Human weight is one of the important factors determining the amount of calories needed. Are you one of those people who, despite exercising, eating healthy, and controlling your cravings for delicious desserts, still haven't been able to lose weight or are frustrated with the slow pace of your weight loss?
Nutrition experts recommend that simply restricting your food intake or even exercising for a few years isn't enough to lose weight. The effort to lose weight should be a continuous process that involves all of your daily habits. There are six main factors that contribute to slow weight loss. These factors are:
Incorrect Diet You may avoid fried and spicy foods, but have you considered healthy substitutes like whole grains? Also, if you think skipping one or two meals can help you with your weight loss, you should know that this will only lead to overeating later in the day. The best diet plan for each individual includes three main meals a day, along with nutritious and appropriate snacks in between.
Low Cardiovascular Activity If you think exercising for a set time each day is enough, you should know that to achieve your desired results, you need to increase your physical activity by 65 to 85 percent, so that your heart rate increases and reaches its maximum.
Excessive Liquid Calorie Consumption Excessive consumption of any liquid calorie source such as alcohol, tea, coffee, or sweetened fruit juices can undo all of your efforts to lose weight. Therefore, it is recommended to drink lighter beverages such as fat-free milk or vegetable juices.
Lack of Willpower Ultimately, all of these efforts depend on your willpower to continue with your weight loss plans. If you lack motivation or are a passive effort-taker, you won’t reach your goal. Focus your heart and mind on your efforts. Don’t confuse willpower with overindulgence. Sometimes, a decrease in willpower is a sign that your body needs rest and time to recover from stress and strain.
Excessive Stress Stress in any form, whether physical or psychological, is a major obstacle to the success of weight loss programs. Stress leads to the production of cortisol, a hormone that causes insulin resistance and fat accumulation in the body. To prevent stress, use relaxation techniques. If you exercise regularly and eat healthy foods but still haven’t lost weight, the cause might be a hormone called cortisol. This hormone plays a significant role in how we react to danger. However, if this hormone’s levels are too high in the body, it can create problems, leading to a condition known as Cushing’s syndrome.
Poor Sleep Like stress, insomnia increases the production of the fat-storing hormone. Additionally, any kind of sleep disturbance can lead to weight gain. Many of us make resolutions every year to eat less and exercise more; unfortunately, the number of overweight people continues to rise.
Some main causes of a slow metabolism are thyroid issues, cortisol levels, adrenal gland problems, poor diet, and low physical activity. Here are additional factors that contribute to a slower metabolism:
Dehydration
Low muscle mass
Age
Hormonal changes
Lack of sleep
Meditation
Genetics
Metabolism is not something that cannot be changed. By making lifestyle changes, we can make our metabolism work more effectively. Eating healthy foods and exercising are two ways to improve metabolism.
The first and best way to increase metabolic rate is to build muscle. Any form of strength training, whether yoga, bodyweight exercises, or push-ups, can boost metabolism. When you have more muscle mass, your body needs more heat and fuel. More heat causes muscles to burn more calories, which in turn increases metabolism. When you do aerobic exercise, you stimulate your metabolism, causing your body to burn calories faster for up to 14 hours afterward. Try to combine both aerobic and strength exercises for the best results. Along with exercise, you need to eat foods that help build muscles. Here are some foods that help in muscle building:
Proteins: Egg whites; lean meat or iron-fortified foods; salmon; milk; walnuts; almonds; lentils; soybeans.
Fruits and Vegetables: Berries; citrus fruits like lemons and grapefruits; chili peppers; carrots; spinach.
Herbs, Spices, and More: Green tea; cinnamon; garlic; cayenne pepper powder; ginger; turmeric; coffee.
To keep your metabolism high, it’s important to eat real foods. Try to eat regularly and don’t skip meals. As mentioned earlier, dehydration can lower metabolism, so make sure you drink enough water throughout the day.
"I exercise, I diet, I always leave half of my food uneaten, so why am I not losing weight?" In fact, these are questions that almost everyone who tries to lose weight asks themselves. The truth is, no problem is without reason, and these individuals likely make mistakes that they are unaware of. A nutrition institute in the UK identified more than 100 factors that can affect our weight. Some of the items on this list are so strange and unbelievable that we decided to explain them in full. Perhaps, after reading this, you'll realize why you haven’t reached your desired weight.
For years, it was claimed that consuming refined carbohydrates like white bread or white rice could lead to weight gain, particularly in the abdominal area. To test this, dieticians gave two groups of people the same amount of calories and discovered that people who consumed more white rice or white bread gained 10 millimeters around their waist every year, compared to the other group.
Juices and other sugary drinks have more of an impact on weight gain than solid foods. If you eliminate just one sugary drink from your daily routine, you'll lose about half a kilogram after six months. The more sugary drinks you reduce, the better the results. Indian researchers found that tea contains compounds that reduce fat absorption in the belly and lower cholesterol levels. However, the proteins in milk completely negate this effect, so it’s better not to combine milk with tea.
People who habitually read food labels and exercise lose more weight than others. The interesting thing is that reading food labels alone, without exercising, can still lead to weight loss. According to scientists, this habit helps individuals become more aware of the calories they’re consuming and unconsciously reduce their food intake.
Adding chili peppers to meals can increase calorie-burning. Furthermore, chili peppers reduce your cravings for fatty, salty, and sweet foods.
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that adults who eat yogurt three times a day lose 22% more weight than others and maintain that weight loss for longer. Yogurt lovers also shed 81% more fat around their belly. The fats and proteins in this dairy product play a significant role in burning fat.
The longer food stays in your mouth, the more signals your tongue sends to your brain, stimulating the secretion of digestive juices. Chewing food more thoroughly helps you feel full faster and limits the amount of food you consume.
One of the strangest findings from recent studies is how plate color affects food consumption. When the color of the plate matches the color of the food, people unconsciously tend to eat more. On the other hand, if you eat red spaghetti on a green plate, it will look like a larger portion, and you’ll stop eating sooner.
If you want to lose weight, it's best to find a teammate to compete with. Group efforts to lose weight significantly improve motivation and adherence to diet plans. Recently, researchers found that individuals who join group weight-loss classes achieve twice the results compared to those who do it alone.
When you're offered a piece of cake, instead of saying "I can't," tell yourself "I don't want to." When you say "I can't," you send a message to your body that you're deprived of food, which entices you to eat. However, when you say "I don't want," you approach hunger with power and will find it easier to resist.
Eating in front of a mirror has a significant impact on the number of calories you consume. Psychologists claim that people tend to eat a third less when eating in front of a mirror. Constantly looking at the mirror serves as a reminder that you need to lose weight.
If you exercise at a steady pace for hours, you're probably using the wrong method. Instead, focus on high-intensity workouts for shorter durations. Not only does this method have a greater impact on weight loss, but it also saves you time. When you work out alone, you may stop prematurely or not perform the exercises correctly. On the other hand, group workouts lead to the release of happy hormones, increasing your commitment to completing the exercises. Group training also boosts pain tolerance and enhances motivation. Training with light weights and increasing repetitions is just as effective for building muscle as lifting heavy weights. Light weights help burn fat, while heavy weights help with volume increase.
Men and women who eat as soon as they finish exercising tend to consume as many calories as they burned, resulting in less weight loss.
We all know that obesity is hereditary. Only 4% of girls with normal-weight mothers become overweight, while 41% of girls with obese mothers become overweight. Further research indicates that daughters tend to inherit their weight traits from their mothers, while sons inherit them from their fathers.
Therefore, maintaining your weight could be due to repetitive exercise, consuming processed foods, or having excess body fat. I hope you enjoyed the content on weight control, and for those who care about their fitness, feel free to share it. Additionally, to view more content-rich articles, you can visit the Sports World section of Saeednews. Thank you very much for your support."
