5 Setbacks that hinder healthy results

by Samantha Clayton, AFAA, ISSA. Director of Fitness Education at Herbalife

Healthy lifestyle setbacks

When it comes to making lifestyle changes, we’re all guilty of expecting to see overnight results.

Today I want to share with you some small but significant body improvement setbacks that you may not be aware of so that you can truly maximise the benefits of continuing to live a healthy active life.

Setback: Skipping breakfast

If you skip this important meal, you may prevent your body from performing at its best.

Break-fast refers to breaking the fasting time that your body has endured while you were sleeping and, while you sleep, your body uses essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and proteins to repair and rejuvenate itself.

Eating a healthy breakfast fuels your body for the day ahead and can stop you from making poor diet choices throughout the day. Make an effort to start your day with a nutritious meal.

Setback: Inconsistent workouts

Consistent exercise will give you great results so find ways to add exercise into your day at work. Doing a little something each day is better than one big trip to the gym each week.

Setback: Not lifting weights

If you’re not doing a form of resistance based exercise, it’s difficult for your body to build lean body mass. Lean mass boost the metabolism, which is essential if you want to lose weight.

If you dislike lifting weights, opt for simple body weight exercises, take your cardio training uphill, or sprint to promote muscle building.

Setback: Not eating enough protein

Getting the proper balance of nutrients and activity is essential but many people don’t consume adequate amounts of protein.

If you are exercising and consuming enough of this ‘muscle building nutrient’, you risk breaking down lean muscle mass and sabotaging your muscle building routine.

For a 2 000 calorie a day diet, the FDA recommends 50 grams of protein for your everyday healthy eating habits.

Setback: Hidden liquid calories

The number of hidden calories in drinks is shocking! Sugary drinks are packed with too many calories but do not fill you up, so you find yourself snacking on top of it. Try replacing high calorie drinks with water.

There are so many little things that can hold us back from reaching our true potential. Making positive health changes for your body is about finding balance and being as consistent as possible with your healthy choices. If you find that your results have stalled or you are not feeling as positive as usual, look into the reasons why instead of quitting.

Skipping breakfast used to be one of my personal bad habits. I would blame my busy lifestyle as a mom of four, rushing off to work or simply not feeling hungry, but since correcting this habit, I can honestly share that I have optimised my body composition and I feel much more energised throughout the day.

Recommended reading: How Samantha Clayton lost over 30 kilograms

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