Most folks have an ideal weight. It is the target goal they hope to achieve through diet and exercise. For some it could be 10 pounds that need to be shed. For others a more significant amount. Once you activate a diet you’ll be focused on the scale and when the needle doesn’t budge you can be increasing frustrated. That might make you give it all up because “What’s the point?” Don’t! There reasons why you’re not losing weight and you need to know them:

It’s Going Slow

It would be nice to start your diet on Monday and by Friday have dropped 10 pounds. Unless you’re literally starving yourself, that probable won’t happen. What might happen is that you’ll lose ½ to 1 pound a week. That doesn’t seem like a lot but it is the kind of target that most doctors would recommend.

Not Enough Water

Burning fat requires hydration. All the exercise and calorie reduction won’t help if you are dehydrated. One sure sign is constipation. That is your body’s way of saying there isn’t enough fluid flowing.

Not Enough Sleep

Sleep allows a body to revitalize. However, not enough sleep forces our metabolism to slow down. When that happens, everything slows and the includes the ability to lose weight. What is the right amount? A decent seven hours can keep the metabolism clock finely tuned.

Only Eating Healthy Once In Awhile

Dieting is tough because often people associated with sacrificing. The only way to lose weight is to give up the foods you like, right? That might work in the short time but too often folks bounce of a diet and go back to bad eating habits. This is why your approach should be less about dieting (doing without) and more about healthy lifestyle changes. The goal is to make a lasting commitment to changing the way you eat.

You’ve Hit the Wall with Your Workout

Exercise has to be part of a successful weight loss problem. If you are working up a sweat and exhausted after every workout, then you’re in a good place. However, you could be building up a resistance. What was hard to do a few weeks ago is no longer a challenge. This is when you have to mix things up a bit. Add weight training to the cardio workout. Increase the duration and intensity of your routines. You want to jumpstart your body with each session.

Don’t wait to make a resolution for losing weight. Get started today.