If you are trying to lose weight but aren't seeing the scale move, you may be wondering why. Taking a close look at your dieting habits by keeping a food and exercise journal can help you determine the reason for your lack of success.
Portion Control
Proper portion control is necessary for any weight loss program. When you are preparing your plate, it is necessary to ensure that you eat only a single serving size of each food. For prepackaged foods, the serving size and the number of servings per container are located on the Nutrition Facts Label, states the Food and Drug Administration. For foods such as meat, use the Livestrong Daily Plate to determine serving sizes and nutrition facts. For these foods, be sure to weigh or measure them to ensure you are getting one serving.
Lack of Exercise
Staying active is important if you are trying to lose weight. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising on most days for 60 to 90 minutes if you are trying to lose weight. This can be done in either one session daily or multiple sessions daily.
Empty Calories
Taking in empty calories works against your weight loss plan. Empty calories are calories that provide little or no nutritional value. Soft drinks, for example, contain empty calories that can easily be replaced with water or 100 percent fruit juice.
Improper Counting
When you diet, you must take everything that you put into your mouth into account when determining how many calories you have taken in that day. An extra bite of something here or there or an entire food left out of your food journal can sabotage your diet.
Lack of Motivation
Weight loss is a hard road to stay on even with the best motivation. If you find yourself without motivation, you may deviate from the weight loss program. To combat this, keep a listing of your weight loss goals and benefits handy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that losing as little as 5 percent of your total body weight can decrease your risk obesity-related diseases. Diabetes and heart disease are two of those.
Eating Disorder
Binge eating, anorexia and bulimia are all eating disorders that cause unhealthy weight fluctuations. If you suffer from any of these disorders, you may not be able to lose weight and keep it off. The same is true for many other mental conditions, such as depression, if you turn to food as your comfort.
Fast Food
Eating fast food more than twice per week, according to the National Institutes of Health, can lead to weight gain. When you eat fast food, it is difficult to accurately count the calories you are taking in because of differences in how the food is prepared. If you have to eat out, choose the healthiest option available and take part of the meal home if necessary to prevent eating too many calories.
Inappropriate Snacking
High-calorie snacks and fat-laden snacks, such as cookies or snack cakes, will stop you from losing weight. Fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products like yogurt and cheese, 100-calorie snack packs and nuts are healthy options for snacking. If you are going to be away from home for a while, pack snacks and take them with you to minimize the temptation of grabbing unhealthy snacks.
Poor Meat Choices
In order to lose weight, you have to choose low-fat and lean foods. Cuts of meat that are high in fat, such as regular ground beef, can work against your weight loss program. You should choose lean cuts of beef, skinless white meat chicken, fish or other lean meat cuts. If you aren't sure what to choose, ask the butcher.
Relying on Weight Loss Pills or Fad Diets
Weight loss pills and fad diets may lead to rapid weight loss when you first start them; however, this weight loss is usually only temporary because the pills or diet can only be used for a limited time. If used for too long, fad diets can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Many weight loss pills haven't been well tested and some are unsafe, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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