You aren’t a unintelligent person –not by any means.
In fact, I believe that you’re healthier than most. You exercise regularly.
You watch what you eat. You keep up-to-date on the latest health concerns. You
don’t binge on sugar. And you never – ever – eat fast food. Well, almost never.
But you do have a few unhealthy skeletons in your closet – ones that you probably aren’t even aware of.
The following 5 BAD Habits are frequently committed by health conscious people. Once you break these bad habits, you’ll find that achieving your weight loss goals just became a whole lot easier.
1. You’re Dehydrated
It has been said that 75 percent of the population is chronically
dehydrated. Would you disagree? When was the last time that you actually drank
8 glasses of water in a day?
Dehydration occurs when more fluid leaves your body than is taken in.
Symptoms include: fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, rapid heart rate,
and, in extreme cases, even death.
Dehydration also slows your metabolism, which hinders weight loss.
You shouldn’t wait until the feeling of thirst or dry mouth hits you, at
that point damage has already been done. Instead, constantly rehydrate
throughout your day to avoid dehydration.
The best way to do this is to incorporate water into your daily schedule.
Have a water bottle at your desk and train yourself to sip on it often, and get
into the habit of drinking a full glass of water with each meal and snack.
2. You Eat Out Too Often
Research suggests that most people eat out one out of every 4 meals and
snacks. That’s an average of once a day.
Restaurant food is designed to do one thing: to taste good. In order to
increase eating pleasure, each item is loaded with fat, salt and sugar. This
causes you to eat way more calories than you actually need.
Even when you order ‘healthy’ items, you’re still taking in more calories and
fat grams than you would if you had prepared the item at home. Imagine the last
salad you ordered out. Didn’t it come with cream dressing, croutons, cheese
sprinkles and a piece of butter laden bread on the side?
The main reason people eat out is for convenience, so with a little
organization you’ll find that preparing your own meals takes less time than you
thought it would.
On the weekend sit down and plan out your meals for the week. Then go to the
grocery store and stock up on everything you’ll need for those meals. Pack your
lunch and snacks each night before bed, then grab it on your way out the door
in the morning. When you prepare dinner at home, make enough for at least the
next day as well. Your efforts will pay off both in terms of weight loss and in
money saved.
3. You’re Sleep Deprived
In Gallup Poll surveys, 56% of the adult population reported that drowsiness
is a problem in the daytime. That’s more than half of us that clearly don’t get
enough sleep.
Healthy adults require 7-8 hours of sleep each night. When you fail to meet
this need your body goes into sleep debt, which continues to accumulate
indefinitely until you catch up.
A lack of sleep negatively affects your immune system, your nervous system,
and interferes with healthy hormone release and cellular repairs.
The best way to combat sleep deprivation is to set a scheduled bedtime. Your
body will benefit from a consistent sleeping and waking routine, and you’re
sure to get all the rest you need.
If you have trouble falling asleep once you’re in bed, then try these two
tips. First, make sure that you don’t drink any caffeinated beverages after
lunchtime. Second, don’t eat for three hours before you go to bed. This helps
eliminate sleeplessness due to indigestion, and will also turbo-charge your
weight loss.
4. You’re Stressed Out
I don’t have to tell you that we are living in a fast-paced world and that most
of us have stress levels that are through the roof. But what you might not
realize is that your stress levels are making you fat.
Stress creates an increase in the hormone cortisol, and chronic stress
creates a chronic increase in cortisol. This is a problem because is slows your
metabolism, leads to cravings and is linked to greater levels of abdominal fat
storage.
The vicious cycle of stress and weight gain goes around and around. Stress
causes you to eat emotionally, and your raised cortisol levels cause that food
to be stored as fat.
One of the most effective ways to instantly eliminate stress is to sit down
and write out a list of all the things that are bothering you. This should
include things that you need to get done, issues that weigh on your mind and
anything you believe contributes to your stress level.
Once it’s all down on paper, organize it like a to-do list and start resolving
each item. Doing so will get the stress off of your mind and will put your body
into the motion of resolving each issue.
5. You’re on Exercise Autopilot
You do the same thing each and every time you exercise. Same machines, same
pace, same duration. While your routine sure feels comfortable, your results
have long since halted.
A plateau occurs when your body adapts to your routine and weight loss
stops. It is incredibly frustrating, and totally avoidable.
You don’t have to increase the amount of time that you spend exercising in
order to see quicker, faster results. It’s all about challenging your body.
There are two simple ways to instantly increase the effectiveness of your
exercise routine. First, increase your pace. Secondly, increase your intensity.
Constantly vary your speed and intensity in order to keep your muscles guessing
and adapting.
Another way to break through the exercise plateau is to do something totally
new. If you regularly use weight machines then start using free weights. If you
normally jog on the treadmill then start using the bike.
Are you ready to break the plateau as you take your routine to the next
level? Would you like to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to
lose weight in the coming months?
It’s my goal to see you achieve greatness. I believe that you’ve got
what it takes.
It’s so simple. Call or email today to get started on a program that
will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results.
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
David
