5 Possible Reasons Your Fat Loss stopped!

You've finally decided that enough is enough.

You decide that you need to follow the perfect diet (insert diet of choice), and since you’re serious, you also figure that this means no treats or cheats. Zero tolerance and no exceptions!

You're also going to need to kill it at the gym.

Everyone knows that to lose weight and get in shape you have to eat perfectly and train hard.

So you train and you eat perfectly and you lose a little weight and then...NOTHING.

Then all the negative self talk seeps back in - "you failed again", "you will never reach your goals, you don't deserve it", "why did you think this time would be different" etc.

The problem is, you're doing everything perfectly.

SO WHY HAVE THINGS STOPPED??!

1. You're being too strict...

Which leads to mini and not so mini treats and blowouts later on. While it's important that we stick to proper meals and maintain an overall calorie deficit, it's essential that we're not shooting for the impossible ideal of 100% perfect. Chasing perfection leads to less adherence and certain failure...it's simply not sustainable!

2. You're moving very little outside of training sessions

Did you know, all the physical activity you do outside of the gym, walking, cleaning the house etc. can account for up to 15% of our overall daily energy expenditure. That's huge! Since training only accounts for maybe up to 5%, steps and general activity actually make the biggest difference when it comes to losing fat. Shoot for 10-15K steps daily AND steps won't increase your hunger like cardio will, so you´ll be less likely to overeat!

3. You're not getting 7-9 hours of sleep

Lack of sleep completely messes up your fat loss. You hold onto more water, you don't tolerate carbohydrates as well (i.e. you store them as fat), your cravings and hunger go up(and you eat more), and you burn fat less efficiently. Without proper sleep ALL fat loss bets are off.

4. Your stress is out of control

Mismanaged stress is an absolute nail in the coffin for health, fat loss and happiness.

Excessive and chronic stress elevates your stress hormones which enable you to burn less fat, increase fat storage, increase water retention, and send your hunger and cravings haywire.

This is where the importance of managing your emotional fitness comes into play.

If we lack the ability to control and manage our internal state, our perception of the actual stress will be far greater. We are more likely to feel overwhelmed, anxious and unable to keep things in perspective.

A lack of emotional fitness puts us in a chronic state of stress which can completely hijack any body composition goals we have. Getting a handle on stress and working on your emotional fitness really is the way to long term fat loss.

5. You place too much importance on training

Obviously training has it´s place and we do need to train from a general health standpoint and to build the physique we're after BUT we need to be lean enough to see all your hard work. That is why body goals are made in the kitchen and 8-90% of your efforts need to go into your nutrition, sleep and stress management.

Knowing what you know now, doing a quick assessment of what is happening RIGHT NOW with your current nutrition plan, sleep habits and stress management and understanding their order of priority, this will help you assess with greater accuracy and figure out your "weak link" in what may be holding you back from fat loss.