Many people struggle to lose weight for a variety of reasons. Whilst many of these are likely to be human error or simply the wrong approach/mindset, we’re going to take you through why you might not be losing weight, and how to fix it.
Diet and deficiency
One of the most common problems inhibiting your ability to lose weight is deficiency – this refers to the lack of essential vitamins and minerals that the body uses to fuel biological functions. For example, a lack of iron, vitamin C or copper in the diet can contribute to poor iron metabolism and an inability to get energy from food. This can sabotage a diet by increasing hunger and be reducing satiety/energy despite eating the right amount of calories.
Similarly, chromium deficiency has been shown to have a negative effect on weight loss, and chromium supplements are often a good choice for those who don’t eat many chromium-rich foods. This all points to the fact that a well-balanced diet for weight loss needs to focus on getting enough nutrients!
Lifestyle factors
One of the reasons that you can’t lose weight might be the excessive stress in your life, which can inhibit the weight loss process. Chronic stress releases huge amounts of cortisol – the stress hormone – which signals that you’re in danger, causing your body to hold onto excess body fat in case it is needed in the future.
Many of us live incredibly stressful lives, but specifically long-term stress, which has been linked to the development of mental health problems like depression, anxiety and other seriously debilitating disorders. The effects of this widespread chronic stress include poor fat metabolism and holding onto excess weight.
The real problem
We have mentioned some of the most common problems causing people to struggle to lose weight, but the odds are high that the problem is human error. Many people underestimate how many calories they eat, the size of their portions or simply snack too much throughout the day. Studies have shown that overweight and obese individuals underestimate how much they eat, suggesting that human error accounts for a large proportion of dietary failures.
Mis-counting of calories and macronutrients is a serious issue due to the difficulty inherent in this process and the measuring of foods. This is why tracking should be performed for those who are struggling to lose weight – and adjusted every few lbs of body weight change. Alternatively, a solution that takes the calorie counting and uncertainty out of the equation can provide a change or alternative.
No matter why you’re struggling to lose weight, the important thing is to make structural changes to your diet and ensure that you’re eating as much as you think, as well as making sure that you’re consuming enough key nutrients. Whether you’re on a strict diet or follow a system that takes the difficulty out of dieting, it is important to update your body weight and dietary needs, as well as counting accurately!
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