You’re sweating at the gym, you drink plenty of water throughout your day, and you’ve even become religious about your portion sizes. So why aren’t haven’t you lose more weight by now? As it turns out, losing weight is not as easy as anyone claims it to be—unless you’ve got the genetics to support it. Here’s three reasons it’s so difficult, and one way you can supercharge your metabolism today.
Because You Have a Genetic Blueprint (That May Be Working Against You)
So many people kill themselves over the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of a diet that they fail to acknowledge and work around the ‘why’. The ‘why’ of a successful weight loss plan is your genetic makeup, and unfortunately if you have stubborn belly fat that seems impossible to lose, it could be your genetics that’s to blame. Were you born with the skinny gene or were you born with a larger body composition?
Ask yourself what your healthy weight is—where you feel the most energetic, flexible and confident. Whether it’s 120, 140 or 170, your weight loss plan should work around achieving this weight goal—not the skinny models or actors you admire on the big screen.
Because You’re Not Challenging Your Body Enough
There’s something even harder than sweating off the calories you consumed last night for dinner on the treadmill, or blasting the fat away with multiple spin classes in a given week. And that’s sweating it out when it’s not making a bit of difference on your waistline! If you’re not mixing things up on a day to day basis with your workouts, then you’re headed right for a weight loss plateau (the inability to continue losing weight). Switch things up and boost the intensity twice a week for fat blasting results! Head to a new type of cardio class, or do some bicep curls while taking a conference call. Challenge yourself and you’ll see the pounds continue to melt away.
Because It’s Not What You Eat, but When You Eat It
It’s hard to lose weight when you’re eating habits are taking over. When working on your weight loss goals, shoot for the 80/20 rule, which goes like this: weight loss is 80 percent what (and when!) you eat, and 20 percent exercise. So, ask yourself: what are you eating, and WHEN are you eating it? Here’s a tip: don’t save up all your calories for the late afternoon and evening. Enjoy a hearty breakfast that will allow you the reset of the day to work it off, and fuel up with protein, fiber and greens throughout the rest of your day.
