There are a lot of things that are holding us back from losing weight. From my countless encounters with women who want to lose weight, there is something I found that they have in common.

You probably already know this, but signs of optimal health are similar to those of beauty such as, clear, glowing skin, positive mood, and healthy body weight that is not too high nor too low. If you’re always cranky and look haggard, then you know you’re not in optimal health!  

Now, let’s get onto the list!

BEING VEGAN

Okay, first of all, we respect people with whatever they want to do. If you’re vegan by choice and you aren’t shoving it down people’s throats, then keep on doing your thing! There are many physical benefits to eating green aside from the moral aspect.

However, even with all that said, having some form of meat would still be healthier for you overall. Remember, we are omnivores not purely herbivores as a species. We need to consume minerals and fats found only in meats and fish.

“But I’m taking supplements to make sure I’m not deficient!” That’s true, but taking supplements for iron, Vitamin B6, and Omega 3 and still achieving the required amount every day is difficult compared to just getting it from your diet.
 
Another reason why veganism is another factor is that having a diet based only on beans, rice, and other vegetables can be quite high on calories but low on protein. Remember that protein is your friend when it comes to building muscle while losing fat! Not to mention that getting sufficient protein from just vegetables and fruits is a lot more difficult and costly than just eating meat.

Hence, the solution here seems pretty obvious already — eat meat. Try to include some meat, fish, and eggs in your diet. If you can’t do that because of your beliefs, then try to find some cruelty-free meat source alternatives.

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY

Much like the problem with veganism mentioned earlier, slashing out any kind of food group from your diet is a bad idea not only for losing weight but also for your overall health.

While it may sound like you’re doing the planet a favor by cutting out beef from your diet, how you can save chicks by not eating eggs, or how cutting sugar completely makes you an entirely new person, but the food pyramid exists for a reason.

Cutting off the entire section from it sets you up for a physical and hormonal mess in the future. Our bodies need a wide range of vitamins and minerals that we can only get from certain foods. Hence, we must not be deficient in any of these nutrients.

The solution is once again similar to the problem above — eat a wide variety of foods. Take in a little bit of everything and don’t limit yourself to plain meals! No food is bad by itself as long as you eat it in the right amounts and don’t overeat.

NOT STICKING THROUGH A DIET TYPE

Listen carefully, because you have to know that the Keto diet, intermittent fasting, and these other diet fads you see your friend Jennie and many other online influencers recommend all work on the same principle — Eat less, spend more energy.

  The only difference between them is what you eat less of. Whether you reduce carbohydrates (most recommended for weight loss), reduce fat intake, or simply reduce the number of times you eat per day.

Now, imagine you were on your third day of intermittent fasting, but then you suddenly thought that the keto diet is more your type then after a few days you start a new type of diet. This throws all your hormones and nutrient sources out of balance.

So, the solution is finding a type of diet that you think you can do and stick with it!

LACK OF SLEEP

 It should be no secret that lack of sleep causes you to gain weight. Why? To put it in simple terms, lack of sleep slows down your metabolism. When your metabolism is slow, you burn less fat, become more inactive as you lack motivation, and thereby gain more fat instead of losing it!

“How much sleep every night should I get?”

For most adults, it should be around seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. Having good quality sleep means that you will have fewer cravings in the day and feel more energized to actually start working out to lose more weight!

Thus, if you want to lose more weight, you should stop watching those dramas late at night! Being a morning person certainly does have its benefits when it comes to weight loss after all.

STRESS

We know that hormones can drive our sugary cravings to the roof and do you know what messes with our hormones the most? Stress.

Stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and others tend to make our bodies store more fat for future use. So even if you work out and diet with all your might, but if your stress levels are so high, then it’s going to be pointless.

The solution? You need to improve your emotional fitness and/or fix your environment. You need to deal with stressful situations in a healthier manner without getting too emotional. If you react with everything through emotions, then everything is going to drain the life out of you!

Taking a walk in your break time or simply hanging out in the park to hang out with your pets can lower your stress levels a lot. Pair this with meditating and exercising, then you should be able to manage your stress level quite well!

EATING TOO MUCH

Remember what we’ve mentioned earlier? Losing weight is essentially spending more energy (calories) than what you eat in your diet.

This should be no wonder too many of us, yet there are still many people out there disappointed when their daily trips to the gym don’t yield results. Many of us are still prone to overheating after a good workout, and this is a bad habit one must break away from!

No matter how much you exercise, it won’t matter if you keep putting all those calories back in!

The most obvious solution is to reduce the number of calories that you eat. There are online calculators out there that can estimate how many calories you need per day in order to lose weight.

Remember that you don’t necessarily have to starve yourself in order to lose weight! You can totally lose weight by just eating less at regular times. This is when things such as intermittent fasting may come in handy if you want to switch up your meal plans.

IN CONCLUSION

Losing weight is a lot more than just exercising with all your might. You have to take all these factors into consideration if you want to achieve your target weight. Having a good quality sleep, a consistent diet, being stress-free and getting all the nutrients that your body needs are all essential if you want to lose weight. It may even be more essential than the exercise itself! Still, exercise can speed up your weight loss process if you are already doing all of these in your daily life.