“Why am I not losing weight?”

I am often asked this question, especially whilst doing  initial  FREE  B-Fit health assessments . Quite often,  people seem to be doing ‘everything’ right but not making progress!  Hmmm… ‘everything right’  might be the problem here.  We can all be  fantastic at kidding ourselves into believing that we are doing ‘everything ‘ right! Sometimes people really do think it’s true  so I’ve listed a few truths that you may not have thought of when it comes to achieving the results you want :

1. You’re undoing all the good work you  have done with your exercise by eating the wrong stuff or too much of it !

Exercise is a key factor  when it comes to burning fat and  losing weight  BUT, do not make the mistake of over-estimating how much you have done and it’s effect .Or, worse still…think ‘well I’ve exercised today so  it doesn’t matter if I eat a Dominos pizza and fries …’

Is that you?  Do you say that to yourself?

Or the other way some people put it is ‘well, I’ll have this today and workout extra hard tomorrow to  burn it off…’

Unfortunately, it just  doesn’t work like that. So, if you are making these mistakes and excuses , you need to  stop it as this is one of the things that could be stopping you shifting that stubborn fat .

Basically , exercise to improve strength, health, muscle tone , body shape and all the other benefits but NOT as a reason to eat rubbish or too much/ binge eat !

2.You’re not eating as healthily as you think (and you may be doing this without realising it).

 People who eat a typical western diet are often overweight and have lots of health problems! That’s not just me abusing all westerners, it’s a fact! Especially  in this country.

The stats show us that the vast majority of people are overweight in this country… and its getting worse. Plus, lifestyle related diseases are on the increase and massively impacting  the country’s health and people’s lives

YET, when surveyed the vast majority of people think they are eating a healthy diet and consider it a priority!

I know …..it makes  absolutely no sense.

Something isn’t right. The first bit definitely is ,so it must be the bit about eating healthy…hmmm

So, people are either kidding themselves , not admitting they have a rubbish  diet, or comparing themselves to others who have an even worse diet, making them feel healthy!

It’s so easy to lie to yourself. It’s so easy to compare yourself to others and ‘believe’ you are doing  brilliantly  when really you are still eating rubbish, just not quite as much as your friend at work  who  scoffed a large Big Mac meal and a box of Pringles for lunch then a  Starbucks Signature caramel hot chocolate  and a double chocolate chip cookie  for afternoon break .All of a sudden your diet doesn’t seem that bad, in fact, it’s pretty healthy….. or is it ??

If you don’t actually monitor  your food/nutrition (at least for a while) to see how it all looks in black and white, and check with someone that knows what they are talking about,  then be careful about assuming how ‘healthily’ you are eating.

This  simple mistake could be stopping your progress in it’s tracks!

3.You’re relying on exercise alone to lose weight

Exercise can obviously  help you lose weight, as well as provide  many other health benefits and every single person should be exercising regularly .

BUT, exercise alone will not get you the results you want! There is much more to weight loss or  shifting unwanted fat than  just exercising more . Exercise is  only part of the jigsaw anad there are so many other factors involved in successful , healthy fat loss and achieving your optimum health and size.

Without going into a big long explanation I will just simply sum it up  for now by saying …..YOU CAN’T OUT-TRAIN A BAD DIET.

You could exercise 7 days a week but if you haven’t got the right nutrition,  a structured plan and  the right mindset in place , you will not achieve  your optimum size and health and you will not achieve the results you want.

The flip side is.. if you DO have the correct nutrition in place, you are following a structured and progressive training plan that is right for you, you have got the correct goals and mindset in place and you have some kind of  support and accountability ,then exercise is an amazing  fat loss tool  to have in your tool box.

4-You’re doing the wrong type of exercise for you

Generally if you are exercising regularly you deserve a big well done.  This is because you are doing your health the world of good.

However, when it comes to doing the best exercise for weight loss ,it’s a mine field out there.

No wonder people are confused.

Everyone is an expert on this…despite very little actual knowledge in the area.

Resistance training is the THE best form of fat burning exercise , IF done correctly !
Increasing muscle tone  will  increase your metabolism and help you burn  fat even once you have finished exercising and are resting!

Basically, if resistance training is  done correctly then it  will create the correct hormonal environment to blast fat.

If you know what you are doing  there are many ways to create this environment.  Using certain  exercise choices, sets, rest periods etc…  manipulating these parameters can have a massive effect on your body shape.

The 2nd best fat burning  type of exercise is  interval training.  Short sharp bursts of high intensity exercise followed by a period of lower intensity. Rinse. Repeat!

Now you can interval train with weight/resistance but I’m putting that into the above (resistance/weights) section and skilled manipulation of certain things.

The interval training I’m talking about here is the ‘cardio’ side of it.  So, running , swimming , rower, bike,  walking etc…

Again different manipulations can effect  different energy systems ,giving a different outcome.

But essentially, interval training far outweighs long, low intensity steady state, boring cardio that you see most people doing on the cross trainer ,looking like they would rather stick pins in their eyes.

Getting the right mix of these 2 methods ( although it’s not really 2 as there are so many ways of doing them) will accelerate your weight loss and fat loss  results like nothing else.

Add in some flexibility training, along with some  corrective postural movement training and you will be on the road to success , achieving the results you want  in no time.

5. You’re not being consistent enough.

This is a biggy…

When you’re struggling to shift  that final half a stone , stone or dress size  or to overcome a plateau, consistency in your efforts is even more important.

Many people really  ‘go for it’  for days and sometimes weeks at a time but then just don’t stick at it , so basically  their the habits are not consistent for long enough.

Have you ever felt like you have totally nailed it for a week…eaten so healthily , trained hard..100% for the week.  You then excitedly jump on the scales, try some clothes, measure yourself, only to be disappointed?!

Any of you had that feeling?

‘…What’s the point’  ‘…this stuff doesn’t work’  so you go and eat whatever you want, back to old ways, maybe skip that Monday

exercise  session …’because it didn’t work anyway’!

Or maybe you don’t even make a week, maybe it’s a couple of days ‘on it’ and then you fall of the wagon a couple of days later?

This type of inconsistency could easily hamper your efforts and leave you feeling disappointed and de-motivated.

You need to develop a lifestyle plan and daily healthy habits over a period of time ,  that are sustainable and work for you.  Not a stop/ start ,yo-yo , on-off plan…

You need to think of the bigger picture, long term vision as well as the mini goals along the journey

The simple truth is that consistency is absolutely key to success.

Ok so there you have it… 5 possible reasons you may not be losing weight or fat,  that you might not have thought about before.

One of my B-Fit clients CHRIS  ,fell in to at least 2 of these categories when she first came to us and couldn’t understand why she was struggling to lose weight.You can watch Chris’ success story video HERE and read more about Chris’s B-Fit journey HERE

I hope you have found this week’s blog helpful but don’t forget , if you are struggling ,I am always here to help , advise and support you , just give me a call/text  on 07748 2298 728 or click HERE

Lots of Love Gaynor x