When it comes to weight loss, we all wish things would just move along smoothly. We wish we could easily make the pounds melt right off with hardly any effort at all on our part.
Rarely is this how the story goes. Problems occur and people give up. It happens all the time. It’s why most of us are not walking around at our goal weight. Before you toss in the towel on your next fat loss program, take a moment to consider whether one of the following factors may be at play. If they are creeping into the picture, take steps to resolve them and you’ll be back on track before you know it.
Your Family
While you love your family to pieces, did you know that they could be holding you back from seeing results? That’s right – often it’s your family that is sabotaging your progress. If they are bringing unhealthy food into the home, it’s only going to tempt you to eat it and furthermore, they may also be requesting your time, making it harder to hit the gym.
Your solution?
Talk to them about your goals. Explain to them why it’s important that you are devoting enough time to the gym each week and how critical it is you stick with your diet. While young children may not understand, your significant other should be there to support you. Request that they respect your gym time and if possible, don’t bring those foods into the house – or if they must, don’t eat them around you.
Most of the time, people will be fairly willing to oblige.
Your Sedentary Career
Another factor that may be making it harder to lose weight is if you have a sedentary career that keeps you sitting for most of the day. As much as you may want to get more activity in, if you are forced to be at a desk to earn an income, you really have no choice in the matter.
Your solution?
Try and get up and walk around every five minutes of every hour. While it’s only five minutes, it will add up and over the course of the day, could contribute to at least an hour of movement. This could help you burn an added 100-200 calories or so during the day and reduce the chance of weight gain over time.
Your Lack Of Time
Lack of time is another factor that many people face and feel holds them back from seeing results. If you have a million and one things on your to-do list, it may feel like fitting in fitness just isn’t going to happen.
How to get around this one?
Plan better. Really look at your schedule and find out where you may be wasting time each day. Once you can pinpoint this, you’ll find you can be more productive and carve out the time to fit a quick workout in. Remember that you don’t necessarily need to exercise for hours for them to be effective. Just 20-40 minutes can give you enough time for a great workout session.
Your Food Cravings
Finally, if food cravings are standing in your way of progress, don’t feel bad. You aren’t alone. Food cravings are a big reason that many can’t stick with their diet plan.
Your solution?
Get around food cravings by coming up with smart substitutions. Look for simple ways that you can swap out an ingredient or two in a recipe and still end up eating great without the fat, calories and sugar. There is no shortage of recipes to choose from out there, so pick one or two and get creative in the kitchen.
Keep these tips in mind and don’t let your weight loss results be sabotaged any longer. The power is within you to create change.
[Image via Shutterstock]
