So often, I meet people who feel they have been putting in loads of effort for very little pay back from the scales for their effects!
There are lots of reasons this can happen, but let’s look at the most common ones.
Are you truly in a calorie deficit?
If you’re to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. You simply won’t lose weight unless you are.
Is it possible that you’re miscalculating your intake?
Are you over estimating how many calories you’re burning?
This follows on from the first point. If your fitness tracker tells you you’ve just burned 500 calories on your morning walk, it might not be quite accurate. If you then eat back those calories, you might well be eating back more than you used! There is some interesting research suggesting that people who take notice of the energy their tracker tells them they’ve expended actually lose less weight over a year than those who don’t consider the energy used during workouts.
Are you losing muscle?
If we reduce our protein intake while we’re trying to lose weight, we’re more likely to lose muscle mass. Likewise, if we either don’t exercise or we focus on aerobic exercise, we’re not promoting muscle maintenance. When our muscle mass reduces, the amount of energy our body needs to just stand still (i.e. our metabolic rate) reduces.
So, if you’re not already doing it, you should start exercising to maintain, or even gain, muscle mass.
Are you considering lifestyle factors?
Being stressed or sleeping poorly impacts your bodies ability to lose body fat. There are all sorts of hormonal things going on here, not least blood sugar dysregulation which will likely increase the food cravings you experience and make sticking to any plan much more difficult!
These are the most common reasons you’re not seeing results despite the effort you’re putting in – although there are more and I’d be delighted to chat through your individual situation if you’d like to, just send me a message.