Have you really struggled to lose those extra pounds? Why is it hard to lose weight? Well, it’s not as simple a task as it may sound. Losing weight requires a lot of discipline and commitment. It is obvious that nowadays lifestyle has complicated weight loss efforts, but so do some other factors you might not know about. Below are some obstacles that can make it hard to lose weight.
Habits
It is true that habits are difficult to unlearn. After a lifetime of learning to do something, it is extremely hard to change that habit. For instance, growing up your parents may have told you to eat everything on your plate. And that habit has stuck with you no matter how much food is on your plate.
Clearing your plate is necessarily a bad thing if the proportions are within normal servings for your age, height, and physical activity. However, if the serving sizes are considerably more, this overeating will produce more calories than you can burn and will lead to weight gain.
Other bad food habits are the types of foods or snacks consumed. Again, if you’re used to eating highly processed sugary and snack foods as you grew up, that will stay with you in your adult life. Calories from sugary and snack foods are bad for you as they are converted into fat.
Pollution – Why Is It Hard to Lose Weight?
Studies have shown that air pollution can slow the body’s metabolism through the transmission of obesogens. There is a wide and growing list of obesogens that impact the body’s metabolism and how it stores fat. When these fats aren’t burned off during exercise or just our everyday movements, they result in weight gain. Therefore, it does become more essential to increase physical activity to help burn off fat accumulated from obesogens.
All types of pollution can upset our bodies natural rhythms; if there is noise pollution in your neighborhood, you may find it hard to sleep, and a lack of sleep has been linked to weight gain as well. You need to get in and around 8 hours of sleep every night for your body to perform to its best. Try to get to bed an hour earlier a few nights a week and you’ll start to notice the difference!
Type of Diet
Your diet can, and does have, and enormous impact on your ability to lose weight. If your diet is high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt, you are going to gain weight. Changing your diet to one that is high in fiber (i.e. fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, etc.) low in fat, sugar, salt and calories can have a significant impact on your ability to lose weight.
Unfortunately, many people nowadays have adopted a lifestyle where snacks and quick meals are more the norm than not. It is good to avoid fast food in general as well as things like red meat, crackers, chips, candy, cakes, cookies, etc. These diets have a lot of cholesterol and fat which undermines the effort of weight loss.
Eating a Heavy Meal at Night – Why Is It Hard to Lose Weight?
Due to the hectic lifestyle many people have, dinner time has moved from late afternoon to early evening and late-night evening. Eating a heavy meal late at night is just not good for you. Heavy meals usually contain a lot of carbohydrates. Eating a high amount of carbohydrates before going to sleep is counterproductive to losing weight. Heavy meals at night with a lot of carbohydrates greatly changes the body, in that the energy creates weight gain while sleeping.
It is wise to eat food rich in carbohydrates during the day when the body is active. A light meal, such as a salad, is best when toward the end of the day. You should remember to take your meals like this: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. If you find hunger striking in the evening, drink some water and wait 10 minutes. If you are still hungry, eat something light. We often mistake hunger for thirst, so remember to turn to the water first to avoid unnecessary calorie intake!
Medication Taken
Due to poor health, you may find yourself taking a handful of tablets. One of the most common medicines used are antihistamines which influence your metabolic rate. This can result in fat being stored, resulting weight gain.
Preservatives – Why Is It Hard to Lose Weight?
It is well known that most canned food contains some preservatives that are not good for your health. Some of them are rich in fats and when consumed they result to weight gain. Foods from a can are generally full of salt which when there is too much in your diet, can lead to water retention and bloating. It can also increase blood pressure so you should be careful of this. Foods that are high in sugar too should be treated as a reward or treat rather than an everyday item. The excess sugar converts to fat when it is not burned off. You should make a habit of checking the sugar content, you would be surprised how much there is in some items, especially drinks like bottled coffees and teas!
Lack of Exercise
Sometimes we just don’t have time to get in some exercise in our routines and this is totally normal. The problem is though that as we get older, our metabolism slows down meaning that the diet we have always followed may lead to weight gain now. To counter this, exercise is so important. Even if you can squeeze 20 minutes a few times a week you’ll start to notice the difference before you know it. Run around after your kids, take a brisk walk with the dog, or just do some jumping jacks or run on the spot while you’re waiting for dinner to cook! It will not only speed up your metabolism, but it will release serotonin in your body improving your mood, and your sleep!
Losing weight is a bit complicated and it needs good self-control and discipline. Having a plan on how to lose weight is quite common but the most debilitating things are habits and lifestyles. It is vital to keep focused and try to change eating habits if you want to lose weight.