No zip in your workout? Three top reasons why:

1. You don’t get enough quality sleep at least 6 nights per week.
Yep, it’s that important. When you don’t get enough sleep, which for most people, is about eight hours per night, you might as well be showing up for your workouts with a hang-over. Studies show that you need at least this much sleep and only two nights of poor sleep negatively impacts your life.( Good luck parents of little children and babies! )The time you hit the hay counts, too. Ideally you should be sleeping by 10 p.m. (10 p.m. – 2 a.m. are the magic fat loss hours) for optimal hormonal balance. By the way, not only are your workouts negatively impacted by poor sleep, your satiety hormone, leptin drops by 20% and your hunger hormone, ghrelin, increases 30%. Double whammy!

2. You are dehydrated.
Most people don’t get enough water and it takes its toll on your workouts, not to mention other parts of your life. If you aren’t getting at least half your body weight in ounces of water (for example you weigh 140 pounds, you should aim for 70 ounces of water daily) you are probably drying up! Dehydration causes fatigue and your muscle fibers don’t fire like they should, therefore, you feel weak and tired and unable to push through a hard workout. Dehydration can reduce blood volume and diminish blood flow to organs,  slowing down your brain. Remember, too, that window shopping is not exercise and doesn’t melt fat! High intensity, metabolic resistance exercise burns fat up and if you are weak and tired due to dehydration, you aren’t even giving yourself a chance at fat loss.

3. You’re not eating enough protein.
Clean, lean protein will help you get through your workouts and improve recovery.  In my experience, women, especially, don’t eat enough protein. Protein contains the amino acid tryptophan, precursor of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes a calm, relaxed feeling, which helps to fight emotional fatigue and it also contains tyrosine, a precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, promoters of alertness, attention, and motivation.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Make quality sleep a priority. Turn off  the T.V. and electronic devices at least 30-60 minutes before you go to bed, black-out  your bedroom and avoid food (especially sweets), caffeine and alcohol within three hours before bed.

2. Drink half your body weight in ounces. Drink water throughout the day, don’t gulp it all at once. Place a container with your required amount of water and pour from that so you have a visual of what you need to drink.

3. Eat protein in combination with healthy carbs at every meal. Choose clean, lean sources of protein like grass-fed beef, wild fish and free-range chicken.