Question: Why am I not losing weight?

Why am I not losing weight? Ever ask that question to yourself? Have you ever heard someone ask this question? The answer does not have to be difficult; the answer is actually quite easy. Perhaps it's not easy to hear, but the answer itself is easy.

Have you ever heard of the Law of Thermodynamics? If you were to Google this Law you would find the long version of the confusing definition. All in all, the Law of Thermodynamics basically states that over a long period of time, your weight will rely on how many calories you take in versus how many you put out. You "put out" calories every day as soon as you get out of bed. It takes calorie to get out of bed, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, get dressed, walk around work, etc... Therefore, based on your current weight you will need a certain amount of calories just to go about your daily activities. Now, I'm not going to pretend to know how it all works. All I know is that when I enter my weight in Calorie King along with my goal weight, they shoot back how many calories I should eat to get to my goal. When I weigh in and they see that I have lost weight, they adjust my caloric intake goals for me. EASY! No brain power necessary.

Now, if your purse weighs 10 pounds (like mine) and you go to the gym and you lift 10 pound weights and you think it's easy....well you're right...you're already conditioned to walking around with a 10 pound weight on your shoulder. You need to challenge yourself! With that said, if you think that working out for an hour or more a day is the way to go; not necessarily. Also, if you don't eat enough, your body is going to hold onto whatever it has because essentially you are starving yourself. It's a balancing game and (like I said) I am certainly not an expert which is why I use Calorie King as my calorie coach and direction for my caloric needs.

Why are you not losing weight? Are you realllyyy paying attention to what you are eating? Are you counting your calories? If you find that watching portions isn't enough, start counting. Look not only at calories, but look at WHAT you are eating! How intensely are you exercising. Again, your body is going to get conditioned to your hour on the elliptical. You should shake it up and add in some weights/cross training every other day. You WILL see better and more results. FACT.

Take a step back if you think "nothing is working". Meet with a Nutritionist, a Certified Personal Trainer or simply show a friend your meals. Sometimes having a new set of eyes will shine some light on what may be holding you back.

You have to be mentally ready for this life-style change; you really do! If you're not, ask yourself WHY the heck not?!

So...FOOD!

Here are some sample snacks:

• Plain air-popped popcorn
• Sometimes when I need something sweet (refer to yesterday's post), I like to do cheerios mixed with 1/2 serving chocolate chips or a banana with 1/2 serving melted chocolate chips...mmmmmm
• pretzels (preferably salt free) with salsa or peanut butter (only 1 tablespoon which is 1/2 a serving)
• Slice of Laughing Cow cheese on wheat crackers (make SURE you are paying attention to serving sizes...which means YES you DO have to count your crackers...no it's not fun, but who said it would be?) The fun part is doing what...dancing down the aisles at TJ Maxx when you finally fit into that size you've dreamed of!
• Yogurt (watch our for artificial sweeteners in your yogurt. Go for the natural stuff if you can afford it, but you know...you can't put a price on your health!)
• Hummus (2 tbs is a serving) with veggies (carrots, tomato, cukes)
• Protein bar (stick with something under 180 calories)
• Apple, celery, banana with PB

What are your go-to snacks? Please share in the comments section. If you are finding that you can't post a comment, you can create a Google account to do so :)

I took today off of exercise because I'm going out with a friend. In retrospect I could have gotten out of bed at 5 to do my workout, but instead of taking Sunday off of working out, I'll take today and make sure to do my workout on Sunday. Don't forget to give your body 1 day of rest a week. On that day of rest you can certainly do something low impact, but your body does need rest too.

As far as today's calories go, I am within my calories again today assuming I only have 1 glass of wine tonight. I will be at 1396 which makes me happy especially since I did not workout today!

So stick with it through the weekend! You'll be happy you did. And keep sending me your success stories! I love reading them:)