10 Reasons You Might Not Be Losing Weight - Part 2

You're mistaking foods that you think are healthy for foods that are actually healthy. 
There are certain foods that have the reputation of being healthy, but often times are not helping to push you toward your weight loss goal. While fruit juice sounds healthy, many times it's not entirely 100 percent juice and contains sugar, too. Salads are healthy in theory, but with added ingredients like cheese, high-fat dressings, and croutons, they can turn into a high-calorie and high-fat meal. Make sure you check out the ingredients before you indulge in a "healthy" food.

Your diet is stressing you out.

Getting on a health kick can feel great and give you a huge boost of energy. But if your regimen is too strict and you're worrying about having time to get to the gym, preparing healthy meals, and not snacking, losing weight is going to be difficult. When you're stressed out, your body produces cortisol, which is the fight-or-flight hormone that increases fat storage. So even though you're working out and eating healthy, if you're too stressed out about your diet or schoolwork, losing weight will be difficult. "I can definitely feel it when I'm stressed out and my body doesn't feel exactly right," says Reagan. "When I'm that stressed, I don't feel well and I know I have to budget my time better or take a little break." Take a step back and evaluate your stress level and adjust your lifestyle accordingly.

You're not sleeping enough.

A lifestyle change is hard to adjust to, so if suddenly you need to fit in an extra hour of working out and an extra hour of preparing healthy meals, it's going to be difficult to still get to bed at a reasonable hour. Getting a good night of sleep is just as important when trying to lose weight as eating healthy and exercising are, so make sure that you're getting your recommended amount of shut eye. Just like being too stressed out, being sleep-deprived promotes the release of cortisol, so you could be retaining fat and not even realizing it.

You're skipping meals. 
While you may temporarily feel good about yourself when you didn't eat your typically huge breakfast, in the long run, skipping meals leads to eating more at other meals or snacking on unhealthy items throughout the day. "Many people who are dieting eat very lightly all day long and then end up binging late on at night," Levine says. "You are much more likely to eat ice cream, chips and cookies at 10pm than you are at 10am, so make sure to frontload your calories so that you don't set yourself up to binge later on at night." Instead of eating like a bird in the morning in hopes of jumpstarting your diet, strive for a filling and healthy breakfast with fruit, protein and fiber, like an egg with whole-wheat toast and an orange. 

You're not counting your liquids as calories.

 
Guzzling a can of coke or a sweetened iced tea seems like it's nothing in the calorie world because it's not solid, but it's important to include all of your beverages in your calorie count throughout the day. People tend to forget about drinks because they only satisfy thirst and not hunger. If you must drink soda, sweetened beverages, or alcohol during your diet, make sure to compensate for these calories by cutting out the same amount of calories in a meal. Or, to make things easier, swap out all drinks for water. This way, you'll stay hydrated and cut calories at the same time.

Sources:

Valerie Berkowitz, registered dietician and author of The Stubborn Fat Fix 
Alyse Levine, registered dietician and nutrition consultant for Livestrong.com

College women from around the country