Even if you follow a fitness routine and you often choose healthier foods, you may not be seeing the weight come off the way you hope. While there are plenty of otherhealthy accomplishments to celebrate on this journey, it can be frustrating to not see results when you step on the scale. Sound familiar? Chances are, one of these reasons is all that's standing in the way of your weight-loss goals.

1 You Don't Drink Water

Besides keeping you hydrated, drinking water on the regular, according to recent studies, can aid with weight loss. Filling up on water before a meal helps encourage portion control, and eating foods that contain a lot of water (like fruits and veggies) will fill you up faster, causing you to eat less. A small study even found that drinking cool water can speed up metabolism and discourage cravings for sugary drinks like soda and juice. Now that's a reason to stay hydrated!

2 You Think Walking Your Dog Is Enough

A 15-minute stroll is better than nothing, but don't expect to see dramatic weight-loss results. You've got to kick it up a notch — big time — and do at least 30 minutes a day of heart-pumping exercise. Big calorie and fat burners include running, spin class, interval training, hiking, and circuit training.

3 You Overeat Healthy Foods

Nuts, avocados, whole wheat pasta, olive oil, and dark chocolate are all natural and healthy, but they aren't void of calories. You still need to watch how much you eat of the good stuff. For example, avocado offers a ton of health benefits, but an entire fruit is over 200 calories. 

 4 You Only Do Cardio

If you live on Zumba, jogging or treadmill alone but never lift a pound, then you're missing out on one of the most important pieces of the fitness puzzle. Not only does weight training prevent injury by strengthening the joints, but it also builds muscle mass and increases metabolic rate. Bonus: thanks to a revved-up metabolism, you'll keep burning calories long after you've slipped off your sneakers.

5 You Exercise With an Empty Stomach

If you regularly exercise without eating first, you should reconsider: when you work out on an empty stomach, research shows that the calories burned come from muscle, not fat. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, the more muscle mass you have, the better it is for weight loss. Not only will fueling your body help you avoid losing muscle, but also, you'll have more energy to push yourself through your workout.

6 Your Partner Isn't on the Same Healthy Road

A partner who's on a similar path can be a huge help to your weight-loss goals, but if your partner is not on board, then your relationship may be making you fat. You can't expect to lose weight if your husband constantly suggests ordering takeout, wants to go out for ice cream, or encourages you to sleep in instead of hitting the gym! Communicating that you need his support in losing weight is a great first step in finding compromises — for both of you. For starters, the next time you have dinner out, offer to split an appetizer or skip dessert.

7 You Leave Out Entire Food Groups

Giving up entire food groups can lead to a nutritional deficiency — not to mention trigger major cravings for whatever food has been cut. Rather than, say, eliminating all carbohydrates, focus on whole grains and remember to monitor portion control. Usually it's the extra servings that add to your waistline, not the pasta itself.

8 You Don't Sleep Enough

Making time for your workouts can mean less time for sleep, but it's important to get enough z's if you're trying to lose weight. You need extra energy to keep up with your exercise routine, and skimping on sleep can affect your body's ability to control its appetite: not enough shut-eye increases appetite-stimulating hormones.

 9 You Don't Get Enough Veggies

Eating five to seven servings of fruits and veggies a day is important for everyone, but dieters who go heavy on the produce are more likely to lose and keep the weight off, since a diet full of plant-based foods offers a greater variety of nutrients with fewer calories — and all that fiber keeps the body feeling fuller longer.

 10 You Eat While Standing Up

Standing at the fridge or the counter to chow down isn't saving time or energy and can lead to mindless eating. It's best to designate time for snacking and meals that's set apart from other activities.

11 You Wear Clothes That Are Too Big

Loose clothes are comfy, but they cover up the body and allow you to forget what you look like, which can work against your fitness motivation. Instead, opt for clothes that have a more fitted silhouette to help give you a sense of your body image. Or better yet, start the day in your gym outfit to inspire you to do something active.

12 You're on a Diet. Well, Sort Of . . .

Whether you're on Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or your own diet-and-exercise plan, you can't do it halfheartedly and expect to see results. Stay committed to your plan, or you'll see the pounds stay on your tush instead of dropping from the scale.

13 You're Addicted to Condiments and Toppings

A salad is one of the healthiest meals you can have, but when you top it with bacon bits, goat cheese, nuts, dried fruits, and ranch dressing, you can double the calorie amount in a flash. Be aware of how many calories your favorite salad extras add on. For instance, 10 croutons is an easy 100 calories.

14 You Don't Eat Breakfast

Skipping breakfast may seem like a great way to save calories, but your body will actually hold on to fat because it thinks it's being starved. Keep in mind that people who eat breakfast regularly lose more weight, so make sure to eat breakfast each morning to jump-start your metabolism. Don't just grab anything: include protein to give yourself sustainable energy and fiber to fill you up for hours.

 15 You Don't Practice Portion Control

When it comes to a balanced diet, we know that portion control is one of the keys to success. Keep measuring cups and spoons on hand to make sure your serving sizes are appropriate, and learn how to give your body the "I'm full" signal in order to help you drop the fork when the time is right and move on with your day.

16 You Eat Without Thinking

Aligning mealtime with a screen like your computer or the TV can hurt your weight-loss goals. Designating a special time for meals without distractions will help you connect to your food and, as a result, eat less. Sometimes you don't even realize how much you're scarfing when your mind is somewhere else.

17 You Don't Cut Your Food

Something as simple as slicing up your dinner can be helpful for your overeating woes. Cutting food into tiny pieces may seem slightly childish, but studies show that humans find smaller portions more satisfying and, as a result, are satisfied with less.

18 You Still Drink Soda

Soda offers literally no nutritional benefits, and continuing to drink the beverage is sabotaging your weight-loss goals — even if you only drink diet. Studies have shown that individuals who drink two diet sodas a day or more had waistlines that were 500 percent larger than the nondrinkers

19 You Don't Eat Enough

Don't starve yourself to save calories for later. It'll not only mess up your metabolism, and by dinnertime, that famished feeling will likely cause you to eat more than you would if you weren't starving. Not only is starving yourself not sustainable for continued weight loss, but also, limiting yourself to too-small portions can lead to excess snacking between mealtimes.

20 You Don't Leave Time For Fun

Since stress is shown to cause weight gain by triggering the body to eat more — especially foods high in sugar and fat — make sure you give yourself time to relax and unwind. And it's an added bonus that so many fun activities (like dancing, hiking, and shopping) are already natural calorie-burners!

21 You Overindulge in Low-Fat Foods

Going for foods with a lower calorie count can be deceiving, since many times they're filled with extra sodium, sugar, or chemical additives to make up for the ingredients the company has removed or decreased. Not only are these light versions less nutritious, but they also end up tasting "lighter," leading you to eat more. You'll probably end up consuming more calories than you would if you just ate a regular-sized portion of the real thing.

22 You Don't Keep a Food Journal

Writing down what you eat is an essential way to monitor daily caloric intake. Don't think it's worth the effort? A study from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics surveyed 123 women and found that those who were the most successful at losing weight monitored their food intake by keeping a journal.

23 You're Always Dining Out

Hitting your favorite restaurant is a great way to unwind, but you're more likely to indulge in a huge meal complete with appetizers, drinks, fried foods, and dessert. Calorie counts are also a mystery, since many foods aren't labeled. If you don't want to give up your nights out, then split a meal with a friend, order healthy options like salads and grilled chicken, and sip water instead of wine.

24 You Never Indulge

In an otherwise healthy diet, eating a few french fries or a piece of chocolate cake isn't going to ruin your weight-loss goals. A study found that it isn't necessary to up workout intensity the day after a piece of cake and that a daily variance of as much as 600 calories won't reflect on your waistline, as long as you maintain a healthy diet in the long run.

25 You Eat the Wrong Post-Workout Snacks

A post-workout snack is just that — a snack. And unless it's mealtime, what you eat after an average workout should be around 150 calories. Since healthy foods like trail mix can be high in calories, measure out a serving instead of mindlessly chomping straight out of the bag.

Source: popsugar.com

Visceral fat is stored around your internal organs in your stomach region. The problem with visceral fat is that too much around your organs can interfere with how your liver functions. This can lead to insulin resistance (the beginning of diabetes), high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and a higher risk for developing heart disease. Having a waistline greater than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women is a sign of large visceral fat stores, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). An increased waistline, high blood pressure, high triglycerides (fat in the blood), low HDL ("good" cholesterol) and rising blood sugar characterizes Syndrome X, which starts with high visceral fat stores. Lifestyle changes will help promote usage of visceral fat and lower your risk factors for developing heart disease.

Step 1

Get a healthy nutrition plan. Work with a dietitian to design a nutrition plan for you that focuses on improving your health and helping you to lose weight. Your nutrition plan should be low in saturated fat (usually animal fats), high in vegetables and fruits, contain lean meats and use healthy vegetable oils such as coconut, safflower, sunflower, olive, avocado and grapeseed oils when cooking. In addition to your meal plan being low in saturated fat, eat complex carbohydrates such as beans, lentils and sprouted grains for energy and fiber.

Step 2

Exercise at least 60 minutes per day, which helps you lose and manage your weight. A weight loss of 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight can help reduce visceral fat stores. The only way to reduce visceral fat stores is to burn more calories than you consume. Engage in physical activity such as circuit training, brisk walking, biking and any activity that gets your heart rate up and you moving for an hour.

Step 3

Stay motivated. Weight loss takes time. Don’t expect to lose weight overnight because you didn’t gain it quickly. According to the JAMA, just a modest amount of weight loss will improve your visceral fat stores and other medical complications you have. Use that as motivation to stick with your eating and exercise program.

Step 4

Stop practicing unhealthy lifestyle habits. Stop smoking, drinking, being inactive, and eating high-fat, processed foods. Choosing healthier lifestyle choices will improve your quality of life and will show up in inches lost as stated in the Guidelines for Overweight and Obesity.

Source: Livestrong.com

The fitness industry is full of more lies, myths, and total B.S. than nearly any industry on the planet. Some of these myths are slowly going away, thanks to bastions of reason like Breaking Muscle. But, in most magazines, on the daily talk shows, and even on a lot of the most popular fitness TV shows the information you are hearing is wrong.

I'm not going to go so far as to say people are lying to you. It's just often times the received wisdom, the stuff we've been taught and have picked up along the way, was wrong to begin with. And, since we never thought to question it and no one ever told us different, this misinformation has become part of the collective.

I feel it's my duty to help you sort these out. So, let’s get started:

1. Weight training will make women bulky.

True, if the woman is on steroids. Female bodybuilders almost singlehandedly ruined the act of lifting heavy weights for most women in this country by providing a false example.

The average man produces ten times the amount of testosterone as the average woman. To be truly bulky and "manly" you needa lot of testosterone. Without it, you can't be bulky. So, unless you plan to inject yourself with steroids, you have very little to worry about.

If you're concerned about your arms being too big, lose more fat. Don't be afraid of gaining more muscle.

2. Squats are bad for your knees.

I don't know when this myth will die, but not only is it false that squats are bad for your knees, full squats are actually good for your knees. Unfortunately, no matter how much writing and promoting coaches like me do, the general media - and far too many personal trainers - still spout off this nonsense as fact.

Squat deep on every repetition. By deep I mean the top of your thighs should be at least parallel with the ground - preferably lower, if you have any human dignity. Do this, stay on your heels as much as you can while you're at it, and your knees will stay healthy long into old age.

3. Running will make you fit.

To paraphrase Charles Poliquin, "Humans are meant to either sprint or walk long distances." I might get shot for saying this, but unless you happen to be built like a runner - light weight, slight bone structure - then running (by that I mean "jogging" as exercise, not sprinting) will likely cause you more harm than good. That is even truer if you're a woman with wide hips (most women) where the angle of the thigh comes in from the hip bone to the knee bone.

Running is a sport. It is not a general fitness activity. Every foot strike is a plyometric exercise and if you aren't properly prepared - via a good fitness program that includes strength training - you WILL suffer an injury. It's just a matter of time. Great runners learn how to be great runners and they do what is necessary to mitigate the downsides. In the words of Diane Lee, "You don't run to get fit, you need to be fit to run."

4. If you want to lose fat, workout more.

This one is only kind of true. Working out more certainly increases the amount of calories you burned that day. It can give you spikes in metabolism that can last up to 72 hours. And if you do it right, you'll build muscle that itself will raise your metabolism just by existing.But, all of those things miss the point.

Fat loss is all about calories in, calories out. I have plenty of male weightlifters who gain upwards of twenty pounds after they've been lifting at our club for a little while. After joining us, their workouts increased, and the intensity of those workouts increased. How did they gain weight? Because they also increased how much they ate! It's great to workout more. But if your goal is to lose fat, you must control your calories.

5. Cardio is more important for fat loss than weight lifting.

This myth is a derivative of the one above. Cardio is great for health reasons and you will burn calories while doing it. However your biggest concern when you are trying to lose weight is muscle loss. If you lose fat and lose muscle along with it, you have made your future ability to keep the weight off harder.

Less Muscle = Lower Metabolism.

Fat loss programs should be first about controlling the ratio of calories in/calories out, and second about doing everything in your power to prevent losing muscle. In my book, that means a good diet combined with a good weight training routine. If you have time for cardio, be my guest, but that comes third!

6. What you eat is as important as how much you eat when trying to lose weight.

Your overall health has a lot to do with the quality of the foods that you ingest. But, your overall level of fat does not. As I mentioned above, fat loss is about how many calories are going into and out of your body each day.

There is no getting around the basics of Thermodynamics. If you want to lose fat, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. Period. There is no other way unless the laws of physics don't apply to you for some reason, in which case, you can eat whatever you want!

If the calories you eat are also healthy, then you may increase your progress some. You'll certainly increase your health and sense of well-being. But, you can easily get fat eating too much healthy food.

Don't believe me? Just ask a sumo Wwrestler. They eat very healthy food every day, avoid junk food like the plague, and yet are the poster children of obesity. Calories in, calories out. Period.

7. If you don't feel like crap after a workout, you didn't work hard enough.

This is one for my CrossFit friends. Workouts are workouts. Competitions are competitions. They are not the same. Workouts exist to prepare you to be good in a competition.

Sadly, too many trainees, especially those in the early stages of the beginners phase (not just CrossFit, but everything), think that killing yourself is the goal. They treat every workout like a major national competition where their reputation and thousands of dollars are at stake.

"If I don't work my hardest," they say, "then how will I ever make the progress I want?"

It seems reasonable on the surface - until they injure themselves. If you injure yourself today, what do you think tomorrow’s workout will look like? Working hard is important, but working smart is way more important.

And there you have it. Seven fitness myths I encounter all the time. You no longer have any excuses.

Source: breakingmuscle.com

When it comes to exercise, there's a huge push to do cardio. It burns calories, reduces stress, helps you lose or maintain your weight, helps relieve muscle soreness, and is good for your lungs and your heart. While that's true, cardio isn't the only thing your body needs. It's also important to strength train to tone your muscles, increase your metabolism, and increase your muscle mass. Of course you also need to stretch as well to increase flexibility, which will prevent injury.

So a good rule of thumb is to include all three — cardio, strength training, and stretching — in every workout. You can start with 30 minutes of jogging, followed by 20 minutes of dumbbells exercises, and finish with 20 minutes of yoga. Not only will your entire body feel worked, but doing all three every time you exercise will make sure you don't neglect one type of training.

Source: popsugar.com