With the New Year, many of you are ready to get a healthy, FitBody! Eating healthy and working out hard are of course what you must do, but what happens when that is not enough? When no matter how long you hit the treadmill, the scale refuses to budge?
Here are some common fat loss offenders might be to blame.
You eat too much of the good stuff.
Just because a food is ‘healthy’ does not mean it is calorie free. Olive oil, nuts, dark chocolate, avocados, even fruits offer great nutrients, but still need should be eaten in moderation. At the end of the day, you have to look at your overall calorie content. 1 tbsp of olive oil has approx. 120 calories! A ‘drizzle’ of olive oil can easily become several tablespoons and several hundred calories!
You don’t have time for breakfast.
It’s not called the most important meal of the day for nothing. Statistically speaking, people who eat a breakfast high in protein lose more weight that those who skip it altogether. Why? A breakfast that includes protein helps jump starts your metabolism for the day and keeps you feeling less hungry all day long. Those that eat breakfast, tend to eat less at subsequent meals compared to their anti-breakfast counterparts.
In a hurry? Choose an UMP protein shake – one of my favorites – my Berry Protein Smoothie!
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You get that ‘full feeling’ at every meal.
A completely full stomach is a good indication that you have overeaten. Portion control is key to losing weight and staying within a healthy calorie range. If you get that ‘I’m going to burst feeling’ even from healthy foods, you may be eating more calories than you thought. Be sure to measure and weight your food, especially as you start a new program so that you are getting the calories and portion sizes right.
You eat while distracted.
It might be tempting and seem like a time saver to eat while you are on the run and yes, sometimes it is unavoidable, but eating while distracted often leads to over eating. Whenever possible, sit down, chew your food slowly and enjoy your dining experience. Even if it is just at your kitchen table. Avoid reading, watching TV or using electronics/computers/phones while eating. These distractions don’t allow you to pay attention to what you are putting into your body.
No time to sleep.
You might be sleeping less to squeeze in your workouts, but that type of time management will backfire quickly. When you are sleep deprived, you release appetite-stimulating hormones that will cause you to over eat. Instead of cutting out sleep time, plan ahead so that you can get in a workout and take care of everything else you need to do in a day. A plus – people who regularly exercise fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly!
You do low intensity cardio for an hours a day.
Low intensity cardio is better than nothing, but hardly enough to raise your heart rate, let along blast body fat! If you want to really change your body and get a lean, sexy shape, you have to include weight training and high intensity, shorter cardio sessions. You are far to busy to waste time that could be put to much better use. Heavy weight training will not make women look masculine; it will tighten and firm your muscle to give you the definition you want! Doing high intensity cardio burns the most calories in the shortest period of time. Get in, hit your workout hard and get it done. Don’t waste an hour walking on a treadmill to burn less calories that you will get from eating a banana or 2…
You don’t eat enough.
It might be counter intuitive, but eating too few calories can be just as determinately as eating too many. I see women every day that have lowered their metabolism by under eating and their body fat refuses to budge. Your body needs a certain number of calories to maintain your metabolism and dipping too low for a long period of time leads your body to believe you are starving. Our bodies are incredibly efficient and will adjust our energy levels and metabolic levels in response. Often times, women get into a cycle where they under eat, over exercise and then binge. Break this cycle by eating a moderate amount of calories all the time. Active women should never take their calories below 1200 and most should aim for 1400-1600 healthy calories per day to see optimal weight loss. To maintain weight, most active women should eat between 1800-2200 calories per day.
