Trying your best to lose weight but unable to do so? These may be the reasons that are keeping you away from your goal.

Improper diet and nutrition
The first thing to keep in mind when you want to lose weight is to take care of your diet and nutrition. Skipping meals doesn’t help, in fact eating smaller portions of food at regular intervals increases metabolism rather than eating till you are full during all meal times. Healthy food is necessary, starving will only make you feel tired and lead to making wrong choice in foods. At the same time, eating larger portions of health food and not keeping a track of what and how much you are eating, is not right.

Lack of knowledge
Inadequate information is harmful, thus reading about weight loss, finding information from valid sources, consulting nutritionists and dieticians will help you understand the right from wrong. This basic understanding will help you make the right dietary choices even when it comes to reading food labels and knowing nutritional values and then deciding whether to buy off-the-counter food products with labels like ‘diet drinks’, ‘low-calorie’, ‘fat-free’ or ‘baked’.

Lifestyle habits
Adequate sleep helps weight loss and vice versa. A sedentary lifestyle, irregular meal times, addiction to smoking or having alcoholic drinks, eating while watching TV and lack of exercise are all reasons for gaining weight and once you embark on a weight loss plan you need to change these habits.

Wrong Exercise plan for weight loss
While fatigue and soreness at the initial stages of the workout are normal, over-training at this time can cause long-term impact injuries. Thus, getting a proper trainer to guide you to form a set routine of stretches, cardio and weights as per your body’s tolerance levels is very important. You also have to refuel your body after the workout and eating the right things at these times, helps.

Continuing with the same diet plan
If you don’t see results with your diet plan, change it after consulting with your dietician. If you have been following all the guidelines but still not losing weight it is possible that the diet plan may not be helpful and it is good that you change it to achieve desired results.

Unrealistic goals
Setting goals which are impractical makes you disappointed with your attempts. Try to do things at the pace they are meant to be. At the same time, remember that there are no instant results of marketing gimmicks like weight loss pills or spot reduction promises. You have to work hard for it.

Psychological reasons
There are psychological reasons as to why you tend to overeat or indulge in wrong food choices. Depression or food disorders play a big role in this and if you feel that you are lagging behind due to these reasons, try to get proper help and guidance.

Giving in to temptation
With the wide variety of food choices on offer these days, it is easy to fall prey to temptation. Also, learn to say ‘no’ at family gatherings or outings with friends when they try to force you into indulgence.

Lack of motivation and dedication
You need to motivate yourself to start your diet and exercise schedule at the earliest. Procrastinating will not see you giving your 100% to the plan. And once you start with it, do it with all the dedication required to make it a success. You should not get discouraged and just give up at the first hurdle. Your weight can fluctuate on a day-to-day basis but only being consistent about your plan with a positive attitude will help you achieve proper results.

Too many limitations
Don’t make your weight loss plan into a harsh punishment. Too many restrictions on eating and having a strict schedule for exercise will not make you achieve your goal faster. If you stick to your diet and exercise schedule on a regular basis it is okay to take a day off and indulge in your favourite food once a week.