Your Workouts Alone Aren’t Enough to Help You Lose Weight and Feel Great. Here’s Why

I get it. You want to be the girl who glows with health, eats a normal diet and exercises because it keeps you slim and makes you feel great.  

Like me, you probably LOVE food and you’re not willing to deprive yourself of the yummier things in life for the sake of your figure.

You don’t want to become the girl who sits glumly in the corner, nibbling on a lettuce leaf whilst everyone else is tucking into a delicious-looking spread of food that smells AMAZING. You don’t want to force yourself to quit the foods you love when you crave your mid-afternoon treat.

Besides, you live a stressful life so you deserve a treat, don’t you?

You tell yourself that as long as you head to your Pilates class several times a week, you don’t need to worry about your weight. You can polish off a burger or an entire tub of Haagen Dazs whilst watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, completely guilt-free as long as you’re doing your workouts.

And whilst it’s true that working out regularly will keep you active, burn calories, raise your metabolism and get your skin glowing, it won’t give you everything you’re looking for.

To fit back into your favourite jeans and feel energetic and strong, you’ll also need to pay attention to what you’re eating, and how much rest you’re getting.

Keep reading to find out why not all calories are created equal, why it’s so important to make healthy food choices and why you should always choose bananas over Oreo cookies...  

Exercise doesn't burn as many calories as you think...

Many of us exercise to keep our weight in check, but we often overestimate how many calories these workouts are actually burning.

For example, running up and down the stairs for ten minutes will really get you sweating (phew!), but it will only burn a measly 90 calories. This is about the same as one small banana or two Oreo cookies. A 30-minute run will only burn around 250 calories, which is what you’d get in a regular bottle of coke or 10 gummy bear sweets.

Might not sound too bad. But when you take into account the fact that you’ll need to burn 7,000 calories to lose one pound of weight, you’ll need to do a HUGE amount of exercise to see weight loss results.

If you’re looking to shed a few pounds, making healthier food choices alongside working out regularly is a much better bet.

Not all calories are built the same

You’re no doubt familiar with the idea that to maintain a healthy weight, you should be eating the same number of calories as you burn. Eat too much and you’ll gain weight. Too little and you’ll lose it. Exercise more and you’ll burn it off. Become a couch potato and you’ll pile on the pounds.

But even if you’re eating the right number of calories and getting enough exercise you still might not lose weight. Especially if these calories come from highly processed foods instead of healthy wholefoods.

Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But this is based on scientific research which has shown that the act of digesting your food requires energy in itself. The harder it has to work, the more calories it turns and so the lesser impact it has on your body weight. Make sure you choose wholefoods as much as possible.

Having said that, it’s not just about calories…

Earlier on, I mentioned how many calories you get from a small banana, Oreo cookies, a bottle of coke or ten gummy bear sweets. But that isn’t the whole story. Because it’s not just energy that we get from our food, but also vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and plenty of other essential nutrients.

These nutrients don’t just keep our bodies running efficiently, but also make a massive difference to our workouts; keeping our energy levels and stamina high, repairing and strengthening our muscles and allowing us to become lean, strong and even more gorgeous.

So clearly, whether you choose the Oreos or the banana for your 90 calories matters on so many different levels. To see what I mean, take a look at the nutritional content of each.

Bananas contain plenty of plant-based fibre, wholefood sugars, potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, and many more.

Two Oreo cookies contain mainly processed sugars and carbs, no useful vitamins and a whole lot of fat and sodium.

Every bite you take of an Oreo cookie is a missed opportunity to get nutrients into your body that will help you look and feel amazing. Every time you fill up on junk, you deprive your body of what it needs for optimal health. You can wave goodbye to that glow or that energy if you’re not fueling yourself right.

So make food choices that provide your body with delicious, high-quality nutrients and skip the junk as much as possible.

Don’t forget to get enough rest too  

So far we’ve been looking mainly at exercise and food. But we haven’t yet mentioned the last essential factor in looking and feeling great- REST.

Getting enough rest is just as important for your health, wellbeing and happiness as food or exercise but we often just ignore it, pushing on through, trying to cross everything off our to-do lists and burning the candle at both ends.

The result? We feel exhausted, overwhelmed, tired, depressed and don’t exactly look as vibrant or beautiful as we should, either. Worst of all, in this state we’re far less likely to take care of ourselves and more likely to turn to comfort eating, causing us to gain even more weight.

That’s why it’s really important to:

• Get enough sleep- 7-8 hours is usually best
  
  
• Unplug from technology regularly- yes, even social media!
  
  
• Be still for at least 10 minutes every day- perhaps try meditation
  
  
• Listen to your own needs and respond to them- don’t push through when you’re suffering

Yes, exercise really does work wonders for your body and mind, but it’s doesn’t give you everything you need to look and feel your best. You also need to be mindful of the foods you’re eating, eat for nutrients and taste, and remember to take time to unplug and rest.

What lifestyle tweak could you make right now so you can start feeling more energetic and strong?

Will you be getting more early nights, reducing your sugar intake or including more healthy veggies? 

Let me know by commenting below….

P.S. Want to get your hands on the FREE eBook that will help you reduce your sugar cravings without going crazy? Click here to get your copy. I’ll also throw in a FREE food diary.