The Real Reason Why You Aren’t Losing Weight
You Eat Too Much
I once had a doctor tell me that most moderately overweight people don’t eat that much more than people who weigh within their healthy weight range. She said that you only have to eat 10% more and move 10% less than the recommended amount to bump yourself into the overweight category. She also said that eating only 2 sweet biscuits per day (about 200 calories) and no other treats AT ALL will make the average person gain 2 kilos in a year. When it comes to weight loss and weight maintenance there’s a very fine and unforgiving line when it comes to how much food you should consume. I always try to remember this when I’ve been eating rice crackers and dip everyday for 2 weeks and can’t figure out why I’ve gained a sneaky kilo or two.
You Move Too Little
It’s all well and good to head to the gym for an hour every morning but if you’re sitting flat on your butt for the remainder of the day that’s a lot of inactivity. Making little changes like walking to an out-of-the-way cafe, always taking the stairs or offering to go to the post office for your colleagues makes a huge difference to your activity levels throughout the day and keeps your body in a fat burning state. Doing a gym session is fantastic but if it’s the only time you’ve moved all day then you need to make some changes.
You’re Consuming Phantom Calories
I’m notorious for consuming phantom calories. A biscuit at morning tea, a couple of bites of Mr Smaggle’s toast, a row of chocolate while standing in front of the fridge… another row after I sit down, a fancy bottle of sugary ginger beer at an afternoon market… It all adds up. If I start forgetting what food I’m eating, I start tracking it all in a food diary. It’s pretty sobering to realise that my ‘healthy’ diet is actually about 400 calories more per day than it should be… and double that if I’ve had a few glasses of wine. Awkward.
You Drink Alcohol
Alcohol is the biggest enemy of weight loss. It really pains me to say that (like it really, really hurts), but it’s true. Not only is it really high in calories it also inhibits your body from burning other calories until the alcohol is totally out of your system. Also being hungover greatly increases your chances of making poor food choices the next day. In my case, it guarantees it. If I’ve had a few too many glasses of wine the night before I WILL face-plant into a bag of chips with a burger chaser. It’s inevitable. If you’re following a calorie controlled diet and you’re pondering why you’re yet to lose weight as you sip a glass of shiraz then that’s your problem. Sorry.
You Compare Yourself To Others
It’s taken me years to stop playing the ‘But she can eat hamburgers and she’s still thin!‘ game. It’s such a waste of time. Some people (albeit very few) can live on a steady diet of beer and potato chips and remain the size of a 12-year-old. I’m not one of them. It’s completely useless for me to justify eating fatty foods because one of my skinny friends is. Their bodies work differently to mine. You need to do what’s best for your own body and try your hardest to ignore your tiny assed friend as she plows through an extra-large Big Mac meal… and take comfort in the fact that although it won’t go straight to her thighs, it will still clog her arteries. Ha ha ha… silly bitch.
If you enjoyed this post don’t forget to check out the other posts in the 20 Days of No Bullshit Health and Fitness.
The Charlie Sheen Guide to Cutting Back on Alcohol
5 Tips To Help You Keep Your Hands Out Of The Office Lolly Jar
Why You Can’t Stop Eating When You’re Full
5 Sneaky Exercise Hacks For The Super Busy
What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to weight loss? Forgetful snacking? Sneaky glasses of wine?
This article is based on personal experience and non-medical research only. If you have serious difficulty losing weight please consult your doctor.
11 Comments
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This post is so spot on! At times I have done all these things and wondering why nothing was changing. Perfect timing too, needed a little extra motivation for my week 🙂 xx
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Author
Excellent! Good luck! xxx
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For me it’s my love of chocolate
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I’m just shocking on wine. I’m pretty much an angel with every thing else just wine as a vice like strong hold on me,
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See, this here. I know this. All of this. But for some reason I need it put in writing on the blog of another for it to finally click.
Right after I finish this biscuit with coffee w/ cream and sugar. And have my evening two fingers of whisky.
Maybe I’ll make it one finger today.
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I’m the same! That’s why I write stuff like this because we all need reminders every now and then. xxx
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I’m totally responsible for every ounce I have! 😛 But there’s no way I could give up the good stuff. At least it’s not hard drugs right? 😉
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I know exactly what you mean. ‘I ate 9 salted caramels… but I didn’t snort any cocaine. Saint.’
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Thanks for this piece – I’ve only just come across your site. My
constant snacking and general poor eating habits have gotten increasingly out
of control over the past year: late-night bingeing, massive
amounts of ‘healthy’ dips, too much wine with most meals. I’ve been
consistently deluding myself about what I’m doing …it’s time to end
the BS, wake up and lose that extra stone I’ve put on! : )-
Good girl! It’s all about owning what you eat and being in control. xxx
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I suppose this uncomfortably rings true, but I also think I have a particularly unforgiving body. It’s not the alcohol for me I don’t think as I lost 2lb+ per week while drinking 1 or 2 pints of beer most nights! (One of the benefits of being male, we get an extra 400 calories or so per day. Might as well use them). But when you hit maintenance, that’s when the hard work starts. It’s when you realise how quickly your unforgiving body type piles weight on if you even have even the tiniest of tiny little slip ups, like “work treated us all to free ice cream and I had an extra pint the other day because it was my friend’s birthday”. That’s basically the story of this week and I’ve put on 5lb – yet there’s no way I’ve consumed ~17500 too many calories (2500 excess per day, that’s insane! I’d know if I’d consumed that much!).
But I do find it hard to move enough, so there’s that. I go for a half hour brisk walk every lunchtime and am out gardening most weekends, but my job is desk/computer based. I have to sit on my backside for 8 hours a day, or I get a funny look and a “what you doing / where you going” from the boss. Unless it’s one of those rare occasions when someone actually needs help and it’s not unreasonable to go see them instead of resolving it in 2 seconds over the phone. I wish I was skilled at something more physical – “get into IT”, they said, “it’s the future”, they said.
