10 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight

Published by Health Professional

on Tuesday, February 28th 2023

in

  • Diet and Eating Healthy
  • Weight Control

    • Reaching your goals when losing weight is difficult because it’s not always simple. When you lose weight, your body may occasionally rebel. At first, you might lose a lot of weight, but with time, your weight reduction may slow or stop altogether. 

    You cannot get the desired outcomes even if you believe everything is being done correctly. Several variables affect weight loss, ranging from lack of sleep to medical conditions. It might be time to reconsider your weight-loss plan.

    1. YOU’RE NOT EXERCISING

    The one challenge with exercise and weight loss is that it can be challenging to burn enough calories through activity to reduce your weight significantly. Exercises like metabolic conditioning or high-intensity interval training are the hardest but most efficient for losing weight.

    If you’re an experienced exerciser, you could like challenging workouts, but if you’re not, you might find it difficult to fit in any exercise. That could harm your attempts to lose weight. How much physical activity do you require, and how can you fit it in? Make the most of your exercise time by following the advice provided here.

    • Cardio – For weight loss, you need to do at least five days of cardio at a moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes, but it usually takes more than that to burn calories. Your best bet? Interval training two to three days each week and more moderate workouts the other days. By alternating high-intensity segments with recovery, you’ll burn more calories and build endurance more quickly. You’ll also get a great afterburn. You don’t have to be an experienced exerciser to try interval training.
    • Strength Training – Strength training is essential for weight loss, but some people stick with cardio because they like it. It burns many calories in one fell swoop, and they don’t want to get bulky. But muscle is much more active than fat, so the more you build, the more weight you lose over the long term. Your best bet with weight training is circuit training. By doing an exercise, one right after the other, you keep your heart rate up and burn more calories. It also makes the workout a little more exciting, so you’re not bored.  If you’re a beginner, start with an essential cardio and strength circuit. Do some circuit workouts along with your cardio, and you’ll see some results. Note:  Many people don’t lift enough weight to challenge their muscles.

    2. YOU’RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP

    Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain, though experts aren’t sure why. In her article, “Sleep More to Lose Weight,” Mary Shomon discusses a recent study that found that women who slept five hours a night were likelier to gain weight than women who slept seven hours a night.

    According to some research, getting too little sleep may impact your metabolism and cause you to feel hungry even when you are not. Cortisol, one of the hormones that control hunger, may be impacted by sleep deprivation. Another hypothesis holds that when we don’t get enough sleep, we move less, burning fewer calories.

    Sleep is vital for losing weight since it affects your physical and mental health. Lack of sleep makes you moody and confused and may even make you furious or depressed.

    Make sleep a priority by trying to get to bed simultaneously each night, shooting for about eight hours if you can manage it. Having some bedtime rituals, such as a hot bath or writing down your worries, can help you unwind before bed. You can also try power napping, significantly reducing stress and increasing productivity.

    3. YOU’RE TOO STRESSED OUT

    Stress and weight gain (or lack of weight loss) go hand in hand. Though you may not be aware of it, being under constant stress can increase the production of cortisol, a hormone which can cause an increase in appetite as well as extra fat storage around the abdominal region — a big no-no since abdominal fat is linked to diabetes, high cholesterol and other health problems.

    Dealing with stress can be as simple as taking a few minutes each day to relax, scheduling a massage as often as possible, cutting down on work hours, and increasing playtime.

    4. YOU’RE EATING TOO MUCH

    This may seem obvious, but you may eat more than you think unless you track your calories daily. Portion control is one culprit, especially with restaurants providing enough food in one meal to feed several people.

    You must become more disciplined with your diet if you’re serious about reducing weight. Keep a thorough food log for one week without altering your eating routine. To be as precise as you can, measure when you can, check your calorie and nutritional content, and tally your daily calorie intake. When you don’t keep track, you’ll be shocked at how easily calories can creep in.

    Another thing to consider is your metabolism, which can slow down as you get older if you don’t keep your muscle mass. A 4% loss in muscle mass is predicted to occur between the ages of 25 and 50. Your weight may gradually increase if you consume the same number of calories while your metabolism slows. Start working out and lifting weights right away to maintain your metabolism.

    5. YOU’RE NOT PERSISTENT WITH YOUR EXERCISE AND HEALTHY EATING

    Your weight loss may falter if you discover that your workouts are hit-or-miss and that you give in to temptation a little too readily. Regular exercise is necessary for it to be effective. When you miss too many workouts, it’s as if you have to start over. You must alter it to keep your body challenged after it has adapted to your program.

    Finding an exercise program that suits your needs, goals, and lifestyle is the first step in maintaining an exercise routine. That entails setting achievable goals for each week rather than basing them on what you believe you should accomplish.

    6. YOU BLOW IT ON THE WEEKENDS

    Having some treats now and then is fine, but if you do very well during the week only to eat silly on the weekends, you may be hurting your weight loss goals. To lose one pound of fat in one week, you need to cut 500 calories with diet and exercise for seven days. 

    If you only follow that for five days and then eat way over your limit for two more days, you’re taking two steps forward and one step back. The trick is to plan your indulgences so that you can have some fun while staying on track with your weight loss goals. 

    Try these tips for a healthy weekend:

    • Avoid a free-for-all weekend. Instead, choose one or two treats to enjoy and continue eating healthy the rest of the time.
    • Avoid rewarding yourself with food. If you’ve been eating healthy all week, it’s natural to want to reward yourself with a yummy treat. That kind of thinking can set you back (much like a smoker who rewards himself for staying smoke-free with a cigarette). Instead of food, reward yourself with a calorie-free treat like a movie trip, a massage or a new pair of shoes.
    • Keep moving. Spend a long walk with your family or toss a football in the backyard. If you like to rest on the weekends, why make your rest more active?

    7. YOU HAVEN’T GIVEN YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME TO SEE THE RESULTS

    While experts recommend losing one to two pounds weekly, most of us probably don’t get that close. Remember, you must create a 500-calorie deficit daily for a week to lose one pound. 

    Calculating how many calories you burn while exercising might be difficult. A calorie calculator is one option. It frequently overestimates calories. Reducing the number of calories in meals is easy.

    The amount of calories you burn while exercising frequently depends on factors we can’t measure, such as how hard you work and how fit you are. Additionally, various variables play a role in weight loss, many of which are difficult to gauge or account for using the tools at our disposal. In that regard, your body may undergo changes that aren’t yet detectable by a scale or measuring tape.

    Be patient. Be patient. Give your body time to respond to what you’re doing. It may be weeks or months before you see significant changes, so don’t freak out if you’re not seeing results after a few weeks. Take it one day at a time to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the destination.

    8. YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION

    Some medical conditions and medications can contribute to weight gain. One condition known to affect weight is thyroid disease. 

    A thyroid deficiency can cause a decrease in metabolism and may lead to weight gain. While not everyone will find this true, exploring every avenue is essential if you’re genuinely following an exercise program and a clean diet and still not losing weight.

    9. YOU’VE HIT A PLATEAU

    As you start losing weight, you can notice that your progress slows and eventually stops. Your body gets more efficient and burns fewer calories as it adjusts to your workouts. At some time, almost everyone experiences a weight-loss plateau.

    The following are some typical causes of plateaus:

    • You consistently perform the same exercises. Every four to six weeks, switch up elements of your regimen to challenge your body and help it advance.
    • Your calorie intake is insufficient. You may stop losing weight if your body cannot support your level of activity.
    • Overtraining. When you exercise too much, your body may react by lowering the calories you burn for the rest of the day.

    Learn whether you’ve hit a plateau by keeping an exercise calendar and tracking your workouts, how often you change them and whether you’re working too hard or need to boost your intensity.

    10. YOU DON’T NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT

    Contrary to what you may have heard on the news or read in publications, not everyone needs to lose weight. Many of us have erroneous notions of a healthy weight and body type. 

    Everyone has a unique shape, and while we can alter how our bodies seem, we cannot modify their shape or make them become someone else’s.