Not losing weight? Here's why...

This is from Del Monte - Nutrition & Fitness

Not losing weight? Here’s why…

You know you are burning calories when you exercise, but just how much effort goes towards burning fat? If you’ve been working out for a while and have seen very little progress, then those calories are not coming from that stored fat, resulting in little to no weight loss.
Here are three reasons why this can be happening:
1) Consuming too much sugar or easily digested carbohydrates before or during a workout.
2) The workout is insufficient to boost metabolism and burn off blood sugar that allows fat consumption.
3) The workouts are too hard, too long, and too often!

Too Much Sugar
It’s not uncommon to see people drinking a smoothie or a high sugar sports drink during their workouts. While it is essential to eat before and after a work out, you must watch what you eat and drink! For the best results, you should always keep one thing in mind: sugar stops fat loss.

Carbs!
When you exercise, your body burns its preferred fuel source, carbohydrates, first. Carbohydrates are stored in the body for quick, immediate energy in your muscles and liver. In order for the body to resort to its second fuel source, fat, you must burn your carbohydrate fuel. High intensity exercise, like lifting weights or interval training, uses up carbohydrate energy quickly. This helps the body release hormones that stimulate the burning of fat as a source of energy. Until this happens, fat stays put!

Excessive workouts
When it comes to exercise, you can have too much of a “good” thing. Excessive exercise causes enormous of stress on the body and will result in more stored body fat. Just remember that less is more. Focus on effective workouts, load up on fresh fruits and vegetables and get some sleep!

Here are some suggestions on how to boost the release of stored fat:
1) Keep fast-digesting sugars and saturated fats to a minimum in your eating plan.
2) Do your weight training BEFORE your aerobic training. Save your strength!
3) Take your current routine and do it faster! For example, if you can walk a mile in 20 minutes, see if you can walk it in 18. Shorten your time by a minute or two each time. Beginners: Don’t weight train more than three times a week or every other day.
4) Take at least one day off per week with no exercise to allow for full recovery and stress relief. Believe it or not, rest is when you burn more fat in proportion to carbohydrates.
5) Stick to a repetition range between 10 and 15 for a set of exercises. Muscles are fat burning furnaces so help them develop! If you can easily do 15, then add a little more weight, or up to 10 percent more at a time. Keep records and keep progressing.
6) Keep your body guessing. Variety keeps the routine from getting stale for your body AND mind! A workout program becomes less efficient at stimulating any fat burning once it has fully adapted.
By Bryan Fedor

I really hate to say this but the "no sugar" thing is HUGE! It can make or break any diet. Eventually I'm going to have to say NO SUGAR, but it's scary, I'm really going to have to work up to it.