Home » Diet Advice » 10 Reasons You are Not Losing Weight: Part 3

10 Reasons You are Not Losing Weight: Part 3

Posted by Caley on September 14th, 2009 at 01:09pm

Even with diet and exercise, losing weight can be difficult. Whether or not you have a fancy desktop or mobile application to help, keeping tracking of calories consumed and calories burned is difficult. In addition, the scale may not be the best measure of your overall health. As you gain muscle from exercise, the scale might stay the same but you are becoming denser and tighter. Before reading the last four reasons why you may not be losing weight, check out Part 1 and Part 2.

For this last section, I thought I would tackle some unexpectedly high-calorie foods and sneaky sources of extra calories. These foods can make you underestimate the amount of calories you are actually consuming each day.

Store-bought Smoothies

A smoothie can definitely be a healthy snack but pay attention to the labels of store-bought or packaged smoothies and make sure no sugar has been added. Also, make sure you are drinking the correct size. A 32-ounce mango smoothie is much too large, packing nearly 600 calories, which is almost a third of the recommended daily calorie intake for many adults. Also, be aware of the kinds of yogurt being used. Making your own smoothies at home with fat-free, sugar-free yogurt is the best bet.
Frozen Yogurt and Other Frozen Desserts

Just because your frozen dessert is “fat-free” doesn’t mean it’s healthy. In fact, frozen yogurts are often very high in sugar, up to 21 grams per 1/2 C. serving. Read the label carefully. Sugar can interfere with your ability to lose weight. Try making your own frozen yogurt with plain or natural store bought yogurt and pureed fruits or fruit juice. You can also use relatively flavorless agave nectar as a sweetener.

Bagels

Depending on the size of the bagel, the calories in 1 bagel can equal up to 5 slices of bread. While you can have the whole bagel, just be mindful of the other calories you are consuming with this calorie-rich food. Go light on the cream cheese! For a healthy breakfast or lunch, try half a bagel topped with egg and tomato.

Watching Television while Eating

This habit is a problem for many Americans. While we are distracted watching television, we can consume more calories than we need, especially if we take a whole bag of chips to the couch. Eat slowly and pay attention to what your body tell yous. Stop eating when you are 80% full. For a snack, pour a small amount of popcorn into a bowl and take that to the couch instead of the whole bag.