Anyone in the diet is confronted with this problem: after a week of painful effort, we go up on the scale to realize that the needle has not moved an iota. Sometimes the reasons are obvious, for example if you have been overeating at a birthday party or skipped a few exercises. But often, we do not know why we did not lose weight despite our best efforts.Unexpected saboteurs could interfere with your efforts to maintain a healthy weight or loss of unwanted pounds. To achieve your slimming goal , read on and take advantage of the latest scientific research!

Your weight fluctuates during the day

It is normal for your weight to fluctuate by more or less a kilo in a day. To evaluate the effectiveness of a diet, it is better to measure the results over a period of time. You should not be discouraged if you have not lost weight, and maybe even gained, in a day or even a week. This transient anomaly will quickly subside if you stay on course.

Solution : To avoid weight fluctuations beyond your control, always weigh yourself at the same time and wear the same clothes. Ideally, you should get on the scale in the morning, before eating and getting dressed.

You can not lose weight because you have water retention

If your period is approaching or you have eaten a salty dish at dinner, you could take 500 grams or a kilo. In both cases, it is water retention. However, this water not eliminated by your body adds to your weight, giving you the feeling that the diet you just started is not effective, even if in fact it works.

Solution : To get around this problem, avoid salty foods and make sure you drink enough water every day.

Your weight has reached a plateau

During the diet, the weight can reach a plateau and not change for a few weeks. Even if these levels put our morale to the test, know that this does not mean that your efforts are useless. Above all, do not give up! This is a temporary step and not a failure.

Solution : You must persevere! Try to make some changes to your habits, such as taking a mid-afternoon healthy snack to avoid having an appetite in your heels at the end of your work day, or changing your fitness schedule. physical exercises to do a little more.

You can not lose weight because you forgot the little extras

When you have been on a diet for a while, you sometimes relax your alertness. You may have picked up some bad habits: for example, you spread a layer of thick butter over your roast, nibble while cooking or have a dessert every night. These little things can provide enough extra calories to keep you from losing weight.

Solution : To help you, keep a food journal for a few days, which will help you stay aware of what you are really eating. Researchers have shown that dieters who write down everything they ate significantly increase their chances of success.

You weighed yourself on Monday

Maybe you do not normally weigh yourself until Friday or Saturday. But this time, you got on the scale on Monday, the worst day to do it. Most people eat more during the weekend than on weekdays. In fact, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis found that people on the diet lose weight on weekdays, but not on weekends.

Solution : By planning your healthy weekend meals in advance, you’ll put the odds on your side for weight loss and resist the temptation during the weekend; also keep an eye on your portions, especially when eating out.

You can not lose weight because you overindulge during the weekend

To fight over weekend excesses, pay attention to the portions, weigh yourself daily (or Friday and Monday only) and watch for your alcohol intake, which provides empty calories and lowers your dietary inhibitions.

Researchers have found that people do not realize they are eating much more on weekends, especially on Saturdays when they tend to eat more fatty foods. Extra calories taken on weekends slow down weight loss.

You do not eat “good” fat

Eating foods high in unsaturated fats, such as nuts, avocados and olive oil can help you eat less in general, by sending a signal of satiety to the brain. It appears that these fats trigger the production of a compound in the small intestine called oleoylethanolamide. The latter reaches the nerve endings that transmit the messages to the brain, thus curbing hunger and activating a brain circuit that produces a feeling of satiety.

Solution : In order to avoid weight gain caused by good fats, limit your intake to two to three tablespoons (30-45 ml) a day, ie a handful of nuts or the sixth d ‘a lawyer.

You do not consume enough calcium

If you are trying to lose weight, be sure to consume enough calcium in your diet. You need at least 1000 milligrams of calcium per day from supplements or foods, namely a cup of milk (250 ml), a cup of yogurt and a cube of cheese (42 g). For overweight women who have calcium deficiency , increased intake can promote weight loss, according to a 2009 study by the British Journal of Nutrition .

Researchers at Laval University in Quebec City conducted a study of 63 overweight or obese women who consumed 600 milligrams or less of calcium per day, about half the recommended amount. For 15 weeks, these women followed a low-calorie diet and took either a placebo or 1200 mg of elemental calcium plus vitamin D every day. Women who took calcium lost six times more weight than those who did not, which is thirteen pounds versus two pounds.

According to the researchers, the brain probably detects the lack of calcium and tries to compensate by increasing the appetite to increase the intake.

You misuse small treats

If you are unable to stop after eating a small portion of potato chips or cookies, separate them to have a treat in the car, at the office, and in the gym bag.

In a Dutch study, 59 students received 9 small bags of chips (45 g) or 2 large bags (200 g), to eat while watching television. Participants who were encouraged to pay attention to calories were almost twice as likely to eat chips from small bags, and to consume twice as much as those who nibbled potato chips. “These little bags seem innocent: it is possible that people pay less attention and do not monitor the amount consumed,” says researcher Rik Pieters, professor of marketing at the University of Tilburg.

You consume a quantity of carbohydrates that is not adequate

Eating foods that contain a small amount of calories from carbohydrates can help maintain a healthy body weight. A study by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association  found that people who absorbed 47 to 64% (290 to 310 g) of their daily calories in carbohydrates were less likely to be overweight or to be obese than those who consumed a lower percentage of carbohydrates.

Diets that are too low or too high in carbohydrates are harder to follow, says Anwar Merchant, a researcher and associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina. “You need to include all important food groups, including carbohydrate,” says nutritionist Aviva Allen. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes and vegetables are important sources of fiber, which are essential for maintaining the regularity of digestive function and in the process of eliminating excess cholesterol and fat from our body. organization”.

You are 40 years old or older and your metabolism is declining

“The older we get, the more lean muscle we lose; so our metabolism slows down, especially if we do not exercise every day, “says Larry Tucker, professor of exercise science at Brigham Young University, Utah. In a recent study of 192 middle-aged women, Larry Tucker found that women who adopted stricter dietary habits were 2.4 times less likely to take 6 or more pounds over a three-year period than women who had been less careful. On average, women who developed stricter eating habits consumed about 200 fewer daily calories than women in the second group.

Solution : Exercise while dieting and make sure you consume enough protein. Your body will burn your fat stores rather than your muscle mass. Aerobic exercise is a good way to increase your metabolic rate.

You can not lose weight because you follow a diet too severe

In order to avoid the excessive consumption of bad foods due to permanent deprivation, it is important to occasionally afford a treat, such as a good dessert.

That’s at least what a Journal of Consumer Research study says  about the differences between food temptations. In this research, when women were exposed to sweets, but were told not to eat them, they were able to show better self-control when the same candy was offered to them again. On the other hand, women who had been shown ads or pictures of candies were less successful in resisting the attraction of real candy.

Solution : To succeed in losing weight in the longer term, a small dessert from time to time will not make you miss your diet. On occasion, allow yourself a hitch. Just pay attention to the portions … and the number of times you allow yourself to cheat!

You see your diet as something passenger

You may have succeeded in losing weight in the past, for example, for a special occasion. But then, you inevitably return to your old eating habits and take back all the lost pounds. You view your diet as a short-term solution rather than a permanent change that will allow you to live healthier lives.

Solution : Use your diet as a pretext to try all kinds of new foods. These are your tastes that must be changed in the long term, so that you will enjoy eating healthy and will not want to return to your old habits.

You are trying to lose weight too quickly

Want to lose weight in the blink of an eye? Losing a half or a kilo a week is not enough for you? After all, you keep hearing about those people who miraculously lost 10 or 15 pounds in a month, why not you? After a few weeks, you give up, convinced that your failure is because you do not lose weight fast enough.

Solution : Keep in mind that it took you months or even years to accumulate those extra pounds. It is normal that you need some time to lose. Do not forget that people who lose weight slowly are usually the ones who manage to maintain their healthy weight in the long run.

You give in to the talk of “all or nothing” as part of your weight loss process

One day, almost without realizing it, you take chocolate at your coffee break. When you realize it, you decree that your diet is missed. On top of that, instead of having dinner you’ve been thinking about, you’re eating pizza at the local restaurant, and at the end of the day, bring home fried chicken for dinner. As much as dropping your diet for the week, do you think.

Solution : Tell yourself that a cookie will not fail your diet. A bad day does not necessarily have to turn into a bad week or a bad month. Focus on “good” food choices rather than “perfect” choices.

You skip meals to cut calories

” Skipping meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism,” says nutritionist Aviva Allen. Your body will store excess fat in anticipation of a possible lack of food. Worse, if you are too hungry at the next meal, you risk making poor food choices or consuming too large portions.

Instead of refraining from eating, eat rather small portions of foods or nutrient – rich snacks (ideally every three hours). In addition, eating regularly increases your odds of success while skipping meals is not a realistic way to achieve this in the longer term.

You perform the same training routine every day

Are you trying to lose weight? Running the same workout routine  day after day is hard for morale and it may discourage you. In his  5-Factor Fitness , Harley Pasternak recommends a different training for each day of the week, each aimed at a specific part of the body.

Solution : Increase repetitions, change the order of exercises, no matter what type of changes you make to training, the main thing is to vary your routine enough not to get tired. Better still, your body can benefit from these routine changes as it will not get used to your training and will benefit more from your workouts.

You follow the very latest fad diet

The fad diets, those that require the purchase of particular foods and whose plan excludes certain food groups, only give temporary results. You end up regaining lost weight.

“You need to avoid yoyo with your weight at all costs, because in the long run, your metabolism will take a hit and it will make it harder for you to lose weight,” says nutrition expert Joey Shulman. This is for you to choose a diet that fits well with your lifestyle, a diet that you can follow even after achieving your weight loss goals .

Your favorite drinks could prevent you from losing weight

If you are trying to lose weight, here is a good reason to include in your food diary the drinks you consume on a daily basis. The  soft drinks, alcohol, sugary coffee trade and fruit drinks might indeed be too much of your daily calorie intake.

In this 18-month study that was published in the  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , subjects took more than 350 of their daily calories as drinks, or about 20% of their daily caloric intake.

Scientists and dietitians seem to think that by consuming less of these drinks, we lose weight more easily. The study subjects who eliminated just one sweet drink a day lost about half a kilogram in six months and three quarters of a kilo in 18 months. In addition, participants who consumed fewer calories in the form of beverages lost more weight than when they decreased their caloric intake from solid foods in equal amounts.

How to explain this? Researchers believe that the absence of chewing and faster evacuation of liquids than stomach solids may weaken the satiety signal the body sends to the brain. Water is the best replacement fluid, experts say. In fact, says dietitian Kate Comeau. “Most of the liquid we absorb should be in the form of water. In addition to water, I recommend drinking milk or a milk substitute, such as soymilk or fortified rice, “she concludes.