Even with the seemingly universal goal of burning body fat in our workouts, we all tend to not get the results we long for. But fret not, because it is not our faults. Our bodies are all so, so different. So let’s talk about why you’re not burning fat and how to change that. We interviewed Nora Tobin, performance enhancement and executive coach, nutrition specialist and CEO of Nora’s Naturals Coffee, shares five reasons why you’re not burning fat and how to change that. Keep reading for more!
Here Are 5 Reasons You’re Not Burning Body Fat and How to Change It
1) High levels of stress
Resolution: Start by first acknowledging what is causing the stress, and that stress is a biological thing that you can start to control. Once identified you can move onto practices such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga and deep breathing exercises. All of these can help bring the production of the cortisol hormone back down to normal levels within the body. Cortisol is the body’s stress hormone and literally prevents people from burning fat.
2) Eating whenever
Resolution: Implement an 8 hour eating window. By shifting the time in which you eat to an 8 hour period. For example, starting eating at 11 am and ending at 7 pm. But you can choose any 8 hour period. Start with three days per week and move up to five or six once you are feeling comfortable with this style. You can drink coffee or tea during the fasting window. This leads to speedier weight loss, lower risk of chronic disease and create hormonal homeostasis with intermittent fasting.
3) Doing the same workout routine
Resolution: Doing the same workout repeatedly actually stops your body from burning more fat. Try to change up your routine! Perform an interval workout three days per week. On alternate days, perform low intensity workouts, such as Pilates, yoga or walking. High intensity interval training increases metabolism for 24 hours after the workout known as excess post oxygen consumption. The training also changes cellular makeup to be much more efficient. Interval workouts trigger a metabolic process that takes place at the cellular level within the tiny organelles called the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell). Mitochondria provides our body and brain with sufficient energy to perform all tasks.
Sample schedule below:
- Monday: Upper Body Workout
- Tuesday: Lower Body Workout
- Wednesday: Yoga Flow to Negate Effects of Sitting
- Thursday: Interval Workout
- Friday: Core Conditioning
- Saturday: Yoga Flow to Revamp Energy
- Sunday: Day Off
4) Excessive beer drinking
Ingredients (one large batch):
- 2 bottles of cabernet or pinot noir
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
- 2 cups apple juice
- 4 cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 1 lime
5) Not enough sleep
Resolution: Set an alarm for when it’s time to go to sleep, just like the one when it’s time to wake up. This keeps you accountable and discourages the endless hours of scrolling through social media that happens once you’re in bed. Once the alarm goes off, that’s it, the phone is down. Because without 7-9 hours of sleep, muscle recovery is hindered. Which then affects how efficient your body is at burning calories, resulting in stubborn fat that just doesn’t seem to go away.
