That's Fit

If you're busting your tail in the gym, but the pounds keep sticking around, you're probably wondering why. If you're eating as healthy as you can, but your bulging waistline serves as no indication of your effort, you're probably wondering why. And if you're doing both of these things and more, you're probably ready to punch a hole in the wall and scream at the top of your lungs: "Why am I not losing any freakin' weight?!!!"

Okay ... calm down. Everything is going to be just fine, I promise. Tell you what, why don't you take a second to let your blood at least reduce from a boil to a simmer and then we'll start to deconstruct your approach and, as best we can, come up with a solution. To help us in this endeavor, we'll refer to a recent article published in the current issue of Maximum Fitness magazine, which is aptly titled "6 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight."

For the next six days, I'll offer one of the tips in the order that they appear in the Maximum Fitness magazine article. So, you can either wait to read them day by day or, if you don't have that kind of patience, you can run out to the bookstore and pick up a copy of the magazine. Your call. Either way, we're going to get to the bottom of all this and find out what's keeping the numbers on your scale from getting any lower.

Possible Reason #4: You're Not Chewing Thoroughly. I can't be alone and not even considering this one. Just the same, it turns out that this is an extremely common problem with regard to proper digestion. According to the Max Fit article, not chewing properly can lead to food reactions, which -- as we learned from Reason #2 -- can result in the accumulation of false fats. What's more, chewing slower and more thoroughly will give your brain time to catch up with your stomach. Remember, it takes close to 20 minutes for your brain to receive the signal from your stomach that you're satiated. The solution? Pretty much what was just suggested; take your time while eating by chewing your food thoroughly, as it is in the teeth and saliva where the first stage of digestion takes place.

For more ways on how to kick-start your weight loss, join us for AOL Body's America Takes It Off!