9 Weight Loss Downfalls That Are Keeping You Fat

Are you experiencing relentless weight loss downfalls?  Have you been on the weight loss roller coaster for months, even years?  I’m sure when you first started your weight loss program you saw positive changes rather quickly such as the scale moving and your clothes fitting better.  However, that didn’t last too long, did it?  Now that you have it a brick wall, what do you do to keep getting results?  Do you increase cardio or cut your calories?

Of the many weight loss downfalls, the two most common approaches to “fix” a situation is to slice calories and ramp-up the cardio.  While these seem like the logical things to do, studies show that these actions actually cause fat gain in the long run as a survival tactic.   As depressing as this may sound, you can lose fat effectively and safely just by avoiding these 9 weight loss downfalls.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 1 – Failure to Set Goals

There are a number of weight loss downfalls, but the biggest is the failure to set goals.  As redundant as it may sound, you must set goals to be successful.  Some can set mental goals and accomplish them while others need a written contract to themselves.  Katie Rosenbrock reveals, “According to personal trainers Russell Wynter and Crystal Reeves, the number one reason why many people struggle to achieve the weight loss and fitness results they set out to achieve is because they fail to specifically define what they want to accomplish in the first place.”

Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals to keep the challenge alive and results plentiful.  The more small successes you see along the way, the easier it will be to stay on track and make body fat a thing of the past.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 2 – Failure to Accurately Track Calories and Macronutrients

Those new to losing weight can have success by simply eliminating the obvious junk food.  Others can see great changes in portion control.  Obviously, both of these tactics are useful, but both will plateau eventually.  The body adapts quickly for survival reasons.  When the body catches on to the fact that you are either eating less, exercising more, or both, it will quickly readjust its inner program to meet those needs and this is when it may seem that your diet has failed.

The next successful step is to calculate your daily calories and macronutrients to see what you eat and how many calories you need.  You may be surprised at the amount of food you eat.  Many times when you are able to view your food intake on paper, it’s a completely different story.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 3 – Skipping Meals

While it may seem the most likely fat loss method, skipping meals does more harm than good.  When you skip a meal your body thinks it;s experiencing a time of famine, and therefore it takes precautions and holds on to existing body fat for survival.

To combat this dilemma you should eat a small balanced meal every three hours to keep the body from thinking it is starving.  The constant supply of nutrients keeps the body functioning properly and raises the metabolism.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 4 – Lack of Adequate Water Consumption

Water is essential to health and fat loss.  Dehydration will kill you before starvation will.  That’s how vital it is!  Water metabolizes stored body fat, it aids in digestion, transportation, and absorption of vitamins and minerals.  It controls body temperatures, prevents dehydration, and removes toxins from the body.  You should drink adequate water daily for health and fat loss.  If drinking more water is new for you, then start out with eight ounces of water every hour until you build up to a gallon a day.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 5 – Indulging in low-fat, low-carb, low-sugar goodies, assuming they are safe.

This has to be one of the biggest mistakes made by those trying to lose weight, these so called “safe” cheats.  They may appear harmless, but the fact is, they are loaded with hidden dangers such as fat, carbs, sugar, sugar-alcohols, etc.  Not only that, the serving size is very small and when you are eating more than the serving listed, those calories add up very fast!  It’s best to save such treats for your designated cheat day.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 6 – Taking little cheats each day or every other day, and not taking them into account

This is another disaster waiting to happen.  Those little insignificant cheats add up to a big train wreck.  It sneaks up on you and before you know it, your entire program is ruined.  You may think you have been following your fat loss program word-for-word, thinking that little bite size Snickers on Monday was so small that it didn’t affect a thing and those few small bites of Little Debbie’s snacks meant nothing, but they all show up in the big picture and it’s not pleasing to look at on stat day.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 7 – Working out too much

This may sound off the wall, but yes, you can work out too much, especially if your program is designed around your stats and activity level.  If you add more cardio to what is already prescribed, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.  Logic says to lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume, right?  Well, yes and no.  It goes deeper than that.  Don’t forget the quality of a calorie or a macronutrient.

If you eat quality food (unprocessed), then your body can use that and you won’t need as many calories or as much cardio.  Processed foods (boxed rice, pasta, frozen meals) are not used by the body 100% and end up as toxins in your body.  They build up, weigh you down, drain your energy, and make you have to do twice as much cardio than if you were eating real and organic food that the body can actually use.

Weight Loss Downfalls: Number 8 – Not eating enough throughout the day

Many people think since they are eating something every three hours that they are eating enough.  This isn’t always true.  Many make the mistake of eating too little each meal, such as yogurt and an apple.  First, it’s a processed meal, second it’s lacking complete protein, and lastly, it’s not enough to feed an ant.  Feed your body enough real food every three hours.

Weight Loss Downfalls:  Number 9 – Avoiding certain macro nutrients like the plague

First everyone was frightened of fat, now carbs are the enemy.  I can only imagine when the day comes that they will try to say protein causes people to become overweight.  All macronutrients have their place in a weight loss program.  While there is benefit to lowering certain kinds of fat and perhaps limiting carbs, far too many are going about it in the wrong manner.  Too many people are slicing certain macronutrients completely out of their diet, causing all sorts of health issues and malnutrition.

Before you go off cutting essentials from your program, be sure you understand how they are used by the body and the pros and cons of limiting or eliminating them.  There are safe ways to go about lowering certain macro nutrients, and pulling them completely from the diet in a one shot process is not the answer.