3 Reasons Why You Aren't Losing Weight

There could be many reasons why you can't seem to lose weight. I'm going to touch on three of these, and give you some tools and ideas to combat the problems and get back on track.

SITUATION #1   You do the same routine at the gym three times a week, and you've been doing the same routine for an entire year. The problem is, that your body has adapted to the same routine and has become very efficient at saving energy during said routine, thus, making this routine much less effective for burning calories.

SOLUTION   Time to change up the routine. Learn new exercises, learn new ways of doing old exercises, learn completely new methods of exercising, learn a new sport. You've got to surprise your body to keep it on it's toes and keep it burning the maximum calories possible.

SITUATION #2   You eat out a lot. The most innocent of restaurant meals can contain a ginormous amount of calories. It's all in the portion sizes, and hidden fats and sugars. A popular chain that I frequent, serves some wonderful salads that serve up a whopping 1200-1300 calories. That's a lot of calories for one meal for most of us!

SOLUTION   A few ideas for you...eat only half of your meal and take the rest home in a doggie bag; order off of the appetizer menu (smaller portions); order simple items like grilled fish and a salad or grilled veggies; avoid ordering items that are fried, that come with cream sauces, or that have heavy cheese sauces;  and of course, you could stop eating out so often and make more healthy home cooked meals.

SITUATION #3   After a workout, you reward yourself with food. Let's just say you workout for an hour, and burn 400 calories. Good for you! But then, you stop on the way home, and get a coffee and a muffin, or a smoothie, to reward yourself for working out. Wait a minute sister!!! That muffin could have 500 calories in it! So much for the workout...you just increased your over all caloric intake by 100 calories, instead of decreasing it! And smoothies, my dears, some of those popular smoothies and frozen drinks have 600-700 and even as high as 1000 calories in them!! You do the math!

SOLUTION   It's fine to have a snack after your workout, and in fact, if you eat the right things, it can be helpful in replenishing nutrients to your muscles. However, if your goal is weight loss, than the key is to keep your snack very small so that you don't negate the calories you just burned. So, instead of having that 500 calorie muffin, have an apple and a few almonds. And if you insist on getting a non-nutritive treat at the coffee shop, just make a better choice. How about a small biscotti with your coffee. That will come in closer to 150-200 calories. I'm not advocating eating biscotti, but, I'm just saying...if you have to, it's a better choice than that big old muffin!

Now, take a look at other day to day decisions you make that are impacting your weight loss goals. See where you can make easy changes to keep your calorie intake in check. A little here, a little there...it all adds up to success!