Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

That’s the question many people ask when their weight loss plan isn’t working.

Asking yourself ‘Why can’t I lose weight?’ is actually one of the best things you can do for yourself. It says you know that what you’re currently doing isn’t working for you.

You’re at the place where you’re ready to look at alternatives – try something different to get a result you want.

So why can’t you lose weight? Here are 3 possible reasons you may not be losing weight – and some suggestions on what you can do about it.

#1) Medical Reasons

Now this is not the same as saying you’re genetically programmed to be overweight. That is hogwash. In fact scientists estimate that even if you do have a genetic propensity to gain weight, your genes only account for 15 – 25% of your current weight. So forget the genetics excuse.

But there are medical reasons that some people can’t lose weight. Low thyroid, adrenal exhaustion, insulin resistance and other medical conditions can make losing weight near to impossible.

That’s why before starting any weight loss plan, you should talk to your doctor first. Have a full workup and make sure that you don’t have any health issues standing in the way of your weight loss.

There’s nothing more frustrating that trying to lose weight, doing all the right things and not losing an inch – all because of a medical condition. Get the medical condition cleared up first and then address the weight (in fact, the weight may just go down on it’s own once you get the medical condition addressed).

#2) Emotional Eating

I recently read an article where a nutritionist estimated that 75% of overeating was due to emotions. 75%! Can you imagine what would happen if you learned to eliminate emotional eating and cut out all those calories? What a weight loss impact! The weight would be falling off.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, emotional eating is on the rise. Most people today are feeling the pressure of an increasingly hectic lifestyle. We hardly have time to tie our shoes, never mind deal with our emotions.

Because of this, our emotions get stuffed down and ignored until finally they explode and we’re face-down in a bowl of Rocky-Road ice cream with extra chocolate sauce.

Here’s the bottom line: you are human and you have emotions. Your emotional needs are important and need to be addressed properly with love. You need emotional nurturing and proper emotional care.

If that means you take a 5 minute break every few hours at work to regain your emotional balance, do it. If that means you need to unwind by doing a mall walk and window shopping after work – don’t let anything stop you.

Learn to nurture your emotional health and you’ll nip emotional eating in the bud – and start losing weight FAST.

#3) Mismatched Weight Loss Plan

There are many different ways to lose weight and dozens of weight loss programs to choose from. Some plans emphasize a change in diet, others emphasize a change in exercise, others focus on the inner reasons for overeating.

Every person is different and will lose weight in their own unique way. If what you’re doing now isn’t currently working, it may be a simple case of personality-plan mismatch.

Maybe instead of a diet-focused weight loss plan, you would feel better with a fitness-focused weight loss plan or a psychological weight loss plan. There are lots of plans to choose from and you deserve to take your time and find one that fits your personality and lifestyle best.

If you think this is the case, take some time to review different diet or weight loss plans. Find one that you can get excited about, one that makes sense to you and that fits your belief system and personality. That’s when you’ll make real weight loss progress!

So those are 3 possible reasons for your weight loss plateau. You don’t have to stay stuck in a weight loss rut. You don’t have to keep asking yourself the frustrating question: Why Can’t I Lose Weight?’ Keep believing in yourself and in your dreams. Don’t give up and you will get there!

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Why Your Diet May Not Be Working

Jennifer, a middle-aged single mother with one six-year-old daughter, has been skipping sweets for a few weeks now.  She’s also become a stickler for portion control.  She feels as if she’s eating less than ever, and she’s been diligently exercising for an hour at a time at least four days a week.  Yet, she hasn’t lost a single pound.  The question is, “Why?”

This is a dilemma which affects dieters the world over.  They think they are taking the steps necessary to lose weight, but nothing seems to be happening.  In essence, they are trapped in a dieting rut and they don’t know how to free themselves.  As a result, they become frustrated and depressed and may then engage in binge eating.

One of the problems with diets is that they are often standardized.  As a result, they don’t take into consideration your individual physiology and metabolism.  They provide a cookie-cutter approach to weight loss—an approach which may not work in your individual case.  As a result, an increasing number of people are turning to dieticians to formulate a person weight loss strategy for them.  This process has been made easier through the Internet, where you can correspond with a dietician any time of the day or night via e-mail.  The dietician can also act as your personal coach, helping you through your dieting dilemmas.

Another reason that you may be failing at your diet is because of a lack of support.  You may have family members who can eat whatever they want and seemingly not gain a pound.  As a result, they may fill your refrigerator with junk food, leading you into temptation.  Also, you may feel as if you have no one to turn to in order to discuss your weight problems.  In order to solve this problem, many individuals look to psychotherapists to help them with their food-related issues.  This can be particularly important if an individual has turned to purging in an effort to combat their weight problems.  Bulimia is a serious disease which must be treated in order to ensure the good health of the patient.  Thankfully, there are a number of treatment programs throughout the U.S. specifically focusing on bulimia.

Yet another reason for diet failure is hidden calories.  You may literally be consuming calories and not even realize it.  For instance, the frappucinos that are so popular today are loaded with calories—as many as 600 in a single serving!  You may also be indulging in sugary sodas—another source of extra calories.  By taking a few simple steps, such as eliminating the exotic coffee drinks from your diet and substituting skim milk for whole milk, you may be able to eliminate the hidden calories that are denying you dieting success.

Lack of consistency can also be a diet-killer.  You might go on a diet for a while, then quit before you’ve made any measurable progress.  It’s only natural to want to see quick results.  The problem is that healthy weight loss involves losing only a couple of pounds a week.  That means you’ll have to stay on your diet for months before you see appreciable weight loss.  Discouraging?  It can be, but if you keep a positive attitude you can achieve your ideal weight.

You may also be more successful in your dieting if you consider it to be a lifestyle change.  Therefore, your diet becomes a meal plan for life.  This means that you must change the way you look at food.  It is designed to be fuel for your body, and nothing more.  As a result, you should not turn to food to make you feel better or to provide you with a sense of comfort.  A lifestyle change implies commitment; it means that you are prepared to follow the plan for the long haul.  If you feel as if you cannot be on your diet for any appreciable length of time, perhaps it’s time to consider a different diet.   Your aim ultimately should be not simply to lose weight, but to become healthier.  A fad diet will not allow you to reach that milestone.   Therefore, you must choose your diet carefully.

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Yoga for Weight Loss: What you need know to succeed (part 2)

Welcome back folks.

Okay, let’s cut right to the chase for how Yoga for weight loss works.
We’ve gone over the sun salutations and if you are anything like me, you probably tried them out and are sold on Yoga ‘the stretching’ exercise actually burning calories.

Now let’s target the trouble spots.

Poses for Trouble Spots when Using Yoga for Weight Loss:

1. Abdominal Region: The Forward Bending Pose, the Bow Pose, the Peacock Pose, the spinal twist and the Triangle Pose.

2. The Arms: Definitely the Peacock Pose! the Wheel Pose, the Crow Pose, the Side plank Pose and the 4-limb Staff Pose.

3. The Thighs: The Bow Pose, The Shoulder-Stand, the Hero Pose, the triangle and wheel poses.

4. Love Handles: The spinal twist, the triangle pose, (with practice) the Side Crow Poses, (for ease) The Side plank pose.

I realize the spots above are the ones most of us seem to target when trying to lose weight, so I have made sure to go over them first.

I’m under the impression that if you had searched in google or done some research on Yoga for weight loss, you must have gotten some degree of information on the poses above, or signed up for a class, bought a Yoga DVD, something to learn some more about it, which is why I did not go over each pose in detail. But trust me, they are indeed very easy. I will emphasize though, performing the Sun Salutations (upwards of 24 rounds) should be your main focus in using Yoga for a weight loss regimen, even before the other poses.

This too will help: One pose that some Yogis and Yoginis state to be a versatile enough pose for the whole body will be the Shoulder-Stand. It is best practiced with its counter poses, in fact, since these poses have effects on the meta-physical and spiritual aspects of our lives, it will be safe to say never execute a yoga pose without counter posing it. You may throw some things out of normalcy.

Here’s a brief overview on the Shoulder-stand as a yoga pose for weight loss:
Spread a thick blanket on the floor and place your yoga mat on it. Lie on the back. Slowly raise the legs. Lift the trunk, hips and legs to a vertical position. Rest the elbows firmly on the floor and support the back with both hands. (See the Illustration for Proper Execution). Raise the legs till they become vertical. Press the chin against the chest. This is the chin lock. While performing this pose, the back of the neck, the posterior part of the head and the shoulders should touch the floor. Breathe in counts of 5-5-5 (inhalation, retention and exhalation). Don’t allow the body to shake. Its counter poses are the bridge and fish poses which will target your forearms/thighs and chest/neck respectively.

As I promised; here is the Breath of Fire breathing exercise that you can add to your yoga practice to speed up the burning of calories. (Doesn’t the name alone tell you something…?)

Breath of Fire Exercise (aka Kapalabathi or Bellows Breath)

-Take a few breaths and see that the diaphragm is moving properly. Now with the eyes closed (as they should be when performing all breathing exercises) make a sudden contraction of the abdomen with a backward push. This leads to a sudden yet firm expulsion of stagnant air from the lungs.

-Now follow this with a sudden relaxation (which naturally makes the new air rush in) now perform the exercise in this manner: passive inhalation and active expulsions at a rate of sudden abdominal push per second one after the other. A round should have 15-20 expulsions. Do not exceed 3 rounds

-You may gradually increase to 120 expulsions per round and then perform only 2 rounds. (As soon as you are doing 50 expulsions per round, do not exceed 2 rounds!) Between each round take a pause for about 30 seconds of normal breathing.

Now, there you have it, the information needed to get you started on the use of Yoga for weight loss: The poses for the trouble spots, the bellows breath, the shoulder-stand and the almighty Sun Salutations.

Remember, for the same reasons Hippocrates-the father of Medicine stated: “Let your foods be your medicine and your medicine your foods”, you’ve got to include a proper diet when seeking to lose weight with yoga. Keep in mind this is an all too important limb of this exercise so, there’s no way around it friends. (But I’m sure you know that already)

So strike a pose, and see for yourself how Yoga for weight loss can be an effective and safe choice.

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Yoga for Weight Loss: What you need know to succeed (part 1)

Using yoga for weight loss might not look effective to most people. I bet you they’ll go: “Naw, it’s just stretching…what can it possibly do to burn calories?”

Well, a lot my friend. Yoga can work for weight loss if you use it right and I’ll tell you what to do in due course.

“But how exactly can yoga work for weight loss Foras? (That’s my name by the way), ya’ll just stretching that’s it…!”

Boy, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that comment.

Well for interested parties, yoga as an option for weight loss is wise, safe and effective.
Remember, it is the oldest physical culture known to man and not only does this exercise work the body, it works the mind and soul as well. Hey, have you seen Madonna, Sting or Russell Simmons lately? (I can just see you go: “Foras…they were never overweight so don’t go there! Well…they never gained weight either and they actually all still look good for there ages right?

Okay, here are the poses I recommend you use when using Yoga for weight loss.
Now my friend, I will go over what I believe is the CORE of Yoga Poses.
Trust me, there have been times when I did this alone and still got the benefits that yoga gives from daily practice.

Let’s take notes:

The Sun Salutations When using Yoga for Weight Loss:

These exercises are a combination of Yoga Poses, Breathing Exercises, Sun Bathing and Prayer. They have been practiced for centuries by Yoga Practitioners in India, Martial Artists and African Wrestlers and as a system to rejuvenate the body and soul are beyond compare. It’s been said in the Drugless Healing circles that one round of the Sun Salutations is much better than a week of exercises at the gym!

They are very simple to learn and just about anyone, regardless of their fitness or flexibility levels can learn these simple exercises. In actuality, if you are familiar with “burpies” (the calisthenics exercise), they do derive their origin from the Sun Salutations.

Here are some of their benefits:
-They alleviate disorders of the skin and waist.
-Flexibility increases and breathing is corrected, moreover, they mildly exercise the legs and arms, thus increasing the circulation.
-They are the best way to burn calories and reduce weight and are often recommended for obesity and depression.
-They are an effective way of loosening up, stretching and massaging all joints and internal organs of the body.
-They stimulate and balance all the systems of the body including the endocrine, circulatory, reproductive and digestive system.

Technique:

1. Stand straight with the palms together as in a prayer position.

2. Inhale and stretch the arms above the head.

3. Exhale and bend forward while touching the toes.

4. Inhale and stretch the right leg away from the body in a big backward step and keep the hands and left foot firmly on the ground. Bending the head backward the left knee should be between the hands.

5. Inhale and hold the breath. Move the left leg from the body and, keeping both feet together and the knees of the floor, rest on the hands (arms straight) and keep the body in a straight line from head to foot.

6. Exhale and lower the body to the floor. In this position, only 8 portions of the body come in contact with the floor: the two feet, two knees, two hands, chest and forehead.

7. Inhale and bend back as much as possible bending the spine to the maximum.

8. Exhale and lift the body of the floor. Keep the feet and heels on the floor.

9. Inhale and bring the right foot along the level of the hands; left foot and knee should touch the ground. Look up, bending the spine slightly (same position as #4)

10. Exhale and bring the left leg forward. Keep the knees straight and bring the head down to the knees as in the third position.

11. Raise the arms overhead and bend backward inhaling. As in Position 2.

12. Exhale and drop the arms and relax.

You have now completed one round.

Perform as many rounds as possible in multiples of 3. Ideally you want to aim for 6 rounds minimum and up to a maximum of 30. It only takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on your speed and intensity and is best practiced with as little clothing as possible before an open air window first thing in the morning.

Okay, we’ve gone over the core pose or combination thereof when using Yoga for weight loss in this part of the series of this article. I’ll go over SPECIFIC poses (asanas) that will target the trouble spots and some breathing exercises that would speed up burning up of calories. But my friends, note, when I say use yoga for weight loss; I mean ALL its limbs: the poses, the prescribed diet for practice and mind-set. If you were doing conventional exercise for weight loss, you’d know to eat a healthier diet right…?
Well the same applies to yoga for weight loss as well friends.

See you in part 2 of this article.

You Are Not Doomed To Be Fat Forever

I know, you’re probably thinking you have to diet to lose weight. But nothing could be further from the truth. With rare exceptions, most people were born into normal weight bodies. But then we learned to diet.

Dieting causes the body to go into survival mode. Dieting itself sparks the intense biological urge to consume large quantities of high calorie foods.  It causes the body’s instinctual drives to override all intellectual controls. It primes the body to maximize food intake and minimize energy burned.

Diets have set us up to fight against our own physical survival, the body’s most basic instinct.

As a comparison, think of how difficult life would be if you had to go to the bathroom on a rigid schedule. What if you only allowed yourself to urinate 3 times a day?

At 8 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. you could release exactly 5 ounces. You’d measure it – of course – to be sure it was the right amount. If you needed to go more, you would force yourself to wait until the next scheduled time. And too bad if you needed to go at 10 am, hold it until noon.

You would be miserable. Your body would have a very difficult time complying with an arbitrary schedule. It would probably get ugly.

Overeating because your body refuses to starve doesn’t make you a failure. It means you’re human.
*It doesn’t make you diseased.

*It doesn’t mean you are flawed forever.
*It doesn’t doom you to being permanently sick and trying to recover for the rest of your life.
*It means you did the best you could at the time.
*It means you can forgive yourself and move on.

Eating is the most natural thing we do and your body knows exactly what it needs to live at it’s very best. All you have to do is practice listening and  ACT on the information. Your body knows what to do. Just as it knows how to breathe, reproduce, and heal.

Think of how children live, we can learn a lot from them…
*They rest when they are tired.
*They run, jump, swim, dance, and play as much as they can because it feels good and it’s fun.
*They are picky about what they eat. They’ll go hungry rather than settle for something they don’t love.
*They eat when they’re hungry.
*Once they feel full, they have to be tricked or bribed into eating even one more bite of food.
*They drink when they’re thirsty.
*They love their bodies and they don’t care how their thighs look or if their tummy isn’t flat and tight.
*They don’t have to think about all this. It just comes naturally and easily as a part of being human.

All of these natural instincts live in each of us, too.

We all have the inborn ability to take care of ourselves. We just have to remember. We just have to get back in the habit of listening to our bodies…of following their wisdom. Remember, a normal body weight is your birthright. It was stolen from you. Now you get to take it back.

So stop thinking of yourself as forever fat. You are not doomed to either being overweight or to being on a perpetual diet. Let overeating and overweight fade into the past. They served you well to keep you alive. Once you stop dieting and accept the body you were born with, you can return to your unique, normal weight.

I’m not suggesting everyone is going to be model-skinny. The endless, tyrannical pressure to be very thin is a big part of the problem. Some bodies are meant to be soft and curvy. Others are naturally sharp and angular. We are variously stocky, tall, fleshy, muscular, sinewy, short, etc. There is wonderful beauty in diversity.

Accepting and loving the unique beauty of your body will heal you and set you free. Be like a child and delight in the body you have. Cherish the power in your muscles. Enjoy the feeling of being alive here on this planet. Let go of having to look a certain way. Be yourself. Let someone else try to be like the models or celebrities. The world will be a better place if it gets to have the real, unique, special person that YOU are.

Believe in your own healing. Believe that you can live easily and naturally at your own ideal weight. That faith is a huge part of what will set you free. Eating normally is completely natural. Deep down you know how to do it.

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