You pack your healthy lunch for work each day, put on your pedometer to make sure you are getting in 10,000 steps and may even do a workout at the local gym on your way to or from work.
But for some reason the results aren’t showing up.
So you get discouraged, reach for that chocolate bar and call it a day.
Sound familiar? If so you might like to check out some reasons why you may not be reaching your weight loss goals as quickly as you’d like.
- YOU’RE SKIPPING MEALS – this will definitely work against you as your metabolism will slow down as your body thinks you are in starvation mode. Put quality “gas in the tank” and your body will run effectively and do what it needs to do to maintain your lean tissue mass. As long as you are eating reasonable portions and eating whole foods regularly throughout the day your blood sugar levels should remain fairly stable and you won’t experience crazy weight fluctuations.
- YOU’RE JUST DOING CARDIO– if your idea of a workout is walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week it just might not be enough. You need to hit the weights to change your body composition and fire up your metabolism. Muscle burns fat essentially, so unless you are devoting some time to strength training your body fat percentage will likely be on the higher side.
- YOU’RE HORMONES ARE RAGING– as a female over 40 our hormones may be causing us grief. The old “muffin top” is starting to hang over your pants and you decide well I guess this is middle age and accept your fate. You don’t have to! There are techniques to help you deal with your hormonal fluctuations. I’ve compiled a free guide you can download here.
- YOU AREN’T SLEEPING ENOUGH – sleep is critical as that is when our body does the work to repair itself. The more sleep deprived you are the higher your levels of cortisol will be in your blood which increases your appetite. Be sure to get your zzzz’s….at least 7-8 hours each night.
- YOU ARE FEELING DEPRESSED– often at this age with hormone changes, raising children, divorce, aging parents etc. this can put us into a dark place. Often with depression we tend to crave higher fat/calorie “comfort foods”. Depression medication can also cause weight gain. To help combat depression ensure you are getting enough vitamin B and D, have a strong support system and get exercising daily!
If you are feeling ready to take action and make the changes you need to move you forward in your current fitness, overall health and happiness I’d love to work with you! You can look at my options available on my work with me page.
In Health and Happiness,
Kathryn
xo
