Not grunting whilst working out may be the simple solution to why you are not losing weight!
Here’s four reasons why you might not be losing weight as fast as you want to:
1) Your input output balance is equal
If you eat until you are full and never feel hungry, the reality is your body is getting all the calories it needs (and probably a few extra). In order to lose weight, you have to create a deficit. This does not mean starving yourself.
Giving your body fewer calories than it uses in a day, encourages it to use fat stores. You can create a deficit in one of two ways. Either by eating less overall calories or by burning more through exercise. The healthiest people of the world are active daily, eat only when they are hungry and stop when they are 80% full.
2) You overindulge in the good stuff
You are on first name basis with the people at the local health food store and your fridge, cupboards and handbag only contain nutritious snacks. But your waistline is still more pudge than chiselled. It’s great that you fuel your body with nutrient dense food and this certainly helps you stay in good health and get the most out of life. However, nutritious food has calories and still requires portion control. If you eat too much, your body will store it just like any other excess food.
It’s great that you fuel your body with nutrient dense food and this certainly helps you stay in good health and get the most out of life. However, nutritious food has calories and still requires portion control. If you eat too much, your body will store it just like any other excess food.
3)You huff and puff but never grunt
There is nothing like sweating it out in a great cardio session. But if you never add some resistance exercise to the mix, you are missing out on a vital component of the fitness puzzle. Weight training builds muscle, increasing your metabolism and ability to burn fat. It also improves muscular endurance enabling you to hit your cardio sessions harder. And don’t forget shape and tone come from trained muscle, not skinny-ness.
Weight training builds muscle, increasing your metabolism and ability to burn fat. It also improves muscular endurance enabling you to hit your cardio sessions harder. And don’t forget shape and tone come from trained muscle, not skinny-ness.
4)Your own kitchen is under-utilised
With busy lives and so many convenient food stops, it is tempting to eat out or buy take away meals, rather than buy and prepare your own food. The problem with eating out all the time is you can’t properly keep track of what you’re eating. If you didn’t cook it, you don’t really know what went into it. Also, you might eat before you are hungry because you are near the café you like now, and in an hour you won’t be. You may finish your serving even though you didn’t need it all, because you paid good money for it and you don’t like waste. Aim to prepare your own food at least 50% of the time.
Also, you might eat before you are hungry because you are near the café you like now, and in an hour you won’t be. You may finish your serving even though you didn’t need it all, because you paid good money for it and you don’t like waste. Aim to prepare your own food at least 50% of the time.
By Rachel Livingstone Personal Trainer & Owner of The Health Hub www.healthhub.net.au
