One of the biggest frustrations with losing weight is the struggle of breaking past a barrier. There are points in your weight loss journey where the weight will feel like it is dropping off, and there are other points where the weight will feel like it is completely stuck, despite your best efforts to follow all of the rules of your weight loss program.
The reality is that there are certain times when losing weight is going to feel more difficult. Sometimes these barriers come weeks into a weight loss program, when you’ve already made major progress and are trying to reach your next goal, but other times the barrier will come at the beginning, making it feel impossible to even get started.
When you feel like you are having a lot of trouble getting going, the best thing that you can do is to consult with a weight loss doctor. There are medical strategies available that can help you to push past those earlier barriers so that you can reach the healthier weight you are trying for. Your weight loss doctor can also consult with you regarding some habits that you may not realize are affecting your difficulty losing weight.
For example, here are a few issues that people often run into early on in a weight loss program that may be preventing you from losing weight:
- Too much sodium: You may not realize how much sodium you are eating every day, especially as the spices don’t actually add calories to your food, but too much salt can make it more difficult to lose weight. Be especially careful with frozen meals when it comes to sodium intake.
- Not enough water: This coupled with too much sodium can spell major trouble for your weight loss program, but even without the added sodium, if you aren’t drinking enough water every day then you aren’t going to have much luck losing weight. Try increasing your water intake for a week and see if it makes a difference.
- Hidden calories: There are all sorts of places that you may be taking in calories that you aren’t accounting for in your meal breakdown. Coffee creamer and alcohol are two of the most common places calories hide, so be more cautious of your beverage choices, especially.
Finally, if you are having a lot of trouble reaching your weight loss goals for the week, then you may want to take a long and hard look at your exercise routine. Sure, it is difficult to find time to exercise in your busy schedule, but when you make an effort to make your workout a priority you may be surprised how much of an impact it has on your ability to push past this weight loss barrier.