I know what you’re thinking: “Weight loss is hard.” And it can be. But it doesn’t have to be. There are things that you can do in order to make weight loss easier for yourself, like making healthy food choices, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep.
It’s all about taking the right steps toward improving your health and well-being—both now and in the future!
Your genes play a role.
The genetics of weight loss is complicated. While it’s true that genes play a role in determining how much you weigh, they aren’t always the big difference maker when it comes to how your body burns calories and how quickly you lose weight.
But sometimes they can make a little difference.
Let’s say that two people have exactly the same set of living conditions—the same diet plan, exercise routine, and environment (for example: not living in New York City).
One person will be able to lose more weight than another simply because their bodies burn more calories per day than others. This is called metabolic rate or basal metabolic rate (BMR). The BMR is determined by factors such as age; height; sex; race/ethnicity; body fat percentage; muscle mass percentage and activity level.
Your hormones work against you.
Your hormones are a double-edged sword when it comes to weight loss. On one hand, they can help you lose weight by keeping your appetite under control and increasing the amount of energy you have available to exercise.
In some cases, this is all good!
On the other side of things, however, certain hormones may cause more harm than good when it comes to losing weight or keeping off extra pounds afterward.
Your friends and family can be your biggest supporters or your biggest hindrances.
You may find that your friends and family can be a great source of support.
They might offer encouragement and motivation, and even help you come up with recipes! But they can also be a source of stress—and not just because they’re always asking if you’ve started the diet yet. In fact, these people are likely to make all kinds of suggestions about what you should eat or how much exercise it takes for weight loss.
It’s hard to find motivation for yourself when it is so daunting that everyone else is counting on your success (or failure).
It’s also hard to put yourself out there on your fitness journey as a newbie when everyone else seems so busy doing things like exercising regularly or eating healthy foods like chicken salads every day.
People tend to miss even small amounts of activity over time.
You might be surprised to learn that even small amounts of activity can add up over time. For example, if you walk for an hour a day, it’s likely that will add up to more than 40000 steps in one week and over 800 miles traveled over the course of a year!
If this is your first time trying to lose weight or keep it off, it’s important to make sure you have time for workouts and activities.
Finding ways to fit exercise into your schedule may not always seem like fun (and sometimes it won’t), but once you get into the habit of exercising regularly—even if it’s only 20 minutes per day—you’ll notice how much easier life becomes as long as there are no excuses holding back progress toward achieving your goals.
Your food environment can make it hard to stay in control of your diet.
Food is everywhere.
It’s easy to make unhealthy choices when you’re surrounded by food advertisements and temptation.
You can easily become distracted from what you’re eating when there are so many options around you.
When you eat, or even when you don’t it’s important to try to eliminate these foods from your surrounding environment.
You might even consider adding some healthier snacks to your household.
Like the protein-dense but delicious snack foods from Lenny and Larrys, you can check them out here.
Stress can have a negative impact on weight loss
Stress can have a negative impact on weight loss. When you’re stressed out, it’s easy to eat more and exercise less, which means you might not be able to lose weight as easily as you’d like.
Stress can also make it harder for you to sleep properly, which is important for maintaining your energy levels throughout the day and keeping your hormones in check when they’re running wild (which is pretty much always).
If this happens too often or for too long—say because of work-related stressors—it could affect your ability to stick with healthy eating habits even if they’re already established in other areas of life.
Weight isn’t everything, but taking care of yourself is important
If you’re looking for a way to lose weight and keep it off, there are many things that can help. But the most important thing is to take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally.
This means eating well (and not too much), exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep every night. It also means managing stress levels as much as possible—we all have stress in our lives!
If you want to lose weight but don’t know where or how to start, don’t worry: There’s an app for that! The MyFitnessPal app is free; it has been downloaded over 100 million times since its launch in 2007.
It’s a nice tool for tracking your progress and caloric intake each day.
Why Weight Loss Is Hard Conclusion
It’s never easy to lose weight, but if you’re willing to try and keep at it over time, you can do it.
Finding a healthy lifestyle that works for you is important, but so is having a support system—your friends and family should be able to offer encouragement when needed, but also give you a chance to vent when things get tough.
If nothing else, remember that this process takes time and patience! Good luck with your journey toward better health.