Losing weight can be tricky. It’s not easy to stick to a weight loss plan. Even if you persevere, certain factors can make dropping the extra pounds a challenge. Fret not – our quiz will help you specify your weight loss goals and figure out the best strategy! Good luck!
You’ve probably heard all the advice on losing weight already. “Exercise more”, “Cut out junk food”, “Eat fewer calories”. But what exactly does it mean? How much exercise should you be getting on a daily basis? How many calories should you consume, exactly?
Generally speaking, to lose weight, you need to burn off more calories than you take in a day. Proper diet is a crucial part of this, but the rest depends on exercising. In order to drop a few pounds, you should aim for about 60 minutes a day of moderate aerobic activity. You don’t have to get it done all in one go. If you prefer, you could exercise in shorter chunks – 10 to 15 minutes at once.
While cardio is important, do not neglect strength training. It will help you build muscle, and stronger muscles will lead to a faster metabolism and burning off more calories.
When you’re thinking about junk food, what comes to mind is most likely candy, fast food, chips, and sodas. That’s not entirely correct. Any food that is low in nutrition, but high in calories is not good for you. That includes heavy sauces, sweet jellies, or fried meats. You don’t have to deny yourself all the treats – simply cut back on empty calories. Eat smaller, but more frequent meals. Try to bake your chicken instead of frying it and swap soda for water.
Perhaps you’ve tried to lose weight before, but you just couldn’t. No matter what you did, the scale wouldn’t budge. Don’t wring your hands about it just yet, though. Maybe you just need to make some adjustments to your lifestyle so these extra pounds could go away.
Do you skip breakfast often? This could be the reason for not losing weight. When you don’t eat in the morning, you’re hungry later. That can lead to indulging a bit too much at lunch or dinner. Try to have breakfast within an hour from waking up. Eat foods that are high in fiber and protein – they will keep you full for longer.
Eating too close to your bedtime can be detrimental to your weight loss plan. It can raise the temperature of your body, your blood sugar, and insulin levels, which will make it harder to burn fat. Try to eat dinner no later than 3 hours before going to bed.
Too much stress can hinder your efforts to lose weight. It can make you reach for high-calorie, high-fat foods. Your body also tends to store more fat when you’re under the influence of stress. It’s not easy to reduce stress, but you can always try. Consider yoga, meditation, or more exercise.
One scientific study suggested that men can lose weight more easily than women. On the other hand, women have more success with maintaining a healthy weight long-term. As you can see, even your gender can affect your weight loss efforts. It can also affect where you lose weight. Guys lose belly fat first, but that area can be more challenging for the ladies.
Your metabolism will influence how fast you lose weight. If you have a slow metabolism, it might be your genes, or you don’t have enough lean muscle mass. That is why we stressed the importance of strength training. People with lean, muscular bodies burn more calories than people with a higher percentage of body fat.
Your genes can be the reason for your struggles. Some people’s bodies are simply more efficient in burning calories than others. If your parents or grandparents had issues with losing weight, you might experience these issues too. You don’t have any control over your genes, so you might just need to work a little harder.
Not getting enough sleep can influence your weight loss. It might slow down your metabolism, which in turn will slow down burning calories. Not sleeping for long enough can also make you tired, which makes it harder to exercise. Additionally, sleep deprivation can lead to poor diet choices – for example, choosing a candy over an apple.
Getting older slows down your metabolism by about 2% to 8% every decade. As you age, losing weight will be more challenging for that reason.
Not eating enough can make it more difficult to lose weight – no matter how weird that sounds. If you skip meals or follow a very low-calorie diet, it might make you burn calories more slowly.
Multiple factors can affect your losing weight and dropping those pesky extra pounds. Take the quiz we have for you and find out the best plan for you to lose weight!