is fine but as soon as you choose a cappuccino or latte, the calories start to add up. Enjoy just 1-2 small coffees each day and try and enjoy them as part of your meal or snack – not as an extra.

You are eating too much at night

Often we try so hard to be ‘good’ during the day, that we do not eat enough and then find ourselves overly hungry at night. Make sure you have a good breakfast and lunch as well as a filling mid afternoon snack so you are able to keep your calorie intake at nighttime low.

You are eating breakfast too late

Remember that the body burns more calories in the first half of the day as this is when you are most active so aim to eat your breakfast as early as possible.

You are eating your dinner too late

The body’s hormones are programmed to store at night so if you are regularly eating your last meal of the day after 8 or 9 at night, you may need to eat your main meal at lunchtime and enjoy a light snack such as soup later at night.

You are drinking too much alcohol

Alcohol, per gram has almost as many calories as fat so a glass or two of wine can really add up. If your weight loss has halted, try eliminating alcohol for a week or two to see if that may be holding you back.

You are having too few calories

When we begin a new program, we can adopt the mindset that ‘less food is better’ – while this is somewhat true, if you take your calories too low you risk reducing metabolism which will slow weight loss. As a general rule of thumb make sure you are always consuming at least 1200 calories and you may need more if you are training constantly for more than an hour a day.

You are not exercising at the right intensity

There is a big difference between going for a gentle walk and flogging yourself at boot camp 6 days a week. For weight loss we need at least 3-4 sessions of high intensity exercise so it may be time to ramp up your training a little.

You are not eating before you exercise

If you are training intensely before breakfast or late afternoon, you are likely to burn more fat if you have a small protein rich snack before your session – a couple of crackers with cheese, ½ glass of milk or ½ a protein bar is all you need.

You are not moving enough

It is one thing to exercise, but if you then spend the rest of the day sitting down therein lies your problem. Ideally we need at least 8000 steps a day in addition to our exercise sessions so you may need to walk a little more to achieve the weight loss results you are looking for. 

This article originally appeared on Shape Me.