8 Reasons Why You arent Losing Weight

You’ve been cutting down on fat, controlling carbs and exercising five days a week. So why aren’t you losing weight or even worse, Why are you gaining?

1.      You overcompensate for exercise
Many of us reward our 1hr morning jog with a big bowl of icecream and feel justified(you’ve just burned off all those calories, right?),  Or is it the other way around? We eat a whole round of pizza with the intention of Burning it off later. however, it may be that by increasing your calorie intake to fuel or reward your sessions you are actually undoing all the hard work of your workout. In fact, as we often overestimate the calories we burn through exercise, you may even be taking in more than you have actually worked off, leading to weight gain rather than loss.

2.      You rely on exercise alone.
Yes, exercising can help you lose weight (and it has so many other health benefits) because it helps you create that calorie deficit needs to drop body fat. But here's the truth: Exercise alone will not help you lose weight. For emphasis, I'll say it again. If you are relying on exercise alone to lose weight, you are fighting an uphill battle. The best way to lose weight is to cut back on what you eat and increase your burn through exercise—not one or the other.

3.      You take/drink too much sugar/sugary drinks
Did you know that 2 cubes of sugar equals a slice of wheatbread? You watch what you eat, cut back on fatty foods and don’t snack between meals, but have you considered the amount of calories you may be drinking every day? While we all know the main calorie culprit when it comes to our drinks is alcohol, you should also consider the calories in fruit juice, smoothies, soft drinks and many hot drinks. Every calorie counts towards your daily intake, so don’t forget about the liquid ones!

4.      You eat large portions
If you’re eating low fat, healthy meals but are still not losing weight, it may be worth looking at your portion sizes. While you may think that you’re only eating three meals a day, with the increasing portion sizes many of us consume you could actually be eating the equivalent of 6 or more standard serving sizes each day. It is worth remembering that although the food you’re eating may be healthy, it should still be eaten in moderation, as eating too much of anything will cause you to gain weight.

5.      You eat too little
While eating too much food can cause you to gain weight, eating too little can also make it surprisingly difficult to shed those pounds. Your body has a natural instinct to protect itself so when it is not given an adequate amount of food it will automatically go into starvation mode, causing the metabolism to slow down and the body to hoard fat and calories. As a result of this it will become much more difficult for you to lose weight.

6.      You are not consistent
Perhaps even worse for your metabolism and waistline than eating too much or too little is flitting regularly between the two extremes. If you constantly go through a process of starving yourself one minute and bingeing the next, you will play havoc with your metabolism and cause your body to store more fat. As eating too little causes the metabolism to slow down, following this period with a binge will cause your body to quickly pile on the pounds
 

7.      You think you are living health but you are not
      If you still do "the-more-the-merrier with mayonnaise or butter, or pipe down palm oil in the vegetable soup, you are Joking! You may be eating one slice of Bread but your mayonnaise has enough calories for 3 slices. A table spoon of Palm oil has 120 calories. So watch out, you may be doing all things right but ignoring the little things that matter

8.      You haven’t given it enough time.Some people get instant results from dropping carbs, grains, sugar, and vegetable oils, while others have to take a month to get acclimated and only then does the weight begin to slide off. Also, the scale doesn’t always reflect your weightloss, so chill out!. You’re in it for the long run. Approach it with the right mindset and you won’t get discouraged. 

My top 5 Favorite Exercises

Hi guys, sorry ive been Mia recently, got a lot of things coming in at the same time.  This week we will talk about exercises.

I recently made up my mind to include more exercises in my daily routine as opposed to just sneaking it in, which includes

running up the stairs when I go to the office (5^th floor),

walking as fast as possible everytime I use my Legs

sitting up straight all the time, Pulling in my belly and Holding for 8-10 seconds, I do this so often, it has become a habit

Read more on how to sneak in exercise into ourbusy Nigeria Lifes,

These little exercises, though has helped a lot, it is suddenly not enough, I need more results!. Now im nt talking about dumbells, or running shoes, infact Driving to the gym for me sometimes can be a lot more work than working out itself, the cost sef fit make person jump off bridge.

Im talking about Bodyweight exercises! Still with the lack of motivation to go to the gym, I searched for gym alternatives and found it. These bodyweight exercises typically do not require the use of outside machines and equipment, meaning that they can be performed at home or in an area without a gym, virtually anywhere and at any time, I even do them at work. Your body becomes the tool, and the best part, you only need 15-30mins to get the same result you would for 2hours in the gym.. Who needs a gym when there’s the living room floor ehn? These gym people sef ?! Now I wake up in the mornings and workout for 15mins or evenings when I get back from work

Check out My Fav exercises

Wall sits

Who needs a chair when there’s a wall? Slowly slide your back down a wall until the thighs are parallel to the ground. Make sure the knees are directly above the ankles and keep the back straight. Go for 60 seconds per set (or however long it takes to turn those legs to jelly). Either this or Just good old Squat. I love this cause I can watch TV while doing it.

 Lunge: Stand with the hands on the hips and feet hip-width apart. Step the right leg forward and slowly lower your body until the right knee is close to or touching the floor and bent at least 90 degrees. Return to the starting position and repeat with the left leg. Try stepping back into the lunge for a different variation. Another front of TV exercise.

Inchworm: Stand up tall with the legs straight,. Keeping the legs straight (but not locked!), slowly lower the torso toward the floor, and then walk the hands forward. Once in a push-up position, start taking tiny steps so the feet meet the hands. Continue bugging out for 4-6 reps.

Bicycle: Lie down with knees bent and hands behind the head. With the knees in toward the chest, straighten the right leg first (just little above the floor, but not resting on it) with the left knee still bent to your chest. Then retract the right leg just as the left leg straightens. Its just like readying a bike horizontally

Sit ups: there is a strong debate for and against sit ups but it remains one of my favs. Lie flat, knee bent, belly in, arms across the chest and pull yourself up to your knee using your stomach muscles, hold for about 2 seconds, then lean back until you are almost touching the ground, hold for 2 seconds, and pull back up, Exhale when coming up into the sit-up position and breathe in on the way back down. If you still haven’t mastered doing it by yourselves, you can find something to hold your legs.

Honestly, these exercises aren’t the easiest, but you can do it. Start small and build up, I started doing just 5-10 of each, now ive got it whipped ;)


dont forget to tell me your thoughts! 

The right way to climb Stairs!

 You probably didn’t know there was a right way and a wrong way to climb stairs

  

Most of us go out of our way to avoid stairs, so first, I will give you reasons why you should go out of your way to look for stairs, then I will tell you how to climb.

·        It is totally free and just about all of us can get access to a set of stairs.

·        It leverages gravity and the heavier we are, the harder we're forced to work and the more calories we burn.

·        It is a relatively intense exercise that quickly increases our heart rate and in doing so can greatly improve our cardiovascular fitness.

·        It helps strengthen and shape our most common problem areas like calves, thighs, buttocks and tummy.

·        It actually flattens your Belly

·        It is a very efficient way of burning maximum calories and is great for those of us with limited time to exercise.

·        It can easily be mixed with other exercises, like walking, skipping and weight training, to maximize results and stair climbing workouts are easy to build progression into.

·        It can be done by almost anyone, regardless of fitness level.

·        Because it is weight bearing, it helps build bone strength.

·        It is low impact and safe for the knees (providing correct technique is used and a preexisting condition doesn't exist)..

How to Climb

You probably didn’t know there was a right way and a wrong way to climb stairs, did you?  Typically you just put one foot on the step in front of you, lean forward on your toes, and lift the other foot off the ground to advance to the next step.  WRONG!  You will probably have knee problems if you continue climbing stairs this way.  Instead, stand up straight and push off of your instep – NOT your toes – using the larger hip and thigh muscles to lift you to the next level.  As these muscles become more accustomed to being used, they will become stronger and more supportive, and it will be much easier for you to climb stairs.  Then, skip the elevator, and climb the stairs whenever you can..  You don’t need a stairclimbing machine to get a workout if you learn to climb properly! So get to climbing peeps!

How to Sneak Exercise Into Our Busy 9ja Routine

wake up- traffic- work- traffic- home- bed...spells STRESS!

where is the time?! 24 hours a day doesn't seem like nearly enough time to fit in work, school, and family, errands and of course, traffic!. did you know that an average Nigerian spends almost half of his life in Traffic? how do we then make out “me-time” talk less of workout-time?. Its almost impossible! I found out the hard way that riding against the current of stress will only fuel exhaustion.

Knowing the importance of exercise, I started out with the determination of a bull, deciding to do 30 minutes work out before taking my bath and dressing up for work and another 30 minutes at nights before bed and also jogging on Saturdays before sun comes out. Yes, it worked out the first week, and early second before I started backsliding. The stress was getting to me. I would work all day, only to end up sitting in 3hrs in lagos traffic, Will I do my sit ups when I get home 10p.m? definitely not!, all I think about is how good my bed looks under the yellow bulb. So I made a decision to shift my work outs to weekends, who would complain about not having enough time on weekends right? Promising myself vigorous work outs on Saturdays especially, to make up for the week, I mapped out a plan.

“wake 6:00 am, do a one hour jogging around my area before the sun comes.

          7:00am- get home and skip (30mins)

          7:30pm- a mix of different routine (30mins)

A 2hours intense work out plan. Still burning with determination, first week went as planned, but by the second week, it was getting uncomfortable, my bed was my biggest foe, 6:00am! Haba! After the stress of the week? Saturdays are my no-joke-with-sleep day. So I shifted the time an hour forward, but the still didn't help, especially with the blinding sun and the evenings were worse!. Subsequently, I began to look for mental excuses to stall or just not do it. So I decided, may be if I paid for it, I will try harder, but between traffic, work, stress and tiredness, I just couldn't find the motivation to go to the gym.

Motivated by the need to exercise but hindered by the lack of time to do so, I have finally figured out how to beat our 9ja induced “hurry”. My failure has open my eyes to see that everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food. Any physical activity in addition to what you normally do will burn those extra calories. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem. A simple standing, sweeping or even tapping your feet will burn calories.

 SO DON'T CHANGE YOUR ROUTINE, EXPLOIT IT! as the time for exercise in hidden within our daily routine!

Do not drive or take a bike or bus when we can walk! We are so guilty of this.

Forget the elevator! Take the stairs.

Dont send Adamu to buy your lunch or the new intern to make the photocopies, instead walk down and do it yourself because believe it or not those little things will add up at the end of the day.

Park farther from the office building or stop before your bustop and walk the rest!.

Lay the bed, the stretching will be burn more calories.

WHILE IN TRAFFIC,

Sit up straight, and breathe,

Try Pulling in your belly. Hold for 8-10 seconds, and repeat several times.

Stretch your upperbody as far as you can.

Ignore the gala and plaintain chips hawkers, 1 gala has more calories than a cup of white rice

We can sneak exercise into our routine without having to make out time for it, by simply staying actively conscious and taking advantage of the opportunities.

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