There are three reasons that an overwhelming number of dieters struggle to stick to their diet programs.
Once these reasons are conquered, weight loss should be a breeze.
As we know, weight loss is achieved by burning more calories than consumed.
Those who want to lose weight should simply eat less and exercise more.
But there are many biological and psychological factors that fight our well-intentioned urge to lose weight.
Each of these reasons have been reported by an overwhelming 70% or more of dieters to be factors in why they struggle to lose weight.
1. A lack of motivation
The days in which we are motivated to exercise might fluctuate. We often feel highly motivated when we first start our dieting programs. We feel on top of the world and able to easily restrict our eating.
But as our days oscillate and as the original trigger for our desire to diet vanishes, we might begin to lose motivation. [Weight loss Motivation]
Why is this so hard? Because we can only consciously focus on our desire to lose weight until other parts of life begin to distract us. When our lives are filled with distractions, we are more likely to return to old habits.
Habits are extremely hard to break and the only real way to fight a habit is to replace that habit with better new habits.
If you are having a difficult time staying motivated, focus on the benefits that you will receive when you finally reach your goal.
2. Hunger
Hunger seems to be one of the worst parts of dieting. Sometimes, motivation is really easy to keep up until the hunger starts. If hunger alone was all we suffered from, it would be easy to cope with.
But we also begin to experience other symptoms like a loss of concentration and fatigue. This feeling slowly overwhelms us and we reach for our next dish in order to receive relief.
Why do you think you suddenly start binging after a crash diet? We are hardwired to eat when we are hungry. There are times when we have to eat in order to diet.
This might seem like a contradiction, but getting hungry and depressed will often only lead to a clouding of our judgment, which is followed by binge eating.
The more productive way to lose weight is to eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re not hungry and exercise.
3. Stress and bad days
Stress: we all know what that is. Bad days: the days in which we stray from our diets and eat foods we aren’t supposed to. How do we fight these days?
- Relieve stress through other ways than eating
- Give in a little bit on bad days
Eating bad foods every once in awhile will not harm your diet. What hurts your diet more is when you crash diet after you spend a long time abstaining from food.
This binge eating, especially late at night, will put on way more pounds than the occasional splurge. So eat some of what you want to eat, but eat it in controlled amounts.
