5 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Weight

Did you ever get to that point when it feels like you’ve been trying every diet in the world, and still, nothing has helped you achieve your weight-loss goal? We are certain that some of you have been watching every calorie, denying themselves all the things they love to eat the most—and are still not losing weight.

Why is that happening? Well, have have gathered a list of 5 things that might seem small, at first, but in time can really have an impact on your progress.

 

1. You’ve Been Dieting For Far Too Long

When was the last time you left the table feeling truly satisfied after a meal? If you always have that annoying feeling of hunger, after you’ve just finished eating, that thing must change.

One of the biggest reasons you may not be burning fat like you’d hoped might be that you’ve simply been dieting too long. Long periods of dieting can force your body to adapt to this lifestyle, and go into an reduced-calorie state. This starvation mode slows down your metabolism. Sure, you’re consuming fewer calories, but you’re also burning fewer, which means you’re not making any progress.

If this sounds like you, take a break. Seriously! Don’t be afraid to go back to your normal eating for 2-4 weeks. You’re just taking one step back so you can keep seeing results in the long run.

 

 

2. You Fail To Stick To Your Plans On The Weekends

How many times have you heard your friends say that they’re faithful to their diet…during the week? But as soon as the weekend comes, these same strict dieters fall off the wagon—hard. The weekend is almost 30% of your total week. If you follow your diet only 70% of the time, it’s no wonder you aren’t seeing the results you’re after

If you still want to remain indulgent with yourself, try the aproximately 90/10 rule instead: Follow your diet 6 days of the week, and then add a cheat day on the seventh.

 

3. Your Measurements Of Your Meals Are Off

Probably the most common reason people don’t lose the weight is because they simply aren’t measuring their food correctly. Let’s take for example a situation when you’re preparing for bed, but you could use a little snack. You stick your spoon into the peanut butter jar and drop a generous portion into your Greek yogurt.

But wait. How much peanut butter was on that spoon?

If you’ve been estimating it to be about one tablespoon, yet it’s closer to two, you’ve just added 80-100 calories to your diet.

And you wonder why your diet isn’t working! Peanut butter is a good example because it’s calorie dense and you don’t usually get out the measuring spoons for a little dab of it. Make the same mistake with other high-calorie foods such as steak, salmon, pasta, or nuts, and it’s easy to see why the extra kilograms seem to keep sticking around and you end up not losing weight.

 

4. You Rely On Cardio Instead Of Weights, To Burn Calories

To lose weight, you must work out hard, right? There’s nothing wrong with heading to the gym with the sole purpose of burning calories—unless you get too fixated on this one indicator. If you just want to burn calories, you’re far more likely to hop on the cardio machines the entire time, simply because these machines spit out a calorie-burn number, making it easy to track your progress.

Barbells offer no such calorie numbers, even though lifting can produce the most significant changes to your body. Not only does lifting help you burn fat overall, it also helps reshape your body.

That’s why at least 70 percent of your workout should be spent lifting weights. Cardio exercises are great, but they should be the icing on the cake, something to improve the results produced by strength training. Don’t rely on cardio alone to put yourself in a calorie deficit.

 

5. You Deserve A Treat After A Good Workout?

Finally, beware of this common post-workout mistake: Treating yourself to a big snack after a big workout. Whether you snack or not after exercising, you will retain all the strength and cardiovascular improvements you gained during that workout session. But, if you follow it with a big smoothie or a bagel with cream cheese, you can end up calorie neutral after all your sweat and hard labor.

You need those carbs post-workout. Just remember that those calories count. You absolutely do want to refuel post-workout, just don’t consume another 400 calories in the process. It’s just going to make losing weight harder.

If you want to be updated on more nutrition and workout related topics, make sure you download our DWP Fitness App and get focused on your fitness goals.