Food diary? Check! Regular exercise? Check! Weight sticking around like a needy high school boyfriend? CHECK!!!!

I am not a dietician or sports nutritionist but I have been researching, reading, scrolling or following those alike for years now and it’s fair to say I know a thing or two about how to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. That’s why when my weight plateaued or I saw people around me working their butt off without the results it made me want to dig deeper.

Unfortunately there is no direct straight out answer… sorry! BUT there are some key reasons for why people eat minimal calories and strict food all day long and sweat it out for hours on end and simply DO NOT lose weight. Here are some diet and lifestyle faults that will cause your weight-loss to plateau. See below – this might be you.

 

 10 REASONS YOU ARE NOT LOSING WEIGHT

 

1. You do not eat enough; Go figure? Your body needs carbohydrates, fat and protein to thrive. Ever heard of ‘eat fat to lose fat’? well its true. See Blog Post >> HERE. If you are sticking to a low/no fat and no carb diet your metabolism is bound to be slowing (if it has even bothered to stick around at all) and this is one of the reasons you will not notice any progress or lose weight. You need to eat (and I mean eat) to speed up that metabolism and become a fat burning furnace. Regular meals every 2-3 hours and foods that are high in healthy fats, carbs and protein.

2. You are not mixing up your routine; Stuck in the same routine week in week out? Are you a sucker for the same gym class or style of training/running everyday? Maybe you need to mix things up and try something different. Your body will get to know the cycle and you will no longer be pushing yourself hard enough. This is why we are encouraged to constantly up our weights – to get stronger and better. “If you want something you don’t have, you have to do something you haven’t done before” or “if it doesn’t challenge you if wont change you”.

3. You wait too long to eat post exercise; Eating post exercise is important for muscle growth., repair and recovery. When you treat your muscles correctly – this is when you see the results. Eating before AND after each workout is crucial. Before your workout grab a banana, have some peanut butter on toast or have some greek yoghurt. When you are finished your workout again refuel with greek yoghurt and berries, peanut butter and apple,  a protein ball >> RECIPE HERE, protein smoothie >> RECIPE HERE, or a handful of nuts.

4. You’re mental thoughts are holding you back; if you are always putting yourself down and being hard on yourself, it actually hinders your ability for success. Yes, it is too easy to compare ourselves in a negative way to the gorgeous fit and toned Instagram celebs out there (its called a filter *cough cough*)  but beware; stress causes the body to pump out the hormone cortisol which reduces our ability to burn fat. If you are over analysing every little bite of food you eat, you might be causing more bad than good. Yikes!!!!

5. You aren’t ditching the scales; LADIES STOP WEIGHING YOURSELVES!!!! I cannot stress this enough. I haven’t weighed myself since Christmas 18 months ago (and that was to see how much I could gain from Christmas lunch as a joke … 1.2kgs for those wondering :) ) and have not set step on the scales since. Why? because they are an inaccurate guide as to how your body is changing. As you lose weight you will gain muscle therefore you can only predict (and hope) that the scales to stay the same if not increase! Take photos of yourself or use those skinny jeans as a guide of your weight loss journey. Take pride in the fact you can now do three push ups on your toes rather than 2 kgs of weight loss.

6. You don’t have rest days; Resting your body is just as important and working out. However this doesn’t mean 6 days of rest and 1 workout. You need to listen to your body and stretch, take a bath, massage or a day of rest when it needs. If your legs are sore, don’t train them. If you are over worked and tired, have a couple of days off. It is also important to have rest weeks during the year as well. Rest days will allow your body to recover faster and prevent injuries which only means you will be back in the gym stronger than yesterday in no time.

7. You are not getting 8 hours sleep; Sleep is essential for a healthy lifestyle and weight loss. Is this the reason your weight just isn’t budging?? If you are struggling to sleep well or get your 8 hours read this blog post on how to get a good night sleep >> HERE.

8. You are not having a substantial breakfast;  If breakfast isn’t your biggest meal of the day you got to rethink it. You don’t need to decrease your dinner just double your breakfast!! Make sure you are eating all three powerhouse groups – carbs, fats and protein. You should be having TWO pieces of toast with 1/4-1/2 avocado and TWO eggs. Now thats a powerhouse breakfast. If you are having a smoothie for breakfast make sure if has oats in it or on it. Your body need more than just blended fruit. Try one of my staple breakfast recipes below.

avocado and poached eggs on toast >> recipe HERE

oats / porridge >> recipes HERE

peanut butter coconut pancake >> recipe HERE

9. You are skipping meals; If you’re looking to lose some extra kilos, skipping meals and only eating carrot sticks and hummus isn’t going to work — nope, no matter how hard you try. You lose weight when your metabolism is firing and it wont do anything but die (literally) if you skip meals. Never use the excuse “I don’t have time to eat” – make time. Or grab one of these quick and easy snacks on the go >> BLOG POST HERE or carry good in your handbag for desperate times. When you skip a meal your body goes into starvation mode and the next time you eat instead of using the food as energy it will store it for your next fast.

10. You eat highly processed sugars and carbs; cut the packaged crap out of your diet and start eating clean, full fat, wholesome meals. It is that simply. Don’t follow fads, don’t eat highly processed ‘fat free’ snacks or opt for the vending machine. There is always a healthier choice and your body will thank you for it. Eat fruit if you have a sweet craving. Or make your own sweet chocolatey goodness.

Chocolate coconut macaroon biscuit recipe >> HERE.

Or Raw pistachio chocolate bark recipe >> HERE.

 

Notice each of the above all start with the word YOU! that’s because it is up to YOU to make the change and do the right thing to see the results that YOU want!!

 

Make the change for YOU

K