Many of us have battled with the age old conundrum of "Why when I'm doing all right, am I still not losing weight?" It can be one of the most frustrating obstacles in life for many, often enough to cause some to wholly give up on their weight loss goals due to not looking results.
To use a common phrase; "barking up the wrong tree" may help shine light on the bigger picture. Basically it doesn't matter how much attempt you're putting in if you're focusing on the controlling or reducing the wrong things. Hopefully the following pointers will help to keep you heading in the right direction:
1. You're probably focusing on the wrong thing!
Ever since the 1980's the word Fat has been viewed as a swear word, something to be feared and loathed. Every person from Richard Simmons to Rosemary Conley has espoused the "Eat less fat and you'll be less fat" dogma.
After 20 odd years of population reducing fats and still getting fatter we've finally cottoned on to the fact that (largely in part to individuals such as Dr Atkins of the Atkins diet and Barry Sears of the Zone diet) fats are innocent and it's of course carbohydrates (aka "carbs") that are the villains who are wrapping all of this extra insulation nearby our ever addition waistlines.
2. You probably don't understand exactly what a "Carb" is!
During my time as a fitness professional this is probably in the top 3 most common misconceptions I ordinarily come across. I'm going to set the report straight here and now; Fruit & Vegetables Are Carbs!
A large amount of population think that these are food groups all of their own, but fruit and vegetables are carbohydrates.
If you look into the works of authors such as Loren Cordain (The Paleo Diet) and Robb Wolf ( http://robbwolf.com/ ) you will notice that these are the main types of carbs that our ancestors ate and that we have evolved to eat. That was until the mass output of grains (wheat etc) began with the advent of the agricultural revolution. Which also neatly coincides with the onset of many health-related diseases.
From the current study it's looking as if processed grains play a clear part in many of our health-related illnesses. The question is that their availability is very widespread, as process grains such as wheat are in all from cakes, biscuits and bread to pasta and pizzas.
3. You probably don't understand the effects of insulin on weight loss!
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas and is essentially a warehouse hormone. Every time your body metabolises foods and releases among other things glucose into your bloodstream the pancreas secretes insulin to bring those sugar levels back down to normal. The greater the sugar release the more insulin needs to be secreted. To give an example a few biscuits would cause a needful spike in your blood sugar as opposed to an apple which would illicit a much more modest response (see the glycemic index)
The greater the spike in sugar levels the lower are brought back down, of course to below where they were initially. This will then ensue in your brain telling you to eat again to bring them back up again, thus setting off a chain of you feeling a desire to eat fast release types of foods (bread, cakes etc)
The double whammy is that as insulin is a warehouse hormone, whilst high levels of it are gift your body not only will your system aim to excerpt and store as much fat as potential from the high Gi food you have just eaten but your body will also not release any from it's fat stores.
In a nutshell, eating these high Gi foods not only makes you fat, but it also makes sure you stay that way.
To conclude, try to do the following:
Aim to get the majority of your carbs from vegetables (especially lots of the leafy green alkalising ones)
Supplement your veg intake with minute amounts of fruits.
Steer clear of the bloodsugar-spiking carbs such as bread, pasta, cakes, sweets, fruit juices, soft drinks and sweets etc and you'll notice the pounds start to come off.
Don't worry about eating fats, they're needful to the body and of course help you lose fat. Just avoid the high omega-6 ones like processed vegetable oils and the trans-fats found in most junk foods.
