7 Things You Could Be Doing To Sabotage Your Weight Loss Plans

Weight loss is rarely an easy adventure. When you first embark on your journey to shed pounds, it’s not unusual to want to do everything possible to be successful. Many people take steps to prepare their kitchen by getting rid of junk foods, they might swear off eating out for the first month, and others immediately give up sodas and bread.

There is no single path to effectively losing your weight, but there are several things you can do to derail your weight loss plans inadvertently.

Not sure if you are contributing to the latest woes of your weight loss goals?

Here are seven things you might be doing to sabotage your weight loss plans.

1. Inability to Manage Your Stress Levels

How good are you at managing your stress levels? Study after study demonstrates that our failure to take control of our stress levels can contribute to multiple health problems including unwanted weight gain. Also, it may cause our cortisol levels to slowly rise, leading our midsection to gather up fat cells, triggering an increase in appetite and enticing our middle to gain more fat.

2. Uncontrolled eating

Some of us aren’t so great at measuring portion sizes or counting calories for each of our meals. If you aren’t somehow keeping track of what you’re consuming, there’s a real chance you are taking in way too much. Studies show that people frequently underestimate the number of calories they consume in a given day and this can stall our weight loss efforts.

Want to take control of your portion sizes and calorie count?

Here are a few things you can do:

• Download weight loss apps like Lose It or MyFitnessPal to help you monitor your caloric, fat, and carbohydrate intake. Adjust where you see it is necessary to keep the scale from not tipping in your favor

• Keep a food diary throughout the day if you are not a fan of apps

• Be honest with yourself about what you are consuming and potentially contributing to your weight loss stall

 3. Not Getting Enough Good Sleep 

You must never underestimate the power of a good night’s rest when it comes to your waistline and the scale. According to the National Sleep Foundation, we should all aim for eight to nine hours of sleep each night to secure adequate amounts of rest.

Sleep deprivation can have a horrific effect on our health, raising the risk for conditions like diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, and obesity.

Poor sleep habits can raise cortisol or stress hormone levels in our body, tricking it into holding on tightly to fat cells.

Also, late night cravings can also increase those numbers on the scale.

You should know the rules by now, but here’s a friendly reminder of what you need to do to achieve a healthy amount of sleep:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day

• Stay away from alcohol, nicotine & caffeine before bedtime

• Keep your nap time to no more than 20 minutes

4. Not Getting Enough Exercise

You can completely change the foods you eat to experience some weight loss results, but you should consider incorporating some form of physical exercise into your daily regimen to help get your heart rate up and get your blood moving. You don’t have to do a lot.

You might try taking a long walk (i.e. 30 minutes), swimming or cycling to add a bit of physical training to your day. If none of these things are your cup of tea, look for fitness classes like kickboxing, yoga or Zumba to get your blood flowing and calories burning.

 5. Late-Night Eating Habits 

Are you guilty of making a late-night trip to the refrigerator? Late-night munchies can sabotage your weight loss goals. Eating can trigger a variety of reactions within our body including an increase in our blood sugar, body temperature, and other responses that can make it harder for our body to burn fat naturally.

WebMD suggests that we should aim to eat dinner three hours before we go to sleep at the latest. Take precautions with late-night snacking too. Choose goodies that are low in fat or high in protein.

 6. Not Consuming Enough Protein 

Protein can have a positive effect on your weight loss efforts. Don’t panic. No one expects you to adopt a Keto Diet if that is not your thing. However, diets that contain 15 to 25 percent protein can help you avoid consuming too many calories every day. Protein is filling and has a natural way of keeping cravings away.

 7. You’re Not Drinking The Right Amount of Water 

Water consumption remains a vital component of any weight loss plan. You must drink a minimum of eight glasses of water each day to not only ensure you are adequately hydrated but that your body has the right level of hydration to transport vital nutrients that might contribute to weight loss. Additionally, studies demonstrate that water boosts your metabolism.

These are just seven things you might be doing to sabotage your weight loss plans. If one or more of these sabotaging acts apply to your lifestyle, take steps today to slowly make a change to your actions and keep an eye out for better results.

More importantly though, keep loving yourself no matter what!