One thing many people don’t understand about exercise and weight loss is this: you have to work hard if you want to change the shape of your body. That means a balance of medium-high intensity cardio exercise along with challenging strength training workouts.

Cardio/Treadmill

For weight loss, you’ll need to get about 5 cardio workouts each week at a medium-high intensity for at least 30 minutes. If you’re a beginner, it’s best to start slow and work your way up but, if you’re in good condition and have no restrictions, challenging yourself with harder workouts is the best way to burn more calories. Interval training is a good choice because studies show you continue to burn calories even after you’ve stopped exercising.

Strength Training

In addition to your cardio workouts, you’ll need to

lift weights for all your muscle groups at least 2 non-consecutive days a week. And, by lifting weights, that means using enough weight that you can ONLY complete the desired number of reps. For example, if you’re doing 12 bicep curls, you need to use enough weight that you can only do 12 bicep curls and not one more. Most people don’t lift enough weight to really challenge their muscles and that is one of the 10 Reasons Why Your Not Losing Weight.

Sit ups

Important training method to remove your belly is doing sit-ups. Nowadays you can train your Abs section without wrecking your neck as there are several good Ab machines around. Using this Abs Machine for 5 minutes a day you will have results in a month’s time. Make sure you have a notebook where you write your daily Abs workout routine till it becomes a habit of yours like mine.

Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain, though experts aren’t exactly sure why. In a recent study they found that women who slept 5 hours a night were more likely to gain weight than women who slept 7 hours a night.The reasons? Some studies have shown that losing sleep could affect metabolism by making you feel hungry, even if you’re not. Sleep deprivation may affect the secretion of cortisol, one of the hormones that regulates appetite. There’s also a theory that we move around less when we don’t get enough sleep, which means we burn less calories.

Getting enough sleep is crucial if you’re trying to lose weight, not just because of how it affects you physically, but mentally as well. Sleep deprivation makes you cranky, confused and can even make you feel depressed or angry.

Make sleep a priority by trying to get to bed at the same time each night, shooting for about 8 hours, if you can manage it. Having some bedtime rituals such as a hot bath or some time writing down your worries can help you unwind before bed.

Stress and weight gain (or lack of weight loss) go hand in hand… seriously. Though you may not be aware of it, being under constant stress can increase in appetite as well as extra fat storage around the abdominal region–a big no-no since abdominal fat is linked to diabetes, high cholesterol and other health problems.Dealing with stress can be as simple as taking a few minutes a day to relax, scheduling a massage as often as you can or increasing play time. Find time for yourself during your day will help reducing your stress intake.

If you find your workouts are hit-or-miss and that you give in to temptation a bit too easily, your weight loss may hit the skids. For exercise to work, you have to do it on a regular basis. Once your body adapts to your program, you then need to change it to keep your body challenged. If you skip too many workouts, it’s almost like starting all over every time. Keep Consistent!Sticking with exercise starts with finding a program you enjoy and that fits in with your lifestyle, goals and needs. It is so important that your exercise is Fun! That means being realistic about what you’ll really accomplish each week rather than going by what you think you should be doing.

Having some treats now and then is fine, but if you find you do very well during the week only to eat yourself silly on the weekends, you may be hurting your weight loss goals instantly. Believe me! To lose one pound of fat in one week, you would need to cut 500 calories with diet and exercise for 7 days. If you only follow that for 5 days, then eat way over your limit for two more days, you’re taking two steps forward and one step back. The trick is always to plan your indulgences so that you can have some fun while staying on track with your weight loss goals.

Limit also your alcohol intake as it is another weekend setback an another part of the 10 Reasons Why Your Not Losing Weight.

Experts generally recommend losing 1-2 pounds a week, which most of us probably don’t get that close. Remember: to lose one pound, you have to create a 500-calorie deficit every day for a week. The problem comes in when trying to determine how many calories you’re burning with exercise. You can use a calorie calculator, but that’s often overestimated. How many calories you burn with exercise often comes down to things we can’t measure such as how hard you’re working and your fitness level.Add to that the fact that there are many factors that affect weight loss which, again, can’t always be measured or accounted for with the tools we have to track progress. In that sense, your body may be making changes that can’t yet be measured with a scale or a tape measure.

Give your body time to respond to what you’re doing. It may be weeks or months before you see significant changes and results so don’t freak out if you’re not seeing results after only a few weeks. Being patient and taking it one day at a time will allow you to enjoy what you are doing (the journey) instead of focusing on the fast results (the destination).

Despite what you hear on the news or read in popular magazines, not all of us need to lose weight. In fact, many of us have unrealistic ideas of what a healthy weight and body shape is. We all have different shapes and, though we can make changes to our bodies, we can only improve on the bodies we have–not turn them into someone else’s body.I have a challenge for you: Take away all the reasons you want to lose weight that have anything to do with how you look. Now, look at what’s left…are there any other reasons that you need to lose weight? Are you at risk for medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease? Is your BMI (Body Mass Index) in an unhealthy range? Are you within your ideal weight range? If you’re at risk, losing weight may be important for staying healthy. But, if you’re very close to your goal and can’t seem to get rid of those last few pounds, ask yourself if you really need to lose them. Would it be possible to be happy at your current weight?

Some medical conditions and medications can contribute to weight gain. While not everyone will find this to be true, it’s important to explore every avenue if you’re genuinely following an exercise program and a clean diet and still not losing weight. Ask Your Doctor before you start you Work Out Program.One condition known to affect weight is thyroid disease. A thyroid deficiency can cause a decrease in metabolism and may lead to weight gain.