It has been proven time and again that with regular exercise and proper diet, you can make those unwanted pounds go away. But how come it’s not working for you? What are you doing wrong? Like most people, you’re going to be surprised when you find out what may be causing your unexplained weight gain. Here are some of those:
Alcohol
Alcohol is on top of the list, and for good reason. No matter how religiously you stick to your exercise routine and diet plan, if you drink more than a bottle of beer or glass of wine each day, you’re not going to lose any weight.
Alcohol has more calories than proteins or carbohydrates. Can you believe that? It doesn’t stop there. It also hinders your body from burning fat because it prioritizes the metabolizing of alcohol. And it makes you want to eat more food (everything just seems so delicious!) and forget all about your weight loss goals.
If you can kick your alcohol habit for good, you’ll be doing your health a big favour. It will be very much easier for you to slim down. If it’s already a part of your life, tone it down to a one drink per day (for women) or two drinks per day (for men).
Sleep deprivation
If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not only ruining your health, you’re also wreaking havoc to your weight loss plan. There are three ways sleep deprivation affects your weight.
First, when you don’t have enough sleep the previous night, of course, you’ll feel like a zombie at work. So that this doesn’t affect your performance, you’ll reach for a cup (or more) of coffee or gobble up something sugary to perk yourself up. That’s detrimental to your weight loss efforts in the long run.
Second, lack of sleep can also impair your metabolism, hindering the body from burning fat properly. Third, staying up late means more temptations for late-night snacking.
Stress
Emotional eating is not a myth, contrary to what some people claim. Stress releases a hormone that makes people turn to comfort foods, which are often high in fat and sugar. While short term stress makes you lose your appetite, chronic stress produces Cortisol, which pumps up cravings.
Apart from causing overeating, stress also causes people to lose motivation to work out. People who are having a bad day may turn to alcohol or end up losing sleep. These are both contributors to weight gain.
Low-fat foods
Just because a food product has a “low fat” label, it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the healthier option. In fact, sometimes, low fat products contain just as many calories, and even more sugar. Sugar is used to flavour up the food.
Be sure to read and understand the nutrition facts before buying anything. And whenever possible, stick to homemade foods and avoid processed products.
Skipping and skimping meals
Here’s another common mistake: people skip meals and eat very little food to lose weight. The logic is, the less food they consume, the fewer calories they take in. But doing this is actually counterproductive as it slows down the metabolism and causes the body to store fat, which in turn, causes weight gain.
Speed eating
Lately, it seems like you’re always pressed for time. You can’t even stay long enough in the dining table to chew your food properly. Speed eating is never a good idea, even when you’re running late, as this increases chance of overeating.
Remember that your brain needs some time to realize that the stomach is already full. Give it enough time to send signals to your body that it should stop eating. Chewing your food properly also makes it easier for your body to digest it.
It’s quite shocking to know that seemingly harmless things like skipping meals or low fat foods can actually ruin your weight loss program. This is why, it’s important that you’re careful in everything that you do so that your efforts will not be in vain.