Things to try if your weight loss efforts have stalled or failed, time and time again!
Has your weight loss stalled or failed again? Try these things to get yourself on track.
Are you feeling frustrated at your lack of results? Weight loss is an emotional journey (unfortunately) and writing down how youâre feeling can help. One thing I tell everyone to do is write down 1 positive thing they notice about themselves EVERY DAY!
Write down what you eat every day and what exercises youâre doing right along side that. If your weight loss stalls, look back through your food journal and exercise journal to figure out why. I recommend not waiting till the end of the day to record this either. The unhealthy foods tend to âdisappearâ from your mind.
Donât give up after one week of not losing weight
This one gets a lot of people, myself included. I will have a great week, then relax a little bit and not lose anything the next week. Just because you have done well for one week doesnât mean you can go off the wagon and back to your old habits! Those are what got you fat in the first place!
Some people donât like to do this. Tough titties. If you are overweight or obese then you are not realizing what you are putting in your mouth. There are many people that tend to get obsessive about eliminating certain things and use this as a reason to not write down what theyâre eating. I never tell anyone to âeliminateâ certain things from their diet. Iâve tried it, itâs a recipe for disaster! Youâll do well for a while and then something snaps and you go on a breadstick binge! You CAN still lose weight just by changing your eating habits. Are you wolfing through a pint of ice cream a day? Cut it down to one a week. If your cravings get too bad, think about it for a day or two and decide then whether or not you still want it. Oftentimes youâll be craving something for reasons unrelated to hunger.
Go for a hike, go for a walk, lift some weights, play with your dog. You get the gist. Remember, calorie trackers and counters like MyFitnessPal with usually OVERESTIMATE your caloric burn during exercise. I tell my clients to play it safe and cut the time in half when they go to log it or write it down.
Now, many people think they can transform their fat straight into muscle⊠this is not so. I wish it were, but itâs not! Fat and muscle are two entirely different things and one wonât transform into the other. You must burn the fat off and then build muscle. The heavier you are, the easier it is to perform this process simultaneously. Putting on even a single pound of muscle is hard! It takes a lot of work and a lot of healthy eating.
Examine what youâre eating.
If you are eating âcleanâ or âhealthyâ and are frustrated with how your body looks try to consume more protein and fewer refined carbs. See if things change in a few weeks. I eat approximately 100-150 grams of protein per day. I weigh 150 pounds at the moment and am trying to lean up a little bit more.
 Things to AVOID when youâre trying to lose weight:
Goodness gracious stay away from these. If you must take a âfat burningâ pill pick something with good reviews that is not dangerous. Dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA at all and you can never be 100% sure what youâre getting. I could buy capsules, stuff them with powdered sugar while sitting in my grungy kitchen and print a snazzy label and market them as a new and effective fat burner. Look at the labels on your fitness supplements, Steer clear of anything that says it contains a proprietary blend. This is the fitness industries way of avoiding telling you how much of each ingredient one serving contains. This usually means you are being under dosed or ripped off.
Blaming someone else or your slow metabolism for your weight gain.
See my previous post for excuses that no one wants to hear. There are some medical conditions that make it challenging to lose weight. I understand completely. If you are hypothyroid and are carrying around any more than 20 extra pounds, it probably isnât your thyroid thatâs to blame. It is yourself! You eat too much and lose too little.
If you think your metabolism is damaged please youtube Layne Nortonâs video on metabolic damage. Most people do NOT have screwed up metabolisms. Your metabolism bounces back very quickly. I know a lot of women that have competed and through extremely restrictive diets, dangerous supplement regimes and excessive cardio exercise have gained 40+ pounds immediately after a show. These women and men are much more likely to have damaged metabolisms than the average overweight person.
Putting it off till tomorrow.
Donât want to go to the gym today? Too tired to go for a walk? Just do it! Even if itâs slow and you donât do very much youâre still better off than sitting on your butt!
I know losing weight is a challenge, but when it comes down to it, itâs calories in versus calories out. You got yourself fat and you can make yourself healthy and happy just as easily. Itâs a process. Donât be discouraged when you have a bad week. Jump back on that horse and start fresh. If you have to start over 50 times, thatâs ok. You will get there eventually so long as you keep trying. The more you screw up and slip up, the more you know for the future.
Throw in resistance training to build muscle and tone your body. Lifting weights will add shape and boost confidence and body functionality. If I can shed 80 pounds with no thyroid you can do it too.
Probably Sitting at 220 pounds here. It made it easy to throw the discus and shot put, but hard to breath! I had high blood pressure, severe thyroid disorder, Graves disease the whole shebang.
Has your weight loss stalled? Do you fail over and over again? Try these tips. Things to try if your weight loss efforts have stalled or failed, time and time again!
