Many tips and techniques for losing weight are all over the internet, magazines, and books today.
However, most of them discuss the how’s and why’s.
Only a few talks about the adverse and the side effects they bring.
So before you get shocked with what you have done, consider these 11 things no one warns you about when losing weight.
1. You will feel weak at the beginning of the weight loss process
Imagine your body going through changes.
When your normal intake of food is reduced to 50%, you will literally feel weak during the initial process.
This is because your body is adjusting to your new calorie intake.
Most especially if you are a carbo eater and you decided to cut down on it, your body will automatically crave for more in the initial stage.
You can avoid this by using the technique used in medicine called tapering.
Tapering is the art of gradual reduction of medicine intake so as not to cause withdrawal symptoms.
When dieting, gradually taper the amount of food intake so as not to shock your body with the sudden change.
2. You will face temptations to eat more during the first phase of your weight loss plan
Don’t be surprised when you often feel the urge to eat more.
During the first phase, that is a normal side effect.
Whatever method of weight loss you are using, whether exercising in the gym or dieting, you have to remember that your body is adjusting.
Normally, your cells will demand more energy that they are used to.
This explains the reason for feeling hungry easily.
But instead of increasing the amount of food intake or eating in between meals, try to drink water to satisfy your craving.
If you crave again, then drink again.
3. The first 21 days are the most difficult
They say that it takes 21 days to make a habit.
During these days though, you need to exercise self-control as to maintain a course of action that could ripen into a habit.
This could also be adopted in establishing a new diet plan or exercise regimen.
You may encounter difficulties from resisting the temptation to eat your favorite food and lessen your food consumption or suffer joint pains brought by changing exercise regimen as determined by your gym instructor.
During these days, you also experience the body weakness and emotional changes brought about by the process.
The comforting thing is passing these days would make the following days easier.
4. Losing weight is not an extraordinary challenge once you established your routine
The good news is that you will feel less difficulty once you established dieting or exercising patterns and adopted them as part of your lifestyle.
In this case, losing weight won’t be a super challenging task anymore.
As a lifestyle, it becomes a normal thing to do already.
However, before you reach this stage, you have to pay the price by overcoming the 21-day challenge of developing a good habit.
Once established, all you have to do is maintain your patterns and exert lesser efforts than before until you reach your goal.
5. Gym exercises without toning can make you have baggy, loose skin
This comes as a shock to those who are not well informed about the effects of using the gym to shed off excess fats.
As a gym instructor puts it, any exercises aimed at shedding off excess fat need to be complemented with toning exercises; failure to which you will only end up with loose and baggy skin.
Just imagine, if fats are shed off, what will happen to the spaces filled by those fats before?
Normally, the skin will shrink.
This problem is commonly seen in the arms, abdomen, and legs.
So if you are unwilling to have those baggy loose skin, accompany your shedding off exercises with toning ones.
6. Rapid lose weight schemes result in the development of gallstones
Everything done rapidly has some unexpected effects that could be discovered after a period of time.
This is true with losing weight.
A co-worker once lost weight for just a month or two.
Then she vomited a lot and exhibited other symptoms like shoulder pain and severe abdominal pain that is triggered by ingesting oil and heavily seasoned food.
When she had her condition checked, the doctor said that she had formed gallstones brought about by rapid weight loss.
So there, do things in moderation so that you will not create another problem in the process of solving one.
7. Maintaining your resolution to lose weight could be challenging
It is easy to start implementing a diet plan or exercise plan to lose weight.
What is difficult is how to maintain your passion and enthusiasm from beginning to end.
Normally, the process starts with your high hopes and a positive attitude.
However, as the process continues, you will encounter difficulties that could make you cheat on your plan or break your oath of losing weight.
This is why many abort their plans and sadly, gain more weight than before they started.
Overcome this challenge by starting your weight loss plan together with a team.
8. You will feel more stressed and agitated
Believe it or not, losing weight can be emotionally taxing.
From the negative commentators to the discouragers, you face your own emotional battles.
Depression could be one.
Frustration could be another, but the worst are stress and agitation.
I have encountered dieting people who are easily agitated by simple things.
The thing is, these feelings occurred almost every day as an aftermath of the process.
If this happens, it is important for you to surround yourself with people who understand what you are going through that no matter what you say or do, they readily forgive you.
9. Losing weight requires emotional support
There are times when you think that your regimen is not working at all, that whatever you are doing is not producing any progress towards your desired outcome.
With all the sacrifices in not eating the food you love and tolerating the pain brought about by endless exercise, you will reach the point when you feel exhausted.
At this point, you need cheerers who believe in what you are working and fighting for.
It helps when your supporters will eat what you eat and do what you do just to encourage you.
10. Losing weight has after effects
What weight losers often overlook is the effect of losing weight.
Most of the time, they focus on losing but forget to prepare for the effects of the process that they have gone through.
Some of these effects are the necessity to make an adjustment due to some sleeping pattern changes, food preference changes and body response to temperature.
As fats are known to be a natural insulator, losing them could make one feel colder than ever.
Therefore, it pays to reassess yourself while losing weight so that you could adjust gradually.
11. The effect of losing weight is costly
Losing weight means a change in wardrobe.
It could also mean a change in shoe size, readjustment of ring size and change of fashion style.
All these entail money.
If you have not prepared for this change and saved some amount for it, you might be surprised at what you are going to spend on and how much you are going to pay for.
So before you start your diet plan or exercise regimen, consider this factor and start saving if you have no money to buy for new sets of dress or pairs of shoes.
Conclusion
If you want your weight loss plan to be successful in all aspect, prepare in advance for the possible problems that could occur during the process.
As Benjamin Franklin puts it, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”