3 surprising reasons you’re not losing weight (and what to do about it)

Regular workouts? Yep.

Staying hydrated? Check.

Eating enough fiber to keep an entire army regular? You bet.

You know the formula for losing weight. So why aren’t you losing it?

It could be that you’re sabotaging your noble efforts without even realizing it.

Here are 3 surprising reasons why the weight isn’t coming off.

1. You’re still eating too much sugar (in disguise) – Ditching the bread and pasta is a great start, but it’s time to be really honest about where else sugar lurks in your diet. Do you consume regular smoothies or shakes? What about Primal/Paleo desserts? Alcoholic beverages? Fruit? Even though these are relatively “healthier” sugars, their consumption can still trigger an undesirable effect in the body – namely the storage of unwanted body fat. Record your food intake for a typical day or two (with an online food journal like fitday.com) to gather some hard data.
2. You’re not sleeping enough – If you stay up watching screens well after the sunsets and drag yourself out of bed feeling anything but well rested – that’s a major roadblock for fat loss! Most people don’t sleep enough, or the quality of their sleep is poor. Get outside for 10 minutes during your lunch hour in the direct sunlight. Put down the electronics in the hours before the sunsets in favour of some quiet reading, socializing, or even an evening stroll. Engineer a great night’s sleep by making your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Commit to these unlikely tips for one month, and you may be surprised by how easily the pounds melt away.
3. You’re going to the gym too much – That’s right, there is such a thing as too much exercise, and it has the unintended effect of packing on the pounds! Gym-goers and exercise aficionados are often shocked to hear that their otherwise well-intentioned efforts are causing their waistlines to grow. How can that be? Workouts that are slightly too hard, performed too often, and with insufficient rest and recovery in between can stimulate increased appetite and caloric intake, the production of the hormone cortisol, and the breakdown of lean body tissue. You may have better luck by making your easy workouts longer/easier and your hard workouts shorter/more intense. That 30-minute jog becomes a 1-hour walk. That total body strength training session where you do 3 sets of 15 reps using moderate weights becomes 1 set to failure of just 5 exercises.

Now I want to hear from you. Are you engaging in any of these weight loss-compromising behaviours? If so, which one(s)? Leave me a comment below, along with one action item for turning things around.