Here’s Why You Might Not Be Losing Weight
Stepping on a scale can be intimidating, dreadful, and stressful enough… and all of those emotions seem to quadruple when the flashing number on the scale doesn’t reflect your efforts. “I’ve been trying, but I am not losing weight,” is a common concern I hear from clients. Of course, the results you experience from any change you implement will be very unique to you, your genetics, background, lifestyle, and habits. Still, there are a few general ways to begin to troubleshoot.
You’re not getting enough sleep.
Research suggests that lack of sleep can result in weight gain for a few probable reasons. First, when you’re tired, you have less energy. When you have less energy, you are more likely to lag during your workout if not skip it all together. Another consequence of lacking in energy can be reaching for more calorie dense snacks as your body strives to bridge your energy gap with food. Finally, there may be a connection between sleep deprivation and your body’s ability to manage hunger regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin. If you’re serious about weight loss, your best bet is to cut off your Netflix binge and get to bed at a more reasonable hour.
You aren’t accurately measuring your food portions.
The most important part of weight loss is maintaining a caloric deficit, or eating less than your body burns each day. When a new client first begins to track their food intake, I always recommend measuring to ensure accuracy. For example, if you choose not to measure your portions and consequently are 100 calories off for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, suddenly your goal of a 500 calorie deficit is now a 200 calorie deficit. Your ability to accurately measure and track your food can enhance results as you can be confident that you’re maintaining your caloric deficit. On the other hand, eyeballing portion sizes inaccurately can deter you from your desired results over time. If you feel like this might be an issue for you, spend a few weeks measuring out your food portions until you’re more comfortable making an accurate eyeball estimation.
You are “eating back” what you’ve burned in a workout
Fitness trackers can be great motivators as they give you a friendly nudge to get up from your seat, remind you to drink water, and track your sleep. However, a Stanford study suggests that there’s a good chance that your tracker is inaccurately reporting your energy expenditure, concluding that even the most accurate tracker was still off by 27% (the worst was off by 93%, yikes!). By “eating back” the “extra calories” you think you’ve burned, you could actually be surpassing your daily calorie goal and consequently deterring from your desired results.
Your body needs a break.
Your body responds to a caloric deficit with weight loss until it is able to adapt. When that happens, you’ll hit a weight loss plateau. At this point, you have two options: increase your caloric deficit, or take a break and enter either a maintenance or a reverse diet period. Increasing your caloric deficit is a great option if you still have some wiggle room and feel that you can eat a little less and still have energy and quality of life. However, if the thought of eating less seems unfathomable, it probably is! So take a break. Give your body, metabolism, and your mind time to reset for at least a month before returning to a deficit.
You have a negative relationship with food and or exercise
Many of us have been severely impacted by diet culture, whether it be on its insistence that we cut out all fat, carbs, and even entire food groups, or that all men should be muscular and all women should weigh less than 120 pounds. Many diet and workout programs encourage that you eat as little as possible while simultaneously moving as much as possible. They make you feel good for eating a salad and guilty for eating a cheeseburger. They can make exercise seem like a punishment for eating. They can make us cut out and miss our favorite foods dearly… until we break, eat them in copious amounts, and then promise to “start with a clean slate” on Monday. And the cycle just continues.
If this sounds all too familiar with you, my best recommendation is to work with a coach to help you heal your relationship with food and exercise so you can discover a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle without shame, guilt, or stress.
Not sure where to start but know that you’re ready to commit to weight loss? Click here to schedule a complimentary consultation. Together, we’ll narrow down what obstacles you face, devise a plan to help you overcome them, and communicate frequently to make sure everything is going to plan along the way.
