Losing Body Fat

We all know that the only way of consistently losing body fat is through diet and exercise. But what happens when you think you are doing everything right and you still don't achieve the results you want. It is normal to hit a plateau every now and then. However, if you are working hard and feel like you are getting nowhere; here are three factors you may not be considering. 

1. Lack of Sleep

Though experts are unable to pinpoint the exact reason, many studies have shown that getting a healthy amount of sleep (seven to nine hours a night) were less likely to gain weight and found losing body fat easier. It appears that lack of sleep can negatively affect certain appetite-related hormones like cortisol, ghrelin and leptin. An imbalance of these hormones can make us feel hungry even when we are not.

Along with the physical effects of sleep deprivation, there are also negative mental reactions as well. A lack of sleep can make you cranky and more prone to depression, neither of which puts you in the mood to work out and eat healthy. It is important that this sleep comes in bulk because you need to go through sleep cycle several times to be properly rested and refreshed. This means that 15-minute power nap you are taking when you get home from work isn't really doing you much good at all.

2. Too Much Stress

It might seem that if you are rushing around trying to get things done, you'd be more likely to lose weight, but studies have found that the opposite is true. A study done by Yale University researchers found that the more stress women were under, the more weight they gained in their abdominal area. This gain in belly fat is caused by an increase in cortisol, a hormone that helps to regulate appetite. Stress triggers this increase in the hormone, causing you to crave comfort foods that are sweet, rich and fatty.

If you begin to feel stressed out, try to take a few minutes to calm yourself down. Remove yourself from the cause of the stress and take some deep breaths. If this does not help to relieve your stress, meet with your doctor. If you are chronically tense or stressed-out, that stress could be stopping you from losing body fat.

3. Liquid Calories

Even when keeping a food journal, there is one category we often ignore. What you choose to drink could be keeping you from losing body fat. The biggest offender here is alcohol. Though a glass of wine with dinner might be healthy for your heart, two or three can bring your weight loss to a screeching halt. And wine is probably the least of the alcohol evils. Beer, hard liquor and especially sweet mixed drinks and wine coolers have tons of calories and are most often consumed in the evening, leaving less time to burn them off.

If you must have a soda, choose sugar-free, but the best choice is always water. As part of your healthy diet, you should be drinking plenty of water anyway. The key here is to not overlook the liquids you are consuming. Even something as seemingly innocuous as a tablespoon of cough syrup is most likely packed with sugar.

Sometimes the things that keep us from losing weight aren't as obvious as plain old diet and exercise. These three factors can play a major role in whether or not we can reach our fitness goals. Just keep in mind that losing body fat is a process to which many habits and lifestyle choices contribute.