Nutrition Weight Loss

3 Reasons Why We Aren’t Losing Weight

why you aren't losing weight

Why is losing weight so darn hard? Why do Americans spend billions of dollars every year on dieting? Why are we so obsessed with losing weight fast, despite research that shows we will just gain it back?

A few reasons (in my opinion):

  1. Many of us have highly emotional relationships with food.  We don’t eat only out of hunger, but also out of boredom, stress, habit, peer or family pressure, etc.  This makes losing weight hard, because our emotional states will always vary and thus so will our weight.
  2. There are “food cues” all over our environment: at home, work, school, in the car, etc.  Everywhere we go, there is appealing, tasty, cheap food available.  We are biologically predisposed to want to eat whenever we see/smell/recognize food, and it’s hard to fight biology.
  3. We innately want to be lazy and our world is set up for laziness.  You don’t burn many calories if you commute far to a job at which you sit down all day, then commute home, have dinner, and watch TV until bedtime.  It requires effort to expend energy (a.k.a. burn calories), and we’re often too busy, stressed, lazy, etc. to put forth this effort.

There are many more reasons why people can’t maintain weight loss, but I believe these are some of the biggies.  So is permanent weight loss possible?  Yes. But it requires constant commitment, effort, social support, and some basic nutrition knowledge.

I hope that you’ll find some of what you need to be successful here on Eating Made Easy. If you’re a mom, our Lose the Baby Weight online class, beginning next week, is also a great way to get started on a path toward long term weight loss success.

And now, the winner of the Blendtec Giveaway……..

Thank you to everyone who entered the Blendtec and Stonyfield giveaway!

Comment #37 was selected as the winner, so congratulations to Margaret!!!!!!

why can't i lose weight

why can't i lose weight

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  • Reply
    Lisa Eirene (@LisaEirene)
    January 24, 2013 at 8:06 am

    One thing I tell people about this topic: are you lying to yourself about food? Meaning, if you’re counting point or calories, are you being honest about the portions/bites/nibbles/tastes while cooking,etc? All of those things add up! If you’re really eating 2x a portion size but logging 1 portion, the scale WILL reflect that!!!

    • Reply
      January 24, 2013 at 12:09 pm

      Great tip, Lisa – we have to be honest and straightforward with ourselves to make progress.

  • Reply
    Tony Rovere
    January 24, 2013 at 9:24 am

    In terms of the “food cues” you speak of in #2, the problem with those food cues is that they are all high-fat, high-calorie foods.

    Its gotten so bad that schools are letting in advertisements for soft drinks and junk food in an effort to deal with budget problems.

    We are teaching our kids to be fat and unhealthy at an early age…and it is getting worse all the time.

    • Reply
      January 24, 2013 at 12:08 pm

      You’re exactly right, Tony. It’s a multi-factorial problem for sure.

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