What to do if you can't lose weight. Why I can’t lose weight despite all efforts I can’t lose weight what to do

  • Date of: 26.09.2022

You're doing your best - exercising actively and eating right - and yet somehow your weight stays the same, or worse, even increases. With what it can be connected? Why does hard work on yourself not bring results and fail to lose weight? There are quite a few reasons why people don't lose weight even if they exercise and eat right. Don't worry. Perhaps you will understand that some of them concern you and you will be able to find a way out of this vicious circle.

Why do we gain weight

A year ago, you could eat charlotte at night and polish dessert with sweet soda without consequences for the figure, but today it seems that the waist increases from looking at fried potatoes. What's happened? Why are the arrows of the scales slowly but surely creeping up? Why is it difficult to lose weight?

Violation of the hormonal background

Hormones control the female body like a conductor in an orchestra. The "mood" of the conductor, or rather the "behavior" of estrogen and progesterone (female sex hormones), we feel in full - from sudden mood swings to dramatic changes in taste preferences and appetite.

The first hormonal "explosion" occurs during puberty. The second is associated with pregnancy (up to 4 months of pregnancy, the production of progesterone and estrogen increases). The third stage of hormonal restructuring awaits during the period of premenopause and menopause (the ovaries produce an insufficient amount of hormones, so fat in the abdomen and thighs can “stay” at an incredible speed).

Metabolic slowdown

To the question: “Why can’t I lose weight?” you can often hear the answer: "It's about the metabolism." It is known that every 10 years, metabolic processes slow down by almost 10%. The point is a decrease in the amount of muscle mass with age, an inactive lifestyle, and a decrease in the quality of the diet.

Use of hormonal contraceptives
Changing eating behavior (decrease in appetite, increase it) is a possible side effect of hormonal drugs designed to prevent pregnancy.

Yes, in modern hormonal contraceptives, the level of estrogen is two times lower than in the “first generation” drugs, but their influence on carbohydrate metabolism cannot be completely ruled out. Often, women who use oral contraceptives are advised by experts to monitor their appetite more closely and maintain a balance between the intake of calories and their consumption.

Long-term use of "serious" drugs

It is no secret that long-term treatment based on taking antibiotics and immunomodulatory drugs can adversely affect the functioning of enzymes that promote the breakdown and normal absorption of food. In addition to such unpleasant symptoms as flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, fermentopathy directly or indirectly provokes weight gain.

The habit of eating on the run and "anything"

What could be easier, faster and more convenient than breakfast in the form of a sausage sandwich? Of course, bread and ham. You will have to cook porridge for 20 minutes, and you will eat a sandwich on the way from the apartment to the parking lot. Indeed, such a start to the day promises you at least 10-15 extra minutes. But will such a menu bring benefits? Another marshmallow in chocolate is in the mouth "absolutely imperceptibly." But after a couple of weeks of such afternoon snacks, it becomes clear that your favorite skirt has become tight at the waist.

Why You Can't Lose Weight

“I want to lose weight, but I can’t. What to do?" - perhaps the most common question on the Internet. Indeed, sometimes desire, iron willpower, and certain actions on the way to the dream figure are not enough to say goodbye to the hated kilograms. Why is it difficult to lose weight?

Top 5 mistakes that prevent you from becoming slimmer

  1. We are constantly under stress

Our body's relationship with stress is very unique. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle, lowers insulin resistance, and promotes fat storage.

Stress is a survival response in emergencies, but such emergencies are extremely rare today. However, we suffer from daily, low-level, debilitating stress - waiting in traffic, over-exercising, worrying about work, kids, whining bosses, and so on. This means that your body is under constant stress. It constantly produces cortisol, causing the body to store fat because it thinks it will need fat in the future.

If you train intensively, it may be time to replace some of your loads with yoga (but not intense yoga but with a barbell, but something more peaceful and preferably in combination with - for example, kundalini yoga, Iyengar yoga, qigong), add to your daily schedule (at least cover the distance from the metro to the house not by tram, but on foot) and look for ways to eliminate stress from your life. You need this not only to lose weight, but also to get all the other benefits that come with a stress-free life.

  1. You are not eating as well as you think

Perhaps you buy your groceries from health food stores, the organic section of a supermarket, or a farmer's market. But if it's mostly diet sodas, fat-free stuff, "organic" chips and sweets, breads and pasta, your diet is full of mindless fast carbs. You're helping yourself to rid yourself of guilt by purchasing all of these from a "healthy" store, but let's be honest: these products are not real food.

I recommend a whole food diet: vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, fish (as always, I recommend my mobile recipe app for inspiration). If you eat meat, then it should not be industrially processed (that is, not dumplings, minced meat, meatballs), but cooked by you at home from a whole piece of meat, preferably the best quality available ...

  1. You eat too little

The simple rule for weight loss is to eat fewer calories and move more. However, this is not always so simple, because the body is much more complex. It's a smart, living, breathing, adaptable creature that understands that it's being "starved" when you cut calories too low. And although you may think that the less you eat, the faster you will lose weight, this theory can work against you. Your body will respond to less food by making you feel hungry, and it will adapt to it by lowering your energy expenditure so you don't feel like eating as often.

  1. You don't get enough sleep

Remember the joke, when the doctor asks if you get enough sleep, the patient answers - where do I get enough sleep? So, lack of sleep is stress for the body. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, which promotes fat storage. Chronic sleep deprivation can also trigger the release of cortisol, which we know causes the body to store fat instead of burning it. Another reason why getting enough sleep is essential (for some, that means getting 7-8 hours of sleep a day) is that the bulk of the fat-burning work actually happens during deep sleep! So if you are not as expected, you are missing out on an excellent opportunity to lose weight.

  1. You avoid fat

We've been told for a long time that fat is the enemy. Therefore, it is very difficult to go against everyone and start eating fats, especially when the media, doctors, "experts", friends and family are convinced that fat will kill us. However, there has long been a mass of scientific evidence that fats do not kill us and do not act, contrary to beliefs, and a host of other diseases.
they contain carbohydrates and fats, all your efforts in losing weight are in vain. Good fats, such as those found in avocados, coconut oil, nuts, vegetable oils, etc., not only provide you with much-needed energy on a low-carb diet, but also help you lose weight!

Top 5 Reasons Diets Don't Work

Every second woman asks herself: “Why can't I lose weight on a diet? What am I doing wrong? It turns out that these “not so” are plenty.

  1. You choose your own diet

The “virtually healthy” diagnosis that doctors give to most of us implies the presence of some contraindications. However, not everyone, having decided to start a new life on a fashionable diet, goes to the doctor to pass all the necessary tests and check how safe a particular method is for him.

In the case of self-selection of a nutrition system, do not be surprised that you will soon be interested in why the diet does not help to lose weight. And that would be the lesser evil. A bigger problem may be the negative consequences that your body experienced after testing an illiterately selected nutrition system.

  1. You blindly try to achieve ghostly ideals

Of course, it's great if you can easily button up jeans that you bought 15 years ago. But, if you face the truth, such cases are rather an exception. There is such a thing as a healthy weight - the weight at which the body feels as comfortable as possible. It's about the comfort of the body. In this case, dreams of a waist like Bella Hadidego do not care at all.

The famous French nutritionist Pierre Dukan called for always and in everything to take into account the "opinion" of the body. The expert assured that almost everyone can achieve any desired figure. But, having lost weight with a height of 180 cm to 50 kg, the body will try in every possible way to "recoup" and give SOS signals (dizziness, menstrual irregularities, a sharp deterioration in the quality of hair and nails, etc.). In this mode, it is impossible to maintain weight for a long time, and it is short-sighted, because the body can not only return to its healthy weight, but also, against the background of stress, “please” with additional reserves in the form of extra pounds.

  1. You only monitor the calorie content of products

It seems to you that maintaining a balance of caloric content of food is the very proper nutrition that everyone is talking about. However, you constantly wonder why you can’t lose weight with proper nutrition.
Scientists have long proven that blind and scrupulous calorie counting and safe weight loss are not synonymous.
The recommendation to consume 1200 kcal per day can be perceived in different ways. Someone will try to keep the balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates on their plate. And someone will prefer to follow the prescription by choosing a couple of chocolate bars with nuts and nougat (their calorie content will be close to 1200 kcal) as a daily diet.

  1. You constantly feel hungry

Recall those moments when you were desperately trying to cope with an acute desire to sleep, drinking your fifth cup of espresso, or feeling thirsty after eating a tom yum. As practice shows, in the fight against physiological needs, you will not be the winner. The same thing happens when a person is in the grip of hunger. Experiencing an acute need for food (glucose, vitamins, nutrients), the brain begins to work in such a way that at this moment a person cannot think of anything else except how to urgently satisfy his need. We will not even talk about bad mood, irritability and loss of strength.

This is one of the reasons why you can't lose weight. Seriously restricting yourself in food (and, in most cases, doing it on the basis of your own choice, and not on the prescription of a specialist), you risk dooming yourself to a constant feeling of hunger. So, at almost one hundred percent risk of breaking.

  1. Do you perceive diet as a panacea?

Now I’m tormented, and an amazing result is guaranteed - every second girl who decides to lose weight thinks. Probably, with strict adherence to the prescriptions of the diet, with a significant reduction in the calorie content of the daily diet, with the rejection of fast carbohydrates, you will quickly reach the cherished ideal. But can you keep the result? Hardly.
Usually, nutrition systems developed by specialists consist of several stages. They take into account the need to achieve the desired indicators, the period of "consolidation" of the results, and the importance of the stage of maintaining optimal weight for a long time (often it stretches for a long time). Are you ready to admit that diet is a way of life?

Looking for the right approach

Yes, yes, exactly the approach. Why can't women lose weight? They use "solo" methods as their main tactic. However, as we have already found out, even the most severe mono-diet will not cope with extra pounds alone, and even more so in such ways it will be impossible to maintain the desired weight. What needs to be done to get the weight off the ground?

Contact the experts

If you do not have the opportunity to attend a consultation with a qualified expert, make an appointment online. Many doctors, as well as authors of methods, have special services where, in real time, losing weight can contact a doctor with any questions and track their progress. This kind of “online weight loss” is usually several times cheaper than seeing a doctor in a successful clinic.

If you decide to lose weight on your own, thoroughly study the nutrition system by which you decided to lose weight. The main thing is to draw an adequate parallel between the chosen diet and your well-being.

Having problems with the gastrointestinal tract, you should not choose a menu that contains sour fruits and vegetables, or those foods that provoke flatulence and other unpleasant symptoms. People suffering from kidney disease, it is better to refrain from diets, which are based on proteins (especially if they are proteins of animal origin).

Exercise smartly

Often, even those people who regularly go to a fitness club are often faced with the fact that they cannot lose weight when playing sports. What to do - trainers know and the latest technologies that allow you to choose the right and adequate load for a person, at which the hated fat will be burned. With the help of fitness testing (this is an ECG under stress), the expert will be able to determine your level of physical fitness, find out the scope of effective work in the heart rate, and select the degree of training intensity. By the way, in many fitness clubs, when buying a subscription, such a consultation is free of charge.

Set goals and reward your every victory

Keep a diary where you write down your daily diet and set goals for the future. I don’t “want the inner thigh muscles to get stronger and my arms to become embossed”, but “after 10 workouts, stand in the plank for 1.5 minutes, and in 60 seconds 150 jump over the rope.” If you reach your goal - reward yourself with something that gives you pleasure - new leggings, a massage session. If the goal remains a dream, keep working.

Don't ignore sports gadgets and smartphone apps

They can not only track the number of steps taken and heart rate, but also become your personal assistant: remind you to drink water, take the necessary vitamins, arrange a snack, go to training, and even provide recipes for healthy meals.

In addition, many applications provide a "share the results" function. This is especially true for those who even have a competitive diet.

Get your family involved in your weight loss

It's hard to lose weight when your house is like a candy store, and your loved ones are eating fragrant apple pie at dinner, while you are savoring a radish salad. Try to "infect" the family with your desire to eat right. Cook by replacing unhealthy foods with healthier ones: if children cannot live without mayonnaise, cook it yourself, if your husband loves rich pork borscht, offer him an alternative with turkey meat, and serve grilled vegetables instead of mashed potatoes. Gradually, your family will "get a taste."

When to expect results

The human body is a very complex mechanism. He hates strict rules and will try with all his might to keep the accumulated "wealth". Do not set too ambitious goals for him. Yes, maybe you will be able to get rid of 10 kg in a month (through incredible efforts, of course), but you definitely shouldn’t expect gratitude from the body in the form of excellent health for such feats ... Remember, rapid weight loss is stress, and stress is a hormone cortisol, which not only accelerates fat gain, but also destroys muscle.

Experts like to say that you need to choose a diet that a person can then follow for a lifetime. It turns out that the body has a “defense system” in case hungry times come (that is, a low-calorie diet). At the time of calorie restriction, our smart body begins to accumulate fat for the future, so often when a person finishes a diet, he not only returns the lost kilograms, but also begins to gain new ones with a vengeance.

According to the WHO recommendation, the optimal weight loss that does not harm health is 2 kg per month (that is, 500 g per week). Keep this in mind when you dream of wearing a dress two sizes smaller in a week.

“I eat right and go to training. But I'm not losing weight! ”, - it doesn’t happen? Of course it does. In the process of losing weight, mistakes are sometimes possible that inhibit the transformation from a chrysalis to a butterfly. Analyze your behavior: maybe it is precisely for the reasons listed below that your weight cannot get off the ground?

Reason #1: No Calorie Deficit

Regular exercise helps burn calories. However, the most common mistake of losing weight lies in the fact that by increasing physical activity, we imperceptibly start and eat more. Sometimes this happens unconsciously. But it also happens that we know and justify our mistakes in nutrition, consoling ourselves with the phrase: “Tomorrow I will work everything out in the gym.”

What to do?

The process of losing weight is inhibited, since the desired calorie deficit is not created. When you spend energy, you consume it in the same volume. You must definitely watch your diet: indulgences are acceptable, but if they do not become a system.

The second reason: a sedentary lifestyle

If you sit in the office at the computer all day (or at home in front of the TV), then even though you go to the gym regularly, your lifestyle is considered sedentary. That is why the body spends little energy and fat reserves remain in place.

What to do?

For weight loss, 2-3 workouts per week is not enough if you sit 6-8 hours a day. Make other efforts to boost your metabolism. For example, walk outside every day, refuse the elevator and escalator. In the office, try not to sit still all day - get up more often, go to colleagues in another department instead of talking with them using a messenger or phone. Limit the time in front of the TV or try to do simple exercises, while watching it - twist the hoop, do the "bike", etc.

Third reason: muscle growth

It seems that you are eating right, and the load has increased. But the arrow of the scales froze at one digit ... The thing is that changes occur in your muscle mass, and they are not visible on the scales. Simply put, fat deposits in your body are gradually burned, and muscle mass is growing. And since it weighs more, the numbers on the scales can also increase.

What to do?

Look not only at the fluctuations of the arrow of the scales, but also visually note changes in the figure. The same weight with the same height in people may look different: a girl weighing 60 and 168 cm tall can have a sporty toned body or solid fat folds. Watch the volumes of the figure: if they decrease, you are on the right track.

Reason Four: Mindless Calorie Restriction

If you decide to simply reduce your daily calorie intake, for example, to 1300 kcal, this may not work. As a result of an incorrect calculation of daily calories and an ill-conceived diet, you will be haunted by a feeling of constant hunger. As a result, the feeling of dissatisfaction, stress increases, all thoughts revolve only about food, mood swings, breakdowns are possible. In a word, you are not you when you are hungry.

What to do?

First, correctly calculate your need for calories. Indeed, as a result of too much calorie deficit, the metabolism slows down. Accordingly, weight loss slows down. Secondly, carefully plan your diet, namely: increase the amount of protein and reduce the amount of carbohydrates. Protein foods (fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products) give a feeling of fullness for a long time and help reduce the amount of calories consumed. And one more thing: do not forget about vegetables, fruits and foods containing fiber - they are also low in calories, but will help eliminate hunger for a long time.

You can read about how to determine the BJU and calorie content of the diet here.

Fifth reason: meals are not properly organized

Until now, many of us live by the principle: eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, give dinner to the enemy. Eating the entire daily calorie intake in the morning, we try to limit food intake in the evening or do not eat after six at all in order to lose weight well. This often backfires...

What to do?

Eat often, but little by little. It is better to eat 5-6 times a day, but in small portions. So the body learns to be satisfied with less food and you do not overeat. In addition, frequent fractional meals help to avoid spikes in blood sugar, which just provoke the deposition of fat.

The sixth reason: you sleep little or are nervous a lot

Do you worry about work or stress haunts you in your personal life ... You skip meals or, on the contrary, eat too much ... You suffer from insomnia or lack of sleep ... All this can affect the metabolic processes occurring in the body. For someone, stress acts as a catalyst for weight loss, while for someone, due to constant "nerves", the process, on the contrary, slows down.

What to do?

Organize your day. Try to go to bed at the same time, use meditation or breathing exercises to reduce the effects of stress. You can not cope on your own, do not tolerate it - contact a specialist.

To learn how to avoid overeating when stressed, you can read here.

Reason 7: You're being dishonest with yourself

Even counting the calorie content of breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, we can inadequately assess the total daily calorie intake. We can really forget about all the products that ended up in our stomach during the day. Do you remember chewing on a couple of cookies offered by a colleague? What did you try the dish several times while preparing it? Did you pinch off a piece of bread? Or is it "doesn't count"?

What to do?

Keep a food diary. Or - which is easier - take notes right on the phone, because most of us always have it with us. Write down everything that is eaten, immediately, without leaving for later. All this data will help to adequately estimate the total calorie intake.

Reason 8: You don't drink enough water

You drink juices (freshly squeezed), tea (green, without sugar), coffee with a fat-burning effect, believing that there is enough liquid. Meanwhile, only ordinary, pure water is a catalyst for metabolic processes, and the rest of the liquid can be equated rather with food.

What to do?

Drink water before breakfast, and 20 minutes before meals, but not immediately after meals. You need to drink at least two liters of clean, non-carbonated water per day. Only in this case, the process of burning calories will be faster.

Ninth Reason: The Plateau Effect

You successfully lost weight and suddenly the body seemed to become greedy: it does not want to “give away” a single gram of excess weight. At the same time, your nutrition is clearly organized, you attend training just as before - in a word, nothing happened that could slow down the process. Apparently, the thing is that the plateau effect has set in - the body is used to the current loads and the standard calorie content of the diet.

What to do?

Don't panic and be patient. Try to adjust the training system, increase the load. Or “shake up” your body with fasting days.

You can read about which fasting days will help activate weight loss here.

Tenth reason: the presence of diseases

Finally, you can not discount some of the reasons that do not depend on nutrition and physical activity that prevent weight loss. So, there are a number of diseases that affect the process of getting rid of excess weight. It can be hypothyroidism (decreased thyroid function), diabetes mellitus or prediabetes, and some others.

What to do?

Visit a doctor, check the blood for sugar, thyroid hormones. If there is some kind of disease, then do not despair. If it is successfully corrected over time, you will successfully get rid of excess weight.

In the fight to lose weight, any of these common mistakes can be the reason why you can't lose weight even with proper nutrition or diet while exercising in the gym.

Counting every calorie, cutting out your favorite food, hitting the gym and still not seeing any results? If you're on a diet and following your plan down to the smallest detail, but the scale is not moving, it's time to take a closer look at your approach.

Sometimes small problems along the way can snowball into big problems if not addressed right away. If you are wondering why I can’t lose weight and at the same time there is at least one of the problems listed below that leads to excesses in your diet, then by solving it, you can finally start losing weight.

1. Prolonged diet

When was the last time you felt fully satisfied after eating? If you constantly experience this aching feeling of hunger, then the body will not give extra calories and something needs to be changed.

The first reason you may not be able to burn fat as you would like is dieting for too long. A long-term diet can drive you into a reduced calorie stage. This fasting regime slows down the metabolism. Of course, you consume fewer calories, but you also burn less, which means you don’t get any progress.

If this sounds like your case, take a breather. Seriously! Don't be afraid to take a break for 2-4 weeks and stop worrying about the calories you eat and burn. You are simply taking one step back in order to get results in the longer term.

2. Wrong calorie counting

Perhaps the most common reason why you can’t lose weight with proper nutrition is simply the wrong assessment of the food you eat, or rather the wrong calculation of the calorie content of food.

For example, you prepare an evening snack and scoop up peanut butter with a spoon and add a generous portion to Greek yogurt. But wait. How much oil was in this spoon? If you estimate it's one scoop, but the reality is closer to 2 scoops, here's an extra 80-100 calories to your diet. And you still wonder why the diet does not work!

Peanut butter is a good example because it has a high calorie density and you don't usually use a measuring spoon to scoop a small serving out of a jar. With the same mistakes with other high-calorie foods - steaks, salmon, pasta or nuts - it's easy to understand why the pounds stay in place as if they were nailed.

3. Deviations from the diet on the weekend

How often do you hear from someone that they stick to their diet carefully… in the middle of the week? The weekend comes, and these same strict dieters fall out of the rut. These couple of days make up almost 30% of the entire week. If you only diet 70% of the time, don't be surprised if you can't lose weight.

When it comes to percentages, try to stick to the 90/10 rule: diet 90% of the time and relax and have fun the other 10%. This is a great rule to follow. It allows you to indulge a little and helps you stay mostly on the right track.

It's hard to find people who follow the 70/30 rule because ignoring the diet and "fun" 30% of the time will never work. Be honest with yourself about how exactly you stick to your meal plan. It is not enough to observe it to the smallest detail on weekdays. Weekends also count.

4. Lack of program adjustments as progress is made

People also don't lose weight because they don't readjust their program as they progress. They start eating a certain diet, notice great results, and continue to do the same thing they did at the very beginning, expecting to get the same effect. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. Your body changes in response to your diet, so you need to change that too.

The leaner you get, the more your body wants to skip this fasting mode and conserve fuel. As counterintuitive as it may sound, eating more carbs can help avoid this reaction. Increasing your carbohydrate intake can also improve insulin sensitivity and release the hormone leptin, which is responsible for maintaining body weight.

5. Go to the gym to burn calories

People often ask me: "I go in for sports, but I don't lose weight, why?" At first glance, it may seem strange, because under the condition of active consumption of calories and a deficit in their consumption, the body usually loses weight. Let's figure it out.

In order to lose weight, you need to train hard, that's right. There's nothing wrong with going to the gym for the sole purpose of burning calories, as long as you don't obsess over that metric. If you're only looking to burn calories, you'll likely spend most of your time on cardio machines, simply because they show calories burned, making it easy to track progress.

The barbell does not offer this option, although barbell exercises can produce the most dramatic changes in your body. Not only do barbell lifts help burn fat, they also shape your body.

This is why at least 70% of your workout should be weight lifting. Cardio exercises are great, but they should be like the icing on the cake, something that enhances the results of strength training. Don't rely on cardio alone to achieve a calorie deficit.

For best results, do the exercises one after the other, leaving a minimum break between them. A study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research notes that training with low rest levels results in higher post-workout calorie expenditure relative to regular training.

6. Exhausting workouts

When you visit the gym, you may think that training to failure is a good idea. Reinforced training isn't bad in and of itself, but notice how this maximum energy burst affects the rest of the 23 hours of the day.

Too many, especially those who are just beginning their journey, train to the limit, only to fall into their sedentary rhythm of life the rest of the time. Why? Because they are exhausted from training!

All the small activities you do throughout the day can play a huge role in increasing your total daily calorie expenditure. If you're too tired to go for a walk, do a little cleaning, or throw a ball with the kids, your workouts may actually decrease rather than increase your daily calorie expenditure.

Let's assume that you have completed an intense but not exhausting workout that has burned 300 calories. This should leave you with enough energy to burn an extra 400 calories throughout the day. Your net energy expenditure will come out to be 700 calories.

Now let's say you did a grueling workout that burned 500 calories. It was so tiring that you spent the rest of the day on the couch. How many additional calories will you burn? Fifty. So, your total energy expenditure per day will be only 550 calories.

In short: training too hard can reduce your ability to lose weight.

7. Hanging out in a juice bar after workouts

Finally, beware of this common post-workout mistake: Treating yourself to a big snack after a good workout. Whether you snack or not, once you've finished exercising, the strength and cardio-vascular benefits gained from exercise will stay with you. But if it's followed by a big smoothie or a cream cheese donut, you may well end up offsetting the wasted calories from sweat and hard work.

Instruction

Faced with this problem, first of all, you should pay attention to your age. Until the age of 35, physical activity will be a great help in the fight against excess fat. If you are over 40, then you need to take a slightly different approach to losing weight, that is, pay more attention not to fitness, but to proper measured nutrition. The thing is that with age, the level of testosterone in the blood decreases significantly, and it is he who allows you to lose weight when you play sports.

For some reason, many people who are losing weight have the opinion that by removing only the main unhealthy dishes from the diet, they will lose weight without any problems and allow themselves all kinds of “light” snacks. For example, such snacks include: a handful of seeds, a nut, sweet tea and coffee, and sweets. All this for the day will turn for you at least 500 extra calories! If you always want to snack on something, then replace unhealthy foods with healthy ones, such as carrots, celery, dried apricots and prunes.

Going on a diet, many allow themselves to eat meat and all kinds of dairy products, that is, food that is rich in fats. Unfortunately, it is these fats that in some cases are the reason for stopping weight loss. These products can and should be included in your diet, they just need to contain a minimum of fat. Dairy products should be low fat and meat should be lean.

Stress also interferes with weight loss. Therefore, before you start losing weight, you should put your nerves in order. The thing is that the body responds to stress by actively producing a hormone called cortisol, which, in turn, contributes to the accumulation of fat reserves, and in the most unpleasant place - on the stomach. In addition, almost one in five cope with stress by eating too much.

It turns out that people often cannot lose weight because they do not get enough sleep, especially for women. Before you start to put your figure in order, adjust your sleep and go to bed no later than 23:00. Weight loss and sleep are linked by a hormone called melatonin. It not only helps us sleep, but also takes part in fat metabolism.

Pay attention to the shape of your figure. If you have rather narrow hips and a wide waist, then you are an apple. It is more difficult for women with this type of figure to lose weight than for everyone else. The reason for this is abdominal fat, which accumulates in the abdomen, because it is this that is the most difficult to burn. Despite, there is one very important plus: having lost weight, it will be easier for you to maintain normal weight than for girls whose type, that is, who have a narrow waist and wide hips.

Medicines that contain hormones can also interfere with bringing your weight back to normal. If we talk about new generation contraceptives, then you are unlikely to be able to recover from them, because the content of hormones there is minimal. An unpredictable effect can only be if these pills are not prescribed by a doctor, but are randomly selected. Be careful with antidepressants too. In some cases, even antibiotics interfere with getting rid of excess weight.

"Why am I not losing weight?"- asks every third woman who is on a diet. In most cases, severe restrictions, the rejection of favorite foods and hard training either do not bring the desired result, or it turns out to be short-lived. Where are we wrong? Body-bar will deal with the most common female mistakes on the way to a slim body.

Mistake #1. Lack of Consistency

A beautiful figure is the observance of a proper lifestyle and nutrition for many years. Nevertheless, many women, after achieving the result, return to their favorite buns and sweets. And again, extra pounds, diets ... To achieve a long-term result, you need to work on your figure every day.

Mistake #2. Diet yes, exercise no

Of course, it is possible to lose kilograms with the help of nutrition alone. But there are a number of downsides here. First of all, the process is too slow. Training takes an average of 400-700 calories daily! If you don't use up the calories you get from food, then you have to cut back on food. As a result, you go hungry. Constant fasting, in turn, leads to breakdowns. It turns out a vicious circle, from which it is devilishly difficult to escape. Also, with a strictly limited diet, the body does not receive the required amount of vitamins and minerals, and metabolism slows down. Instead of gone fat folds, sagging skin now spoils the appearance. Sport also helps to avoid this, makes the body toned, removes cellulite.

Mistake #3. Wrong training system

Slowly doing exercises with weights, of course, is good for the figure and, to be honest, it’s easier than giving all the best for a 40-minute cardio training. And we do not urge you to abandon strength training at all! But just intensive cardio is the basis of losing weight! Cardio training burns fat and removes volume. They should be combined with power loads, which help to maintain beautiful proportions and pleasant roundness even when losing weight.

Mistake #4. Skipping meals

Remember: if the body does not receive the required amount of energy, it will slow down metabolism. And this is fraught with the launch of the process of fat deposition. Many people believe that skipping breakfast or skipping meals will give them fewer calories and help them lose weight faster. However, it turns out the opposite, because the feeling of hunger for the body is a signal for the deposition of fat "for every fireman."

Mistake #5. Use of drugs for weight loss

"Lose weight quickly and effortlessly" - this is the slogan of the manufacturers of "miracle pills". Meanwhile, many synthetic appetite suppressants and diuretics, at best, have either a mild or short-term effect. At worst, they can be hazardous to health. A fat burners, included in a separate class of sports nutrition, do not give the expected effect in isolation from training.

Mistake #6. Snacks at fast food restaurants

Many cafes and bistro restaurants use large amounts of low-quality cheap fats (so-called " trans fats"). In addition, it is not possible to calculate the number of calories in such dishes. Do not be lazy to collect lunches for work on your own, from food prepared by yourself. This approach will help you lose weight to the envy of fellow canteen regulars.

Mistake #7. Constant sleep deprivation

The forced "owl" lifestyle and going to bed after 11 p.m. knocks down biorhythms and leads to overwork. The secretion of melatonin, a hormone of the pineal gland, which neutralizes the destructive effects of oxidative processes and prevents the body from wilting, is disrupted. Melatonin is the most powerful known endogenous free radical scavenger, so the importance of this hormone cannot be overestimated. With systematic lack of sleep, the amount of melatonin decreases, free radical cell damage accumulates, insulin sensitivity decreases, and fat deposition increases.

Mistake #8. Blind trust in the scales

One of the most common mistakes is the adherence to floor scales as a way to control the process of losing weight. Women are used to measuring weight loss in kilograms. If the weights are unchanged, then there is no result - they think. However, it is much more correct to evaluate the result using a centimeter tape, a caliper (a simple device that measures the thickness of the fat fold) and, of course, your own reflection in the mirror. Muscle weighs more than fat: with regular exercise, you will notice that the size of the clothes has decreased, but the scales may show more weight.

Don't make these mistakes and you'll be fine! Good luck!