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Losing weight can be a frustrating goal to accomplish for many. If you feel that you are denying yourself certain foods and exercising more and still are having a problem losing weight it can suck your motivation to continue right out of you. So what do you do when you find yourself in this situation? Well I think there are few things that you can take a look at.

Often we get so concerned with losing weight that we lose sight of the overall goal. The overall goal is to change our body composition not just lose weight. If you are trying to lose weight correctly then you should be doing two different things. You should be altering your diet and you should be exercising. But more than just exercising you should be lifting weights and trying to build muscle (if you are not we will deal with this in a moment). Now keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to replace fat with muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat and as a result will weigh more. So it is possible that you are losing fat and adding muscle. This may be the reason behind what you perceive as a problem losing weight. What you need to do is to pay more attention to the mirror test. Can you see your body transforming before your very eyes? If so then continue to do what you are doing because it is working. If you are struggling to see a difference then you may want to ask others around you. They will notice the difference. Everyone should take a picture of themselves before beginning any weight loss program (you can hide it from others). This way it will give you a point of reference. So if you haven’t taken one yet then do so today and then continue to read the rest of this article to find other ideas that may be the cause for the reason you struggle to lose weight.

Sometimes when people tell me that they have had a problem losing weight I ask them how long they have been trying. If I get the response of one week or two weeks then it is time to have the individual get a reality check. It is possible to lose a few pounds in a week but please don’t expect more than that. This is not the Biggest Loser where we are dealing with 350 pound individuals who work out 8 hours per day. You will not and cannot lose weight as quickly as they will. You need to manage your expectations. Let’s say that you have 30 pounds to lose. Now it has taken you years to add that 30 pounds to your body and it would be unreasonable to think that you could remove the weight in just a month or so. Be patient. There are weight loss programs out there designed to help you lose weight quickly. One such program is Warp Speed Fat Loss. However, you need to be dedicated to achieving the results and willing to follow the program. Otherwise, just be patient and stick to your plan. Don’t expect to lose more than one pound per week. If you have 30 pounds to lose then you should be able to accomplish that in about 7 months or so. Just like in the old movie What About Bob it is all about the baby steps.

Write down everything you are eating and I mean everything. Often we fail to realize exactly how much we eat. I have been know to walk by the candy dish in our house several times throughout the day and grab a handful of M & Ms (my weakness). Now when I do this it might not seem like much but if I did this four or five times in a day it is the equivalent of eating a couple of candy bars each day. If you were only cutting your calorie intake by 250 – 500 calories it is very possible that snacking such as this will eliminate the calorie deficit that you thought you were creating. So journal all your food intake for a couple of weeks and then analyze how many calories you are eating each day. I bet you will be surprised. Losing weight is very much an issue of calorie intake. Record yours.

Are you eating enough? I know this sounds like a stupid question to ask but if you are starving yourself your body will go into self defense mode and will slow down your metabolism, store fat and use your muscle for energy. All three of those things are bad in case you were wondering. Do not drastically cut your food intake. If you are trying to live on less than 1000 calories then stop. This may be what has occurred. Try to create about a 500 calorie deficit below your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Anything more than this could lead to a slowing of your metabolism.

Are you exercising? If not then what are you waiting for? Get off your butt and get to work. And when you are exercising, are you really exercising? I have seen people at the health club that I used to belong to doing things that make me wonder. If you idea of exercise is walking on a treadmill at a 2.5 – 3.0 level then you are not exercising. You are taking a leisurely walk. Now there is nothing wrong with leisurely walks. I take one with my wife most nice evenings right after dinner. But please don’t confuse this with the exercise that you need if you are having a problem losing weight. You need to get your heart rate up and you need to do some serious burning of fat calories. I would recommend something more on the line of interval training. Now if you are a beginner this may seem a little difficult. I understand that. Just give yourself longer rest periods. As you progress you will be able to shrink your rest periods and increase your work periods. A typical interval training workout will last about 20 minutes. I would start with a 1:2 work ratio. Perform and all out exercise (sprinting, squat jumps, box jumps, burpees, etc) for 30 seconds and then walk or jog for 1 minute. Repeat until your 20 minutes are done.

Lift weights. One of the most important things that you can do if you are having a problem losing weight is to build muscle. The very presence of muscle in our bodies will burn fat. The more muscle you add to your body the higher your metabolism will be and the more fat you will burn. So if you are not doing this then make sure that you begin a weight training program. It just might be what you were looking for.

Hopefully, this will give you are few things to look into if you are having a problem losing weight. Good luck on the journey and stay strong. You will get there.