Sometimes you eat right and exercise, yet you still don't feel healthy. You get tired and stop losing weight. It's possible you're sabotaging your health goals without realizing it. If you review your habits carefully, you may uncover the behavior that stalled your progress. Are any of these factors causing you to lose motivation?
- Not Staying Hydrated
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Water helps your body remove toxins and regulate your temperature. If you don't drink enough water, you may get dehydrated. Do you suffer from tiredness and headaches? Both are common signs of dehydration. A standard recommendation is to drink eight glasses of water to replace the fluids your body uses each day. If exercise is part of your health plan you'll lose extra water in sweat, so drink more water.
- Failing to Track All the Calories You Eat
If weight loss is one of your top goals, make sure to track how many calories you take in. Estimating is not a good idea since your numbers could be way off. Log the calories every time you eat. If you taste your food while cooking or grab snacks on the go, don't forget to track those foods too. Lifesum offers easy ways to count calories and ideas on how to ensure your count is accurate.
- Drinking Extra Calories
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Drinks are another sneaky way to inflate your calorie intake. Soda, mixed drinks, and coffee bar beverages are often full of added sugar or fat. Read product labels or ask for nutritional information before you order a soft drink or cappuccino. Choose water or seltzer instead. If you get bored with water, add natural flavor with cucumber or lemon.
- Staying up Too Late
Getting enough sleep is essential to staying fit. Sleep helps your body rest and recover from the previous day's activities. Lack of sleep can cause levels of the stress hormone cortisol to soar, making it harder to lose weight. Exhaustion can also sap your motivation to work out. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep each night. You'll feel well rested and energetic the next day.
- Overestimating Calories Burned
Overestimating the calories you burn can also derail your health goals. You may think you can quickly burn off the extra calories you consume. It's not so easy. Harvard Health Publishing reports that a 155-pound person burns just 244 calories during 30 minutes of riding a stationary bike at a moderate pace.
The same person who completes 30 minutes of high-impact aerobics burns 444 calories. When you splurge on a 1,000 calorie fast food meal or dessert, it's difficult to burn off those extra calories with exercise in one day.
If you feel exhausted or see your weight loss slow down, take a closer look at your habits. Make sure you track all the food you eat and get enough water and rest. Follow these tips to find out if you're sabotaging your health goals. Simple changes can make a difference in your weight loss progress.