Losing weight is not exactly about reaching a certain number on the weighing scale or fitting into an old dress, it’s more about getting healthy, fit, and basically feeling good about yourself and your body. However, losing weight is “easy” and “difficult” at the same time depending on the choices you make. With the correct diet (check out Rati Beauty diet programs), exercise, and lifestyle changes, it’s easy to lose weight; however, it’s “difficult” if there are “roadblocks” involved. Most people complain about doing everything that they possibly can, yet not exactly benefitting from any of their efforts, and that’s because there are some roadblocks that come in the way. In this post, we list out 15 common roadblocks to overcome for successful weight loss.

1. Negative Mindset: For a lot of us, the only thing that stands between us and weight loss, is a “negative mindset.” Negative thoughts and attitude may actually prevent you from putting in any major effort to shed weight. The negative mindset that it’s impossible for you to lose weight will in fact, make things difficult for you. Encourage yourself and believe in your efforts, and affirm to yourself that weight loss is not an “unachievable dream,” and it will happen!
2. Negative Body Image: Those perfect hourglass figures that show up on the Instagram feed or “magazine spreads” lead us to believe that our bodies are not perfect and can demotivate and prevent you from working towards achieving realistic goals. Every body type is different and not everyone is supposed to look a certain way. The goal should be to look and feel healthy, period.
3. Making “fat” the villain in diet: Healthy fat is absolutely necessary in one’s daily diet. Cutting out all forms of “fat” from the diet will prove counterproductive. Saying no to healthy fats such as ghee, nuts, eggs which are extremely nutritious and are actually “superfoods,” can lower metabolism and prevent you from losing weight.
4. Depriving yourself of food: In a quest to lose weight, some people may indulge in crash dieting, which is a form of diet that severely restricts requisite calorie intake. Such a diet will not only deprive your body of essential nutrients, it will also slow down metabolism, and a good metabolism is what would help you lose weight. Crash dieting may bring in quick results, but you may quickly gain back all the weight you have lost after coming out of it.
5. Focussing only on the weighing scale: The weighing scale should motivate you to work more on yourself, not demotivate and push you into depression. Weight loss also means shrinking waistline and less of flabby arms, have you checked how loose some of your outfits have become?
6. Sticking to one form of workout: Cardio, lift weights, high intensity, walking – all of these help to shed kilos. Cardio is a good form of exercise to boost metabolism and to get active, but solely depending on cardio exercises will not make any major difference. An ideal workout routine should be flexible and include bodyweight exercises, cardio, weights, and yoga as well. Check out fitness workout videos on Rati Beauty for more details
7. Chronic stress level: If there’s one factor that prevents someone from losing weight, it’s a state of chronic stress. Every person in this world has some level of stress in their day-to-day life, however, stress levels should ideally drop down and not be in a heightened state always; however, when that’s not the case, it’s called “chronic stress,” which releases the stress hormone “cortisol,” that raises blood sugar in the body, triggering more insulin release, and as we all know, insulin is a fat-storing hormone too, which leads to extra calories to be stored as fat, especially around the abdominal region.
8. Chronic Inflammation in the body: Chronic inflammation affects normal functioning of the body – from digestion to hormonal function, lowering metabolism. When the body remains in inflammation for a long period of time, it can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, digestive issues, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.  Here are some ways to fight chronic inflammation in the body.

9. Various deficiencies: As we have always maintained, weight loss is a complex process, and a lot of nutrients and minerals are required to run this process. Deficiency of calcium, magnesium, chromium all may completely stall the weight loss process.
10. Using toxic substances in day-to-day life: Plastic, teflon coating from utensils, harmful cosmetics, adulterated food – all give rise to inflammation and fill the body with free radicals. When inflammation and free radicals build up in the body, it will lead to weight gain.
11. Insulin, thyroid, cortisol hormone imbalance: Insulin is also a fat-storing hormone, cortisol raises blood sugar levels, and thyroid prevents weight loss. If you suffer from any kind of hormonal issue, do consult a doctor and get these hormones rectified to jumpstart your weight loss efforts.
12. Gut problems: The gut is called as the “second brain” of the body and that’s because it runs a majority of functions, from absorbing nutrients from the food, to keeping immunity level high, and it also prevents weight gain and combats depression. But did you know the key to a healthy gut lies in the well being of its microbial flora. An imbalance in the gut flora can throw a majority of bodily functions into tizzy and that’s why it’s extremely important to keep the gut flora happy. Read more about the connection between gut and weight loss here.
13. Food Allergies: Gluten allergy, lactose intolerance, and allergy to certain food can cause imbalance in the gut and microbial flora and also raise inflammation in the body, which will lead to weight gain. Identify trigger foods that cause bloating, gastric problems, and indigestion and eliminate them from your diet.
14. Emotional Dependence on Food: Most women tend to turn to food for comfort, and these comfort foods are high in sodium and sugar, and they add loads of calories, leading to weight gain. Read more about how emotional weight can make you overweight and how to overcome emotional eating in this post.
15. Mindless Eating: Frequent snacking, a tendency to indulge in food through the day, without keeping track of the calories or the kind of food one consumes comes under mindless eating. This term may sound rude, but it is necessary to keep track of the kind of food you are using to nourish the body and the amount of it too. If one is eating food without even feeling hungry, it’s time to chart out a time table and start practicing mindful eating (some awesome tips here).

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