Today The Stylish Planner is bringing you another great post from our Health & Fitness Expert, Kiana Lewis.  Kiana is a contributor on The Stylish Planner twice monthly, reporting on easy ways to stay healthy and fit on a busy schedule.

Kiana, a skilled fitness professional, has been working in the health and fitness industry for over 9 years. She holds various certifications, including W.I.T.S (World Instructors Training School) and ACE (American Council on Exercise). Kiana’s expertise lies in fitness training, as well as weight management. She has experience with various populations including, pre/post-natal and athletes, among many others. She loves plyometric training, sports, photography, and traveling.

Kiana’s philosophy about fitness is, “Exercise, your body will appreciate it."

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From Kiana:

Being a personal trainer for over 9 years, I have heard the words “weight loss” uttered hundreds of times.  With that said, I’ve seen many start off pretty good; visiting the gym consistently, watching food intake, and working hard, but then everything comes to a halt.  What goes wrong? Is it the eating?  Is it missing that one day at the gym that throws everything off?  There are a number of reasons why, but today I will point out a few common reasons.

Reason 1–Skipping meals/starving in order to lose weight

Life today is so fast-paced.  We eat on the run, skip breakfast, and usually have a heavy dinner.  This leads to a slower metabolism.  It is very important to NEVER skip breakfast.  Literally, it is the most essential meal of the day.  Think of eating breakfast as BREAKING THE FAST.

Along with eating breakfast, add 4-5 more small meals per day, every 2.5-3 hours.  Feeding your body constantly ensures an increase in metabolism over time and it helps the body to digest the food better.  One key point to remember—skipping meals causes your body to flip on the survival mode, meaning, it will store fat because it does not know when the next meal will come.

Reason 2—Overtraining

Our bodies are like fine machines that need caring.  Going to the gym on a daily basis, continuously lifting weights, with no days of rest in between, can hinder your weight loss progress.  Signs of overtraining include fatigue, insomnia, regular soreness, and injuries.  Allowing your body to rest and recover is a vital part of achieving at any fitness routine.

Reason—3 Lack of Sleep

We’ve all heard, “get 6-8 hours of sleep.”  That applies to both exercisers and non-exercisers.  More notably, those who exercise with weight loss goals should really try to get those hours in.  Sleeping under 6 hours causes levels of leptin to lower, which is a protein hormone that helps suppress your appetite.  In turn, ghrelin levels are increased; a hormone that stimulates hunger.

To sum it up, get at least 6 hours of sleep per night.  Otherwise, your appetite will increase, counterattacking your goal of weight loss.

Reason 4—Lack of Water Intake

It may be hard to believe, but good ole’ H₂O lowers the amount of fat stored in the body.  If you neglect your water intake, your kidneys start to get lazy; they end up giving their work to your liver, which is responsible for helping the body burn stored fat for energy.  That means, if the liver is doing 2 jobs, it does neither 100%; its fat burning potential is decreased causing your body to store more fat.

**DRINK 8+ glass of H₂O per day!

I’ve only touched on a few reasons, but I hope these tips help you in your weight loss journey.  Feel free to contact me with questions at bewellandmarry@gmail.com.

**image courtesy of Peter W:  http://www.sxc.hu/profile/peter_w