10 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight

If you’ve been eating a healthy diet and working out regularly for a long time but are struggling to see the weight loss results you desire, you might be doing a few things wrong. Here are 10 reasons why you’re probably not losing weight.

You overcompensate for exercise

Many of us think that we can eat whatever we want after our workouts, since we just got done burning calories. We often justify our snacking as a reward and we feel that it is okay to splurge, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, many of us actually overestimate the amount of calories we burn while working out, which can actually make us gain weight if we’re not careful. Instead of snacking on cupcakes and ice cream after your workouts, don’t eat anything at all and if you must eat something, make sure it’s a healthy snack.

You’re not getting enough sleep

Not only will sleep deprivation have a negative impact on your performance in the gym, but it can slow down your metabolism, increase your cravings for junk food and make it easier for your body to burn muscle and store fat. Always make sure you’re getting a solid 8 hours of sleep per night.

You’re drinking too many sugary drinks

So you’re eating plenty of whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats, but you still like to have your occasional soda every once and a while? Even if you just have one soda per day, it comes out to be around 150 calories. ALL calories count when you’re trying to lose weight, even the liquid ones. Just keep that in mind next time you’re reaching for a fruit smoothie or soft drink.

You’re eating large portions

It doesn’t matter how healthy you eat; if you’re eating too many healthy foods you will still gain weight! In fact, consuming fewer calories than your body needs each day is the only way to lose weight. In essence, you could eat nothing but twinkies all day long and still lose weight, since the only thing required for weight loss is a calorie deficit. Of course this is not a good idea, but I’m just trying to get a point across – weight loss occurs because of a calorie deficit and nothing else.

You’re eating too little

Although eating too much food can make it difficult for you to lose weight, eating too little can have the exact same negative impact. Your body has a natural survival instinct built in and when you slip too low on your calories, your body will immediately enter starvation mode, which will slow down your metabolism and make your body burn fewer calories. This will make it much more difficult to lose weight.

You’re not consistent

Probably the worst thing you can do is consuming too few calories one day and consuming too many calories the next day. If you’re making drastic changes to your calorie intake on a regular basis, you’re going to wreak havoc with your metabolism and you’ll end up slowing your metabolism and storing fat. As you don’t eat enough one day, the next day you eat way too many calories and your body has a difficult time adjusting to this rapid change in such a short period of time.

You don’t vary your workouts

If you’ve fallen victim of the notion that you never have to change your workouts and you’ll still see results, think again. Not only will doing the same workouts over and over again have a negative effect on your motivation, but your body will quickly become adapted to your workouts and you won’t see as good of results. This means your body will burn fewer calories during your workouts and you won’t see as good of results.

You don’t need to lose weight

With the increase of the obesity epidemic in the US and across the world, more and more people are trying to lose weight. Although it is common knowledge that many people do not need to shed additional body weight, don’t fall victim to the notion that you don’t either. You should always ask your doctor or physician if you are at a healthy body weight and if you’re not, ask them what an ideal body weight for your height and sex would be. If you’re underweight, it might be time to start gaining weight.

Your weight isn’t a true reflection of body fat

Many people obsess over the scale weight to determine how much weight they’ve gained or lost. While a scale will tell you how much you weigh, it won’t tell you how much of that weight is muscle, fat, water, bones, organs, skin and so on. For instance, if you’re lifting weights on a regular basis, you might be gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time, but the scale weight might not be moving up or down. This is why I don’t recommend always trusting the scale. To get a more accurate prediction of your body fat percentage, buy a set of skinfold calipers and measure your body fat this way.

You have a medical condition

Medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid issues and hormonal imbalances can make it incredibly difficult to lose weight. In addition to this, hidden food allergies might make it more difficult to lose weight as well. While your medical conditions probably aren’t the only factor that is contributing to your weight gain, the side effects of some medications can make it easier to store fat, so always talk to your doctor about the medications your struggling to lose weight.