For most, exercising and eating right is enough to spur weight loss. For others, however, it's not enough. Or, it's possible the kind of diet and exercise routine you're keeping isn't the right one for you and your body's needs. Thankfully, you can do more things to lose more weight while still keeping up a healthy diet and workout plan.
Problem With Diet
Even if you're eating healthy foods, there still may be problems with your diet that make it hard for you to lose weight. In fact, you could be eating more than you think. It's common to forget to include drinks and condiments when recording caloric intake. To remedy this, stick to water as your beverage of choice and use natural items like lemon juice or pepper to add flavor to food rather than sauces and dips.
Problems With Exercise
Burning calories is really the only way to lose weight effectively. To lose a pound of weight, you need to burn 3,500 calories. Performing standard exercises like jogging and power walking burns up to 400 calories an hour. This can translate to weight loss if maintained with a low-calorie diet. However, if you don't exercise enough, you could just end up maintaining your weight rather than shedding any pounds.
Common Slip-ups
Even with the best intentions and determination, it's still possible to slip up with your diet or exercise routine and make weight loss impossible. For instance, it's common wisdom that cooking your own meals means they'll be lower in fat and better for you. However, if you add too much salt, sugar, butter or oil, you could be consuming even more calories than you would with prepared dishes. Though whole grains are better for you than foods made from white flour, they can still be just as high in calories. Read all nutrition labels and be sure to stick to your daily caloric allotment to prevent unintended mistakes.
Losing Weight
To lose weight right, it's not enough to skip the fast food and jog around the block once in a while. You have to develop a plan. To do this, maintain a food diary. Write down all of the foods you eat right before you eat them. Include the portion size and calorie amounts. After a week or so, you should have a good idea of your standard diet, making it easier to enact changes. Exercise at least 30 minutes, five times a week to burn enough calories to lose weight. If these changes still don't help you lose weight, talk to your doctor about possible metabolic issues that could be at play.
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