Connect with us

Weight Loss

Four Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight

Published

on

Losing weight is tough – that’s a fact nobody can argue. However, the reason we’re not losing weight isn’t always the most obvious. Here are four things that commonly hinder weight loss and which just might be the reason you’re not losing weight.

You’re relying on exercise:

Exercise is great: it burns calories, increases our strength, stamina, and the health of our heart, and tones our body. But on its own, it will not be enough to lose weight.

Unfortunately, there’s a commonly held belief that we can eat what we want as long as we burn it off in the gym. However, we tend to greatly underestimate how long it will take to burn off that large Big Mac meal or half a takeaway pizza. Most people will burn 400-500 calories with an hour of vigorous exercise, so unless eating what you want means eating not that much, relying on exercise for weight loss simply won’t work.

You’re not consistent enough:

To successfully lose weight you need to monitor calories and stick rigidly to your exercise routine. The problem a lot of people have is that they will be really good for a few days or even a few weeks, but then they will lose their motivation and resort to their old ways. This might only be for a short while before they get back on track, but for most people, it is enough to undo their good work.

If you have a pattern of dieting and not dieting, or exercising then not exercising, this is probably the reason you’re not being successful in losing weight.

You don’t actually need to lose weight:

We all have a ‘happy’ weight for our body (even though this often doesn’t match the weight our head wants), and when we reach it, our body will fight us to stay there. So if you’re struggling to lose weight, the reason could simply be that your body doesn’t want you to lose it.

However, even if this is the case, it doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight; you’re just going to have to try a heck of a lot harder than you thought you were. But, if this is your situation, you should think carefully about whether you really do need to lose weight, before going to extremes that could potentially be very harmful.

You’re underestimating what you eat:

Unless you’re monitoring every calorie, there is a very high chance that you are underestimating the amount you actually consume.

It’s very easy to say yes to a biscuit in the office, or second helpings at dinner, or a packet of crisps from the vending machine, and then completely forget about it. It’s these ‘forgotten’ calories that stop so many people from losing weight.