You work out almost every day without fail.
You even eat less than you burn, and you cannot remember the last time you ate without controlling yourself. You have always stayed disciplined and still have fat around your belly.
Why?
1. You have been consuming less food but all that food is processed
Quality always comes before quantity. The best nutrition will come from food that is the closest to its natural form.
The more processed it gets the emptier the calories you are eating. This stands true for all the food you get in the supermarket.
2. Your gym schedule has become too boring for your body
You may be doing a lot of sets and a lot of reps and have run a lot of miles on the treadmill, but if it is the same routine again and again, your body is not going to burn the fat as efficiently as you want.
The body is smart, it adjusts itself to even the intensive exercises if you do it often.
3. You overestimate the importance of exercise
Just to put it in perspective, burning a kilo of fat takes a lot of energy. More than 7000 calories. That’s 7000 calories to be burnt as a deficit.
If you consume 2000 calories in a day and burn 2100, you are burning 100 calories in a day.
By this calculation, it will take you more than 2 months to burn 1 kilo of fat.
4. You are thinking of fat reduction in months, not years
Fat reduction usually takes years. You may have assumed to grow thinner in just some days or weeks. But, getting fitter and healthier is a way of life and that takes years to inculcate.
5. You are not really consistent with exercise and diet
You may have worked out very hard for a couple of months and then let go suddenly for a week, before going on it again.
Consistency is the key to losing flab.
6. Marketing and advertisements have brainwashed you into believing some foods are healthy
Even fruit juices contain too much sugar to be healthy for you. Whole wheat bread is not really whole wheat and energy bars are nothing but sugar again.
Do not give in to the seduction of the advertisements.
7. Your body loses the first of the fat really quickly but loses the last very slow
And that is why when you start working out, you see results. But this will taper after a few months and it will get harder for you to lose weight as you progress further.
Also, as you get older, it gets harder for you to lose weight.
8. There is a difference between a good diet and the right diet
You may be eating all the good food, but that might not be ideal for you to lose your tummy fat.
It may be good for you to stay fit, but you need to start eating right if you want to lose that tummy fat.
9. You need to socialize more often and make good friends and get off work early
Stress is one of the biggest players in you gaining unecessary weight. Socializing, making friends, having hobbies, not overworking makes you lose weight too.
10. You are not getting enough sleep
A good sleep cycle is necessary to keep healthy. Less sleep means more craving for food. Get your 10 hours of sleep if you want to lose that flabby stomach!
All the best with getting into your old jeans!