It is so annoying to be working so hard doing every thing right and hit a plateau!  I hate when that happens to me!  Sometime you might think that you are doing all the right things, but you might not even realize that you are making a little mistake that is making a big difference.

Here are 10 reasons why you may have hit a wall with your weight loss.

1. You Don’t Drink Enough Water
Drinking plenty of water can help you to feel fuller longer. If you are well hydrated water can help to discourage cravings for sugary drinks like soda and juice.Water also keeps everything moving in your digestive system.

2. You Don’t Sleep Enough
Sleep is so important to weight loss, yet it is also so under rated.  You need enough sleep to have the energy to make it through your workouts.  Also studies have shown the the lack of sleep actually decreases appetite control and increases cravings, both of which are killers of a healthy diet.

3. You Only Do Cardio
One of the most important pieces of the fitness puzzle is weight training. It helps to prevent injury by strengthening the joints, but it also builds muscle mass which increases metabolic rate.

4.You Overeat Healthy Foods
Chicken, tuna, salmon, avocados, nut, seeds, olive oil and grape seed oil are all great good for you healthy foods. While eating these foods are great for you, and better than snacking on chips and cakes, eating large amounts of healthy foods will still cause you to gain weight.

5. You Regularly Exercise on an Empty Stomach
Studies show that consistently exercising on an empty stomach burns calories from muscle instead of fat.  I don’t know about you, but I want to build muscle and burn fat!  Since having heard about this I have completely changed my morning routine to include eating before I work out.  (There is a benefit to “fasting cardio” but that is if you do it occasionally, and that is another post all on it’s own.)

6. You Leave Out Entire Food Groups
Giving up entire food groups is never a good idea!  Not only can it lead to a nutritional deficiency but it can cause major cravings for that food. Instead of leaving out a food group instead try to eat a balanced diet with portion control.

7. You Don’t Eat Breakfast
This is a mistake that so many people make!  It may feel like a good way to cut out some extra calories, but what usually ends up happenings is your body holds onto fat because it thinks that it is starving.  Breakfast is a great way to jump start your metabolism. People who eat breakfast regularly tend to lose more weight and keep it off.

8. You Don’t Eat Enough
After reading that you’re probably thinking that I am crazy!  It is true.  Our bodies need nutrients to be able to function.  Not only is starving and depriving yourself not sustainable for continued weight loss, but also, limiting yourself to not enough food can lead to excess snacking or binging between mealtimes.

9. You Don’t Keep a Food Journal
Knowing exactly what you are eating helps to lift the doubt of what you are taking in vs. burning out. When I write down what I eat I stay on track.  When I don’t I tend to either over or under eat.  Don’t just take my word for it the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics did a study of 123 women and found that those who were the most successful at losing weight kept a food journal.

10.You Never Indulge-If you are eating a healthy diet, an occasional Dorito, french frie, or cookie isn’t going to ruin your weight loss. A studies have found that as long as you maintain a mostly healthy diet, an indulgence here and there is actually going to help you stay on track in the long run.

*Keep in mind that it takes -/+ 3500 calories a week to lose/gain a pound.  Whether you are a calorie counter or not, whatever your weight loss plan, it is still calories in vs calories out.  This means that if you want to lose 1 lb a week you need to have a 3500 caloric deficit. Each day your calories in should be around <500 than your calories out.

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