After the initial burst of losing weight consistently you have hit a plateau (Shutterstock)
You may have been on a weight loss journey for a while but after the initial burst of losing weight consistently you have hit a plateau. There could be many reasons for this but here are some of the most common:
1.Eating too much
When you initially start losing weight, doing simple things like cutting out sugar or avoiding carbs in the evening will cause enough of a calorie deficit for weight to begin to drop off naturally.
However, once your weight begins to drop, your body will need less and less calories to function so if you are not keeping track of your calorie intake, you will eventually get to the point where you are eating too many calories daily for weight loss.
2.Lack of consistency
While you may be eating healthily and exercising, if you are not being consistent then this will affect your weight loss long term.
The odd treat or cheat day is fine but if these treats become regular or you are constantly falling off the exercise wagon then you will not see the results.
3.Too much of a good thing
Foods like fruits, nuts, olive oil, whole grain foods and lean meats are healthy foods that we should consume on a regular basis.
However, these foods are still calorific, and if we are eating too much of them then our calories can quickly add up. This is particularly the case with calorie dense foods like avocados and nuts.
Eating more than half an avocado or a handful of nuts can quickly add several hundred calories per serving to your day.
4.Starving yourself
Conversely, not eating enough food can also cause your weight loss to stall. With a large reduction in quantity of food, you will initially see a corelating drop in weight.
However, consistently eating too little will slow down your metabolism, causing your body to hold on to fat reserves and instead begin to burn muscle mass.
This will in turn slow down your weight loss further, leading you to eat unsustainably low amounts of food to try and maintain your momentum.
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5.Liquid calories
You may think the odd glass of wine, fruit juice or soda will not hurt but these liquids have substantial amounts of calories, most of which are considered empty.
Meaning, they have little nutritional value and they do not leave you satiated so you will still need to eat on top of the calories you have drunk.
Liquid calories can quickly add up over the course of the week so it is safer to stick to water and herbal teas.
6.Not lifting weights
You may be doing a lot of cardio to lose weight, which is good for burning calories and improving heart health.
However, if you want to keep burning calories while at rest, then you need to increase your muscle mass and you can only do this by lifting weights.
The reason men lose weight faster than women is because they naturally have more muscle, so get in the gym and get lifting!
Continue reading here:
Six reasons why you are not losing weight - The Standard
