Kowalski: Top 10 Reasons You’re Not Losing Fat

[Written by personal trainer and health coach Tania Kowalski]

With bathing suit season quickly approaching, I get asked a lot about losing fat. If you are on a mission to *GET LEAN* and you’re not seeing progress it’s easy to blame circumstances, genetics or lack of motivation. Playing the blame game won’t get results but taking action will.

Here are my top ten [hard truth] reasons why you are not losing fat:

• 1] You are nibbling….little nibbles really add up. If you are eating your meals, plus a few nuts here and there in between, plus your kids leftovers, it can all add up quite quickly. I admit that I am guilty of this as I have a nothing should go to waste mentality but then it ends up on my waist, literally. I am constantly reminding myself that it’s better to save or compost leftovers than to eat them *just because*

• 2] Your weekends are a free for all. If you eat well and exercise all week and then go hog wild all weekend, it’s pretty easy to undo all of the hard work that you’ve put in throughout the week. A reasonable meal out and a glass of wine or two won’t hurt you but the entire weekend can’t be an all you can eat buffet.

• 3] You’re not working as hard as you think. It’s important to recognize if you’ve been just going through the motions with your training routine or if you’ve been pushing outside your comfort zone. Not every workout needs to be a killer, but when putting in the time, you do need to challenge yourself to make it worth your while.

• 4] You’re working too hard! Just as you can be doing too little, you can also be doing too much. If every session is a killer high intensity session and you’re adding lots of cardio work on top and aren’t seeing results, your body needs a rest. When you’re training hard, your body needs to recover. If you’re constantly depleting your body without rest and replenishment through proper nutrition then your metabolism will slow down to preserve energy [and fat!].

• 5] You’re letting your own mind limit your outcome. If you are constantly obsessing about your weight, what you are eating, and how much exercise you are getting, you are stressing yourself out. If you tell yourself negative stories about how you can’t do something, and you see eating well as deprivation then you are focusing on the negative. Flip your negatives to positives and free your mind. Staying positive and believing in yourself is so powerful.

• 6] You’re afraid of being hungry. I don’t want this to be misconstrued into my saying that not eating is a good thing [nothing is farther from the truth] but I believe that it’s actually really good to be in touch with your body’s hunger cues. It’s easy to eat out of habit, or for emotional reasons but do you know when you are really, truly hungry?

• 7] You’re eating too much. Calories in vs calories out. If you’re eating more calories than you need to sustain your activity levels your body will store those calories.

• 8] You’re not eating enough. Similar to number 4, if you are doing too much activity and not eating enough your body will slow your metabolism in order to preserve life which again means storing energy [and fat!].

• 9] Your not making the best nutritional choices. Making good nutritional choices to fuel your body and mind is paramount for performance and recovery. All of the additives and chemicals in processed foods are foreign to your body to metabolize. Stick to whole food nutrition for the best results.

• 10] You are drinking too much. I know that this is a real, hard truth and I love a glass of wine but the hard truth is that liquid calories [alcohol, soda, juice] are so easy to take in and they add up fast. I’m attaching pics from the last competition that I was prepping for where I got pretty lean [for me] and a few weeks afterwards I was away at Christmas and literally watched my abs disappear with the margaritas and wine that passed my lips in Mexico.

*Bonus reason – you aren’t getting enough sleep! If you aren’t rested enough, the hormone ghrelin increases [the hormone that signals your brain to eat] and leptin lowers [the hormone that tells you when to stop eating] so you will be hungrier, more likely to eat too much, and more likely to choose empty carbs/sugar to keep your eyes open.

Bottom line, to lose fat, you need to be on a mission, it takes dedication and consistency. You have to prepared to say NO to some things and to stand by your resolve. Moderation is always key. If you can stay consistent amidst travel and changing schedules then you can find your happy place where you feel great.

Tania Kowalski is an ACE certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach and is Precision Nutrition Certified. Tania advocates that the right training and nutrition can transform your life and her passion is helping others to change theirs. You can follow Tania’s tips, workouts and recipes on Facebook [Health Fanatic] or on her website.

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