7 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight And How To Fix That

Weight loss is a slow and brutal process. It’s both mentally and physically draining, and what a lot of people fail to understand is that it’s not about what types of foods you eat, it’s how much you eat.

Along with monitoring the amount of food you consume, you also need to monitor a few other things that are important variables in your weight loss journey.

Let’s get one thing straight here, in order to lose weight your body must be in a caloric deficit.

A caloric deficit is when you provide your body with fewer calories than it needs to support calorie expenditure.

Calories in < Calories out

In order to create a caloric deficit, you first need to figure out what your maintenance caloric intake is. Maintenance calories are simply the amount of calories you consume on a daily basis that allow you to look and function the way you do.

You can utilize a caloric calculator online, which will base your intake off your weight, height, activity level, sex, and age or you could get a better idea by simply tracking your daily intake and your weight for 7–10 days. I use My Fitness Pal.

Afterward, you can create your deficit by consuming fewer calories and increasing your physical activity levels.

Now that we got the basics out of the way, I want to jump into a few reasons as to why you could potentially not be losing weight outside of not being in a deficit. It’s important to understand that there are several variables that play into weight loss, and food is just one of several.

1. Exercise

Exercising is one of the most important things you need to do when losing weight. Resistance training, lifting weights, cardio, all of these forms of physical activity will help you burn fat.

Physical activity will increase the number of calories your body uses for energy or to burn off. The burning of calories through physical activity, combined with reducing the number of calories you eat, creates a “calorie deficit” that results in weight loss.

If you’re not used to going to the gym, try starting off easy. Take more walks, light jogs, go on a bike ride. Do what makes you feel good and most importantly, get your heart rate up.

2. Binge Eating Healthy Food

I touched base on caloric deficits because some people don’t understand that despite eating salads all day, you could still be eating in a caloric surplus.

If you eat over 2000 calories worth of spinach and your maintenance caloric intake is 1800, you’re in a 200 calorie surplus which means you will gain weight.

No matter how healthy the food is, remember it will always boil down to calories in < calories out.

3. You’re Drinking Your Calories

Have you ever taken a look at the ingredients on your beverages? Did you know that a grande vanilla latte from Starbucks has over 250 calories?

How often do you get a smoothie and call it your lunch then sit hungry for the rest of the day?

It’s easy to drink juices and energy drinks and not consider their caloric intake. Especially when they are labeled as “healthy.”

When trying to lose weight, it’s best to avoid all sugary drinks. If you absolutely can’t, opt for sugar-free or calorie-free alternatives.

4. Lack of Quality Sleep

Sleep is a huge contributor for weight loss. If your sleep is off, your hormones are off, and when your hormones are off, weight loss becomes significantly more challenging.

Sleep is what allows your body to truly rest, your neurons are regenerating, your hormones are getting reset, your cognitive function will significantly be better, your central nervous system will be regenerated and your muscles will be stronger and much more efficient.

Lack of sleep has also shown a significant increase in appetite, which is something you would like to avoid when trying to lose weight.

Try your best to get 8–9 hours of quality sleep a night. Avoid caffeine in the evenings, make sure your room is dark and quiet, prioritize your sleep.

5. You’re Not Drinking Enough Water

If you’re not drinking enough water, you’re most likely not having regular bowel movements, which means you’re bloated, inflamed, and your energy levels are at -0.

Water helps flush your system, and it can also lead to a decrease in caloric intake if you drink enough throughout the day.

Try to always have a refillable water bottle nearby and keep yourself hydrated.

There’s no right answer for how much water you should have in a day but if you’re peeing clear 4–5x a day, then you’re on the right track.

6. You’ve Hit A Plateau

If you’ve been dieting for a long period of time and eating the same foods and exercising the same exact way with little to no progress, chances are, your body has adapted and you need to change things up.

Surprise your body with a new workout routine, play around with your caloric intake, do something different.

7. Your Hormones Are Out of Balance

Calories matter. However, something even more important to consider are your hormones.

If your hormones are out of whack, your body does not care that you are eating less and training more. In fact, by doing those things you are stressing your body out even more and your weight loss will be stunted.

A lot of diets don’t work because people fail to address the hormonal root causes that are the most common reasons for weight loss resistance.

If you’re ticking off all the correct boxes and you’re still struggling to lose weight, your hormones could be causing issues for you.

These are a few of the many variables that can affect weight loss. I understand it’s a challenge, and I hope that providing some of this vital information you can reassess and figure out what is stunting your weight loss journey.