10 REASONS YOUR DIET MIGHT NOT BE WORKING

10 Reasons your diet might not be working

You’ve been good: you cut out the chocolate, you quit drinking soda at lunchtime, and you haven’t eaten a pizza for weeks, but still when you step onto your bathroom scales, that dial stays stubbornly where it was the week before. Dieting can be so frustrating when you don’t see any results and you could be thinking of giving up altogether. Don’t throw in the towel just yet, though, because it is most likely that you are just making a few simple mistakes. If you are trying to lose weight with no success, check out these ten common reasons why your diet may not be working for you.

1. You’ve cut back on food too much

Believe it or not, the reason that you are not losing weight could be because you are not eating enough! It’s what you eat, as much as how much you eat, that counts and, if you are not eating enough, your body thinks you are in a famine and slows your metabolism, so that it can hold on to those fat reserves that you do have. This slowing of the metabolism will also make you feel lethargic, so you are probably not exercising enough as well.

2. You are skipping meals

Skipping meals altogether won’t help you lose weight either. You might think that you will eat less by skipping lunch, but this will trigger another natural reaction in your body. This time, your body will think that food is scarce, so it will make you eat even more when you do sit down to your next meal. The next effect will be that you will eat more overall, than you would have done had you eaten lunch.

3. Your diet is too restrictive

It’s also much better to cut down, rather than cut out. If you go for a drastic no sugar diet, for example, you are likely to get sugar cravings and give in to them at some point. You are also quite likely to overcompensate for the lack of sugar by overeating something else that you enjoy. Try cutting down portion sizes instead; it’s much easier than cutting something out altogether.

4. You are not getting enough exercise

If you are trying to lose weight through your diet alone, then this is unlikely to work. You will probably lose weight at first, but then your body will get used to the reduced calories, so your weight loss will tail off. If you just add thirty minutes of exercise to your weekly routine, you will burn off calories and the weight loss will continue.

5. You are not drinking enough water

Water is not a magical way of making you lose weight, but if you are not drinking enough, you could be mistaking thirst for hunger and eating more than you need to. Drink at least eight large glasses of water a day. It will keep you hydrated, stop you getting thirsty, and it will fill you up, so you will feel less hungry at meal times.

6. You are not being consistent

The best way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume, steadily, every day. If you virtually starve yourself one day and then binge the next, you won’t be able to lose the weight that you want to. Eat regular meals every day, control the portion sizes, and get some exercise every day, and then you will lose weight gradually and you will be able to keep it off.

7. You are eating too quickly

Not paying attention to what you are eating and eating too quickly, will make you eat more than you need. It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to register when you are full, so if you eat too quickly, you will overeat. Be mindful of the food you are eating and take your time chewing and enjoying every bite. That way, you will give your mind time to catch up with your appetite!

8. You are not being honest with yourself

Are you really being honest with yourself? These little treats that you keep sneaking in and those days that you only work out half-heartedly for five minutes all add up to calories that you aren’t losing. Keep a journal of what you eat and the exercise that you do and you will find it easier to keep track of what you are really doing, and not doing.

9. You are not getting enough sleep

If you do not get enough sleep at night, it can affect the hormones that control your appetite. A lack of sleep causes your body to release more of the hormone ghrelin and this is the hormone that tells you when you are hungry. Get a good eight hours sleep every night and you will feel less hungry during the day.

10. You are drinking too much alcohol

You don’t need to stop drinking alcohol completely in order to lose weight, but too much alcohol will slow the burning of your fat reserves. When you drink alcohol, your body turns it into acetate and then burns that off, before it burns any fat. Quite simply, the less alcohol you drink, the more efficiently your body will burn off fat.

Stay happy and healthy!

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