Roadblocks to Weight Loss
Weight loss can be a long and difficult journey, and you may find yourself dealing with numerous roadblocks and challenges along the way. This isn’t just a “you” problem—weight loss coach Stephanie Mansour states that many people working to lose weight fail to see changes on the scale, even when they commit to a workout plan. Mansour explains that this happens because there’s more to weight loss than exercise and dieting. For successful weight loss, it’s important to assess which factors are getting in the way of achieving your fitness goals.
So if you’ve been struggling with your journey, you may need to examine the roadblocks that prevent you from losing weight. Here are four common weight loss roadblocks that you may encounter—and the strategies that can help you overcome them:
Table of Contents
Food Preparation
Healthy eating isn’t easy or cheap. As such, many may struggle to follow a well-balanced diet due to a lack of time, money, or access to healthy food.
You can work to overcome roadblocks to healthy eating by planning your meals based on your budget. Start by deciding how much you can afford to spend on food, then create a meal plan that includes healthy and inexpensive produce, and try to buy food products that are on sale. If time is the reason why you’re struggling with cooking, you can subscribe to food delivery services for people who want to lose weight. You can also consider investing in gadgets like air fryers and rice cookers, which can simplify the cooking process.
Stress
High-stress levels can change the way that you eat and move. People who are stressed may struggle with eating healthy food all the time or sticking to their exercise programs.
In fact, one of the most common roadblocks to weight loss is stress eating. Whenever you feel exhausted or sad, you may be more tempted to treat yourself to your favorite foods to manage your emotions. You can prevent this pattern from becoming a habit by becoming aware of your stress eating triggers and substituting them with other self-care practices. For instance, you can do a yoga routine or enjoy a warm bath instead of eating a bag of chips when you’re having a difficult day. You can also go for a walk or call a friend, instead of consuming sweets whenever you’re lonely and bored.
Lack of Motivation
Motivation plays a significant factor in weight loss. A lack of motivation can cause people to delay their workout or diet plan or lose momentum with their established health habits.
If you struggle with your drive for weight loss, try reframing your goals. You can sustain your motivation for weight loss by setting realistic expectations for yourself. Losing about one to two pounds per week is realistic and sustainable, which can help increase your confidence in sticking to a diet plan or an exercise regimen. You can also try setting goals unrelated to your weight to feel motivated through the ups and downs of the journey. This will make it easier to stick to your workout and diet plan, and thereby achieve better sleep quality or health.
Sedentary Lifestyle
Many people work, socialize, and even entertain themselves while sitting down all day. If you live this type of lifestyle, you may find it hard to exercise regularly.
Fortunately, you can adapt to a more active lifestyle by changing your mindset. You must first accept that exercise is essential, and not just an optional activity to do during the day. It would help if you also looked for workouts that feel best for you instead of throwing yourself into exercises that are too complicated. For example, you can sign up for dancing classes where you can sway to your favorite tunes, or hike up mountains to burn calories and see stunning views.
Weight loss journeys are not linear. However, once you address the potential roadblocks getting in the way of your weight loss progress, it gets easier to focus on your goals and see real, tangible results.
