Top 5 Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight

July 18, 2010 - PRLog -- As bikini season is in full bloom, the time is now to know exactly why all that time in the gym has actually stopped working for you. Many fitness enthusiasts spend hours in the gym working, eating the "right" healthy foods, and yet they aren't seeing any results. If you are thinking of eating less and working out more- STOP. Doug Parra, of Mind Body Fit Camps discusses the reasons why your metabolism has put on the brakes, and warns that eating less and working out more will actually slow the metabolism down even more.

If you're hitting the wall in your weight loss efforts. You must read these tips below to find out how to jump start your metabolism!


1. Nutrition: Nutrition is a huge component of  health and healthy weight loss. Keeping a food log for 1 week and tracking what foods you are eating is the first step. Calorie counting is simply not enough, it is more important to calculate your protein, carbs, and fats. Contrary to popular belief, all calories are not created equal. Some people eat very little and still can't lose weight. Some people eat a lot and lose weight. Why does this happen? There are foods that actually help your body create energy and boost the metabolism, and there are foods that inhibit the thyroid and slow metabolism. If you are eating grains (breads, pasta, cereals), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA's), soy, or a ton of vegetables, you are slowing down your metabolism.

2. Estrogen Dominance: Hormones play a huge role in regulating metabolism. It is quite possible that you are estrogen dominant and have a sub-optimal metabolism.  Do you take a birth control pill? Do you eat Soy?  Do you have digestion problems? Do you have acne? Do you tend to carry your weight in your hips, butt, and thighs? Do you have an irregular menstrual cycle? These are just a few signs of estrogen dominance.

3. Thyriod Problems:  Take your temps daily and record the temperatures. Take them in the morning right as you wake up and 20 minutes after you eat breakfast. Then take them throughout the day 3-4 more times and record your temps. Take your pulse and record it as well. If you have low temperatures (below 98.6) and a low pulse (under 80 beats per minutes), then this is a sign of hypothyroidism.

4. Switch up your workouts. Our program is designed to continually switch up the workouts and keep the body from plateauing. You may need to add in the off day cardio workouts. If you are only doing sprint intervals or bike intervals, add in a long bike ride for one of the days instead. Do a 1-2 hour bike ride on a Tuesday and the intervals on the other day. If you aren't doing ANY off day training, add in a day or two per week.

5. Over training and STRESS. If you exercise too much, the body sometimes responds by decreasing the amount of calories you burn during the rest of your day. Some people actually put too much stress on their body and their stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) kick in. These hormones actually slow down the metabolism. You can cause stress in your body by over training or by outside stress as well. Try adding in a day of Yoga or take a nice walk to relieve stress.

   
Doug Parra  is the owner of Mind Body Fit Camps in Orlando and has been helping people shed fat for over 12 years. Parra is available for interviews or to discuss other story ideas related to weight loss and fitness. He can be reached via e-mail at: doug@mbpeakperformance.com

For more information on his Mind Body Fit Camp programs, please visit his website:
http://www.dreambodybootcamps.com

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About Mind Body Fit Camps: We feature 30- minute express workouts for busy professionals before or after work hours. The secret behind our training system is the cutting edge concept of “metabolic” bootcamp-style workouts. These metabolic workouts feature total body workouts in alternating sets or circuit formats that combine the muscle building benefits of resistance training with the cardiovascular benefits of cardio training. The result is a killer bootcamp-style workout that supercharges the metabolism for up to 48 hours post-workout, builds lean muscle, blasts belly fat, and gets you in the best shape of your life with only three 30-minute workouts per week. MBFC caters to all fitness levels and provides a supportive training environment. All the work with none of the typical yelling you would expect from a “bootcamp.” Also, Mind Body Fit Camps provides you with scientifically based meal plans that heal the metabolism and create energy in every cell of the body.