Comscore Beacon
Tape measure on bathroom scales on a white tiled background with a bath robe

© GettyImages

Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight

10 Reasons Why You Might Be Struggling to Drop Lbs, According to Experts


There’s nothing more frustrating than getting your diet and fitness game in check only to realize you’ve lost precisely zero pounds — especially if you’ve been lacing up those sneakers and hitting your move goals on a regular basis.

RELATED: Best Weight Loss Apps and Trackers

Whether you’re just starting a workout routine or you’ve been hitting the gym for a couple of months now, if you’re not seeing the scale budge yet, it could be remedied with a very subtle lifestyle shift. We spoke to a handful of nutritionists, trainers, and wellness experts to get their insights on what you can do to boost your weight loss.

Note that while there are certainly small lifestyle shifts that you can do in order to kickstart your weight loss journey, if you suspect something might be wrong or feels off, consider speaking to your doctor to make sure everything is medically sound.

Back view of man throwing a medicine ball in a gym spaceGettyImages

You could be getting great results with your workouts and diet but the scale will deceptively tell you otherwise and that can be discouraging if you’re not sure what’s going on.

“If you're working out and lifting weights then your body is going to build muscle. As you build muscle you're probably also burning fat too (if you're eating well),” says certified personal trainer Josh Schlottman. “Muscle also weighs something too so the weight in fat you lose will be balanced out with muscle.”

According to Schlottman, you'll get a much more accurate picture of your progress by measuring your inches and body fat percentage (which some smart scales can track), or by taking note of how your clothes might be fitting differently, as opposed to focusing on a number on the scale.

Man exhausted on the floor after a workout text overlayGettyImages

“I've noticed guys who are working out too hard with intense exercise like HIIT find themselves eating more,” says Schlottman. “With intense exercise, your body is going to use glycogen stores for fuel.”

According to Schlottman, glycogen is essentially carbs and sugars stored in your muscle for energy. When you burn through these glycogen stores with intense exercise your body is going to crave more sugars and carbs to replenish them. So you'll end up eating more sugars and carbs that'll cause you to keep the weight on.

Plate with food portioned into a cornerGettyImages

When you go for extended periods of time in a caloric deficit your body will gradually start slowing down the metabolism and this will result in fewer calories burned throughout the day. 

“Your body slows down the metabolism as a survival mechanism — if it thinks you're not getting enough calories coming in then it thinks food is scarce so it needs to preserve what it has,” explains Schlottman. “You can easily break through this plateau by strategically adding some cheat meals once every week or two.”

Chocolate covered granola bars and blue text overlayGettyImages

“Even if you are continuing to eat the same number of calories and nutrient-rich foods that helped you initially lose weight, a plateau may indicate a new change in diet is needed. Another factor is unknowingly eating a large amount of inflammatory health foods,” explains Lisa Richards, author of The Candida Diet. “Many processed health foods contain a significant amount of fat, sodium, gluten, and/or refined carbohydrates. These ingredients can stall weight loss.”

The fix to this issue? Richards suggests increasing your physical activity or decreasing your calories. However, she also strongly suggests evaluating your diet for the quality of calories you're eating and the amount of processed health foods you're consuming. “These can easily be removed from your diet to help trigger weight loss and decrease inflammation.”

RELATED: How to Optimize Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition

Stopwatch on dinner plate, blue text overlayGettyImages

You are probably consuming your entire meal in less than 5-10 minutes which, according to Garret Seacat, head coach at Absolute Endurance, can lead to 25 percent or more calories being consumed! 

“Try to make it a conscious effort to take longer and slow down. Eat a bite then sit your fork down and catch up with someone at the table or watch a minute of TV then repeat,” suggests Seacat. “You have likely been eating so fast your sense of full is warped and you are going to fill full with food left on your plate once you slow down.”

Man in bed unable to sleep, blue text overlayGettyImages

How is your sleep? According to Kiran Dodeja Smith, certified holistic health coach, if it’s less than six to seven hours a night, it can have definite effects on your weight. Lack of sleep not only affects your metabolism but can also make it more difficult to maintain a healthy diet and active lifestyle. 

Man stressed at work at his laptop, blue text overlayGettyImages

How satisfied are you with your life? “Considering areas such as career, social life, relationships and more can have a profound effect on your weight, when these things are not aligned, your body can be off and you can have stress and not even realize it,” explains Smith.

Hand holding large sandwichGettyImages

“The American diet is so supersized, it is almost impossible to accurately predict the number of calories you are eating each day unless you measure and track them,” explains Dr. Leann Poston M.D., M.B.A., M.Ed. “It is a hassle, but if you really want to lose weight, use an app or other means to keep track of every calorie you eat!”

Apps such as Noom and MyFitnessPal have received great ratings and reviews for their meal tracking and calorie counting tools.

Man looking in the fridge at night, blue text overlayGettyImages

To break through and continue to shed the pounds, Max Whiteside, training expert at Bar Bend, suggests switching up your eating schedule. “I am a proponent of intermittent fasting. The premise of this diet is you will be eating fewer calories since you’re squeezing them into a narrower timeframe, as opposed to consuming them throughout the day,” he says.

There are different approaches to intermittent fasting, with the most popular being an 8:16 split. “This means you consume your calories in an eight-hour eating window and fast for the other 16 hours of the day,” Whiteside explains. “Other variations include 10:16, 16:10, or even 6:20 eating: fasting split.”

Man running up stairs outside, blue text overlayGettyImages

Another thing that you may be doing wrong is only centering your fitness attention around cardio — rather than adding a variety of workouts into the mix. Nelson Joseph, training expert at CardioZero suggests incorporating a few resistance training workouts into your routine, like lifting weights.

“This can help you to shed your stubborn fat and fill your body with healthy muscle. It can also boost your metabolism which can rapidly speed up your weight loss process,” explains Joseph.

You Might Also Dig:


Show comments