20 reasons why you may not be losing weight

Common Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight

When you lose weight, your body fights back.  You may be able to lose quite a lot of weight at first, without much effort.  However, weight loss may slow down or stop altogether after a while.

Below are common reasons why you’re not losing weight.  Follow these tips on how to break through the plateau and get things moving again.

1— Maybe You Are Losing Without Realizing It

If you think you are experiencing a weight loss plateau, you shouldn’t worry.  It is incredibly common for the scale not to budge for a few days or even weeks at a time. This does not mean that you are not losing fat.

 Body weight tends to fluctuate by a few pounds.  It depends on the foods you are eating, and hormones can also have a major effect on how much water your body retains.

Also, it is possible to gain muscle at the same time as you lose fat.  This is particularly common if you recently started exercising.  This is a good thing, as what you really want to lose is body fat, not just weight.  It is a good idea to use something other than the scale to gauge your progress. For example, measure your waist circumference and body fat percentage once per month.  Also, how well your clothes fit and how you look in the mirror can be very telling.  Unless your weight has been stuck at the same point for more than 4 weeks, you probably don’t need to worry about anything. 

*A weight loss plateau may be explained by other reasons.  If the scale doesn’t budge, you might still be losing fat.

2— You’re Not Keeping Track of What You’re Eating

Awareness is incredibly important if you are trying to lose weight.  Many people don’t have a clue how much they’re really eating.  Keeping track of your diet helps with weight loss.  I suggest you write down every time you eat something in a notebook. (Keep it in the kitchen.) You may surprised yourself how many extra “bites” you are really having if you write it down.

*Keeping a food diary can be helpful when you are trying to lose weight.

3— You’re Not Eating Enough Protein During Breakfast

Protein is the single most important nutrient for losing weight.  Eating protein at 25-30% of calories can boost metabolism by 80–100 calories per day and make you automatically eat several hundred fewer calories per day.  It can also drastically reduce cravings and desire for snacking  This is partly mediated by protein’s effects on appetite-regulating hormones. 

When you eat breakfast, be sure to load up on protein.  Studies show that those who eat a high protein breakfast are less hungry and have fewer cravings throughout the day.  A high protein intake also helps prevent metabolic slowdown, a common side effect of losing weight. Additionally, it helps prevent weight regain.  

Get more protein during your breakfast to enhance weight loss!

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*Low protein intake early in the morning may bring your weight loss efforts to a standstill. Make sure to get plenty of protein early in the morning!

4— You’re Eating Too Many Calories

A large number of people who have trouble losing weight are simply eating too many calories.  You may think that this does not apply to you.  However, people tend to underestimate their calorie intake by a significant amount.  If you are not losing weight, you should write down everything you eat!

*If your weight loss seems to have come to a standstill, it’s possible you may be eating too much. People frequently overestimate their calorie intake.

5— You’re Not Eating Whole Foods

Food quality is just as important as quantity.  Eating healthy foods can improve your wellbeing and help regulate your appetite.  These foods tend to be much more filling than their processed counterparts.  Keep in mind that many processed foods labeled as “health foods” aren’t really healthy.  Stick to whole, single-ingredient foods as much as possible.

*Make sure to base your diet on whole foods. Eating too much processed food could ruin your weight loss success.

6— You’re Not Doing Enough Strength Grow Young Fitness Workouts.

You should be aiming to get at least 5 Grow Young Fitness workouts in a week.

Strength workouts include Foundation, Strength, and Therapy Box Workouts of the Founders’ Club.

If you can do more, do more. If you are just starting out, build up to 5x per week.

*Strength training is an effective way to lose fat. It prevents the loss of

muscle mass often associated with weight loss and helps maintain long-term fat loss.

7— You’re Binge Eating, Even on Healthy Food

Binge eating is a common side effect of dieting.  It involves rapidly eating large amounts of food, often much more than your body needs.  This is a significant problem for many dieters.  Some of them binge on junk food, while others binge on relatively healthy foods, including nuts, nut butters, dark chocolate, cheese, etc.  Even if something is healthy, its calories still count. Depending on the volume, a single binge can often ruin an entire week’s worth of dieting.

*If you frequently binge on food, it may explain why your scale doesn’t seem to budge.

8— You’re Not Doing Cardio Grow Young Fitness Workouts.

Cardiovascular exercise, also known as cardio or aerobic exercise, is any type of exercise which increases your heart rate. 

Cardio Weight Loss, Boxing, & The Walks/Marches are all Cardio.

*Make sure to do cardio regularly. It helps you burn fat.  Lack of exercise could be one reason for a weight loss plateau.

9— You’re Still Drinking Sugar

Sugary beverages are the most fattening items in the food supply.  Your brain doesn’t compensate for the calories in them by making you eat less of other foods.  This isn’t only true of sugary drinks like Coke and Pepsi, it also applies to “healthier” beverages like Vitaminwater, which are also loaded with sugar.  Even fruit juices are problematic, and should not be consumed in large amounts.  A single glass can contain more sugar than a candy bar!

*Avoiding all sugary beverages is an excellent weight loss strategy. They often make up a significant portion of people’s calorie intake.

10— You’re Not Sleeping Well

Good sleep is one of the most important factors for your physical and mental health, as well as your weight.  Studies show that poor sleep is one of the single biggest risk factors for obesity.  Adults and children with poor sleep have a 55% and 89% greater risk of becoming obese. 

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*Lack of quality sleep is a strong risk factor for obesity.  It could also hinder your weight loss progress.

11— You’re Not Cutting Back on Carbohydrates

If you have a lot of weight to lose and/or metabolic problems like type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, you may want to consider a low carb diet.  In short-term studies, this type of diet has been shown to cause up to 2–3 times as much weight loss as the standard “low-fat” diet that is often recommended.  Low-carb diets can also lead to improvements in many metabolic markers, such as triglycerides, “good” HDL cholesterol and blood sugar, to name a few.

*If you are unable to lose weight, consider trying a low-carb diet. Low carb diets can be an effective weight loss strategy.

12— You’re Eating Too Often

It is a myth that everyone should be eating many small meals each day in order to boost metabolism and lose weight.  Studies actually show that meal frequency has little or no effect on fat burning or weight loss.  It is also ridiculously inconvenient to be preparing and eating food all day, as it makes healthy nutrition much more complicated. 

Stick with 2-3 larger meals and 2-3 snacks a day. (Keep it simple.)

*Eating too often may result in excessive calorie intake, curbing your weight loss efforts.

13— You’re Not Drinking Water

Drinking water can benefit weight loss.  In one 12-week weight loss study, people who drank half a liter (17 ounces) of water 30 minutes before meals lost 44% more weight than those who did not.  Drinking water has also been shown to boost the number of calories burned by 24–30% over a period of 1.5 hours.  

*To reduce your calorie intake, drink a glass of water before meals.  Drinking water may also increase the number of calories you burn.

14— You’re Drinking Too Much Alcohol

Beer, wine and sugary alcoholic beverages are very high in calories.  Also keep in mind that the alcohol itself has about 7 calories per gram, which is high.

Yes, a glass of wine a day can cause you to add on over 20-30 pounds a year. If you cut it out, you will lose the weight instead.

*Alcoholic beverages are generally high in calories and halt metabolism.

15— You’re Not Eating Mindfully

A technique called mindful eating may be one of the world’s most powerful weight loss tools.  It involves slowing down, eating without distraction, savoring and enjoying each bite, while listening to the natural signals that tell your brain when your body has had enough.  Numerous studies have shown that mindful eating can cause significant weight loss and reduce the frequency of binge eating.  You can eat more mindfully if you eat with zero distractions, sitting down at a table with only your food.  Also, eating slowly and chewing thoroughly.  Then you will feel full and be able to stop eating.  

*Always eat mindfully when trying to lose weight. Mindless eating is one of the main reasons people struggle to lose weight.

16— You Have a Medical Condition That Is Making Things Harder

There are some medical conditions that can drive weight gain and make it much harder to lose weight.  These include hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and sleep apnea.  Certain medications can also make weight loss harder, or even cause weight gain.  If you think any of these apply to you, speak to your doctor about your options.

*Medical conditions may be hindering your weight loss efforts.

17— You’re Addicted to Junk Food

About 19.9% of people in North America and Europe have food addictions.  People who have this problem use junk food in a similar way as drug addicts use drugs.  If you are addicted to junk food, then simply eating less or changing your diet can seem downright impossible. 

The only way to overcome the addiction is to cut it out from your site. (Don’t buy it at the store and it will never make it to your kitchen.) I recommend cold turkey!

*If you have strong food cravings or food addiction, weight loss can be very difficult.  

18— You’ve Been Starving Yourself For Too Long

It may not be a good idea to diet for too long.  If you’ve been losing weight for many months and you’ve hit a plateau, then perhaps you just need to take a break.  Up your calorie intake by a few hundred calories per day, sleep more and lift some weights with the goal of getting stronger and gaining a bit of muscle.  Aim to maintain your body fat levels for 1–2 months before you start trying to lose weight again.

*If you have reached a weight loss plateau, you may simply have been dieting for too long. Maybe it’s time to take a break.

19— Your Expectations Are Unrealistic

Weight loss is generally a slow process. Many people lose patience before reaching their end goal.  Although it is often possible to lose weight fast in the beginning, very few people can continue to lose weight at a rate of more than 1–2 pounds per week.  

Most everyones goal should be 1-2 pounds per week.

*People’s expectations are sometimes unrealistic when it comes to weight loss.  

20— You’re Too Focused on Dieting

Diets almost never work in the long term.  If anything, studies actually show that people who diet gain more weight over time.  Instead of approaching weight loss from a dieting mindset, make it your primary goal to become a happier, healthier and fitter person.  Focus on nourishing your body instead of depriving it, and let weight loss follow as a natural side effect.

Eat whole foods, cut out processed foods, and maintain that mindset for eating.

YOU CAN DO IT!

*Dieting is not a long-term solution. If you wish to lose weight and keep it off in the long term, focus on adopting healthier lifestyle habits.

The Bottom Line

Weight loss is not always easy and numerous factors can bring it to a standstill.  At the most basic level, weight loss failure occurs when calorie intake is equal to or higher than calorie expenditure.  Try strategies ranging from mindful eating to keeping a food diary, from eating more protein to doing strength exercises.  In the end, changing your weight and your lifestyle require dedication, self-discipline, perseverance and resilience.