5 Hidden Reasons You’re Gaining Weight

There are things that we have “normalized” in our lives that we don’t think affect our weight or our health, but the reality is, those very things might be deterring you from reaching the body and health you want!

Here are 5 “hidden” reasons you might be gaining weight.

Excess Snacking

The bite of a donut in the break room. The mini chocolate stashed in your desk. The handful of chips from the break room. The free appetizers at your work party.

They all add up.

You might THINK you’re being healthy because you’ve stayed on track with your pre-planned eating plan, but what about those extra treats that you came across throughout your entire day?

You could be eating anywhere between 100-1000 MORE calories than you intended just through excess snacking.

My advice? Be diligent about staying on track with your intended meal plan. Perhaps use a food tracker or food journal to keep track of everything you ate. If you know you have a tendency to eat free food around the office or house, come prepared with healthy snacks that you can munch on instead.

Not Drinking Enough Water

Water is a natural detoxifier for the body and will aid in your weight loss goals. It helps ensure all of your bodily functions are running smoothly and ensures you’re staying hydrated throughout the day. But, drinking water is something that many of my clients forget to do.

It’s recommended to drink a minimum of your bodyweight in ounces. So, if you’re 160 lbs, your goal is to drink a minimum of 80 ounces of water per day.

Drinking water will also help ensure you’re not confusing hunger for thirst. If you start to feel hungry, before you gravitate towards the fridge, chug a full glass of water, wait 5-15 minutes, and see if you’re still hungry. If you’re not, then it means you were simply dehydrated. If you are, then feel free to eat something.

My best tip is to buy a reusable BPA-free water bottle and carry it with you everywhere! Use it to workout, have it right next to you when you’re working, and don’t leave anywhere without it.

You can set a goal to drink at least 4-8 bottles of water (depending on the size) and make it a little competition with yourself.

To ensure that you’re drinking enough water, do the pee test. If your pee is clear to very light yellow, you’re in the clear! If you’re pee is yellow to dark yellow, you’re seriously dehydrated!!!

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Sleep is SOOOO important for your weight loss goals. It’s actually where all the results come from! Especially if you’re doing HIIT30 3x a week, your body needs to recover from the intensity of your workouts.

When you sleep, your body literally gets to work in repairing muscle breakdown, reducing inflammation, detoxifying your body, digesting your food, and recharging your brain. Just think about a time when you were running on just a few hours of sleep. The next day, you felt like crap, you couldn’t think straight, and you most likely craved junk food and carbs.

Getting adequate sleep (at LEAST 7 hours) will help you actually make better food choices, aid in weight loss and muscle growth, and give you the energy and vitality you need to seize the day.

Make a commitment to get to bed a little bit earlier so that you can get a minimum of 7 hours of quality sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, consider this:

• Turn down all electronics (phone, computer, TV) at least 1 hour before
• Use lavender essential oil to relax (either diffiuse it or put it directly on your wrists and temples)
• Stretch, foam roll, and listen to relaxing music right before bed
• Meditate for 5-15 minutes

Not Moving Enough

Have you heard that sitting is the new smoking? It’s completely true.

Technology has made us the most sedentary generation ever, with jobs and school making us sit more than 8 hours a day! It’s ridiculous.

No wonder obesity is rising year after year.

We NEED to play an active role in making sure that we’re MOVING more throughout the day! Just like how excess snacking can add up big time, so can the steps you take (or don’t take) throughout the day.

Consider these following tips on adding more movement into your life:

• Bike or walk to work
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Take a 15 minute walk before or after work
• Get up out of your desk every 45-60 minutes to get blood flowing (it actually helps with work productivity and focus)
• Add additional workouts to your HIIT30 routine
• Instead of eating out with friends on the weekend, consider going on a hike or a bike ride around the town

It doesn’t matter what you do, just make sure that you MOVE more!

Relying On “Healthy” Processed Food

The food industry does a REALLY good job convincing us that we need Product X to lose weight. From protein bars, to protein shakes, to 200-calorie frozen meals, to 100-calorie snack packs, they’re all trying to convince us that they’re going to reach our ultimate health/fitness goals.

While a generic protein bar will be healthier than let’s say a candy bar, it’s still a processed food. It still most likely contains artificial ingredients, fillers, and preservatives that really don’t serve us in the long-run.

While they might be convenient for on-the-go, I will always always always recommend REAL food over “healthy” processed food.

REAL food gets digested more easily in the body. REAL food will reduce bloat, indigestion, GI tract issues, and cravings. Plus, you can eat a lot more VOLUME of real food than fake processed food. See image below.

Here are some great snack ideas that are easy to make and are, of course, REAL:

• Peppers and hummus
• Greek yogurt and fruit
• Cottage cheese and nuts
• Protein-packed smoothie with spinach (you can’t even taste spinach I promise)
• Hard-boiled eggs and salsa
• Cucumbers or carrots and hummus

I hope these 5 hidden reasons show some light on some things YOU might be doing that you didn’t even realize could be hurting your results.

Did these tips helps? Comment below to let me know which tip resonated with you the most!

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XO

Jenny