10 Common Reasons Why You Are Not LOSING WEIGHT?!! – PART 1
This topic needs no introduction. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who has tried to lose weight even once in their lifetime has faced this issue. You seem to be doing everything correctly but you are not LOSING THE DAMN WEIGHT.
This obviously is a genuine enough reason for frustration and dismay. And it is the most common reason why people QUIT.
But before you get all NEGATIVE that this “Weight Loss” thing can’t be done or it’s just not for you. WAIT. There are things you can look into before you get on the quitting train. And there may be a possibility that you are doing some things wrong.
You see, fitness is not a one-size fits all. Everyone’s body is a little different and everyone reacts differently to food and exercise. It is mostly trail and error and trail and error again. But there are some common tenets that we can all rely on and common mistakes that we all tend to make.
Below are a few things that I would like you to evaluate and if needed, change to kickstart your weight loss journey:
Are you under-eating or over-eating?
It is very common to make either of the two mistakes – under-eating and over-eating.
Some people tend to severely under-eat and go on crazy diets that wreak havoc in their bodies. Eating as low as 400-500 calories are day is basically pushing your body to extremes. You are starving yourself and this will only put more stress on your body. And any kind of stress as we all know is one of the main reasons you are storing fat. Starvation leads the body to think only of survival and hence it is the body’s natural response to storing fat to provide nutrition and not let you die incase of a famine. So, stop shying away from food thinking you will magically shed a few kilos.
The second most common thing is over-eating. This too is an extreme you don’t wanna go to. Many people start doing hours of cardio or other exercises and since exercise makes them even more hungry, they end up overshooting their targets. In order to lose any weight, there has to be a calorie deficit. What this means is you have to eat a little bit less everyday than what your body actually requires or you have to burn a little extra every day or you can do a combination of both which is recommended.
The other common thing people don’t realize is that it is way to easy to over-eat healthy things. Yes, unsweetened peanut butter is good for you and even nuts, seeds and dark chocolate but they are very calorie dense (read high calorie) and so you can only consume low to moderate amounts of such foods. Do a proper research of the foods that you wanna include in your diet and make sure you are meeting you daily calorie goals. It is recommended to start with a 20-25% deficit of your maintenance calories and have some activity throughout the day to consistently lose weight.
Are you under-exercising or over-exercising?
This is also another common mistake. Some people won’t get off the couch and some refuse to rest. Both these things can be hindering your progress. Don’t avoid exercise at all costs. Exercising has many health benefits such as being a mood enhancer and a stress buster. However, there are folks who crash and burn because they try to do too much too fast. Too much exercising can stress out your body a lot which is not a good thing for your overall health. Read about overexercising in detail here.
It is recommended to get a minimum 150 minutes of exercise in a week. How you divide this time is your personal decision. The type of exercise also matters A LOT. If you are just doing basic Yoga moves chances are you will not burn enough calories to see the pounds off. Don’t get me wrong Yoga is very good for health and fitness and making it a part of your daily regime is a good thing. However, if your goal is weight loss you will require more of moderate to high intense activity in your day-to-day life along with some Yoga.
Are you getting sufficient shut eye?
This one is the most overlooked reason for weight gain. Sleep deprivation is one of the worst things you can do to your body. And if you do it constantly, you’re screwed. Human bodies were designed to work during sunlight hours and rest at nighttime. But modern lifestyles have reversed the process.
Now, I understand some of you aren’t fortunate enough and may have to work graveyard shifts. That’s okay. Do the best you can with what you have. Get plenty of rest during the day. Preferably use blackout curtains or masks to trick the body into thinking it is nighttime and get some quality shut eye.
For those of you who work during the day, there should be no excuses for not getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep daily. Sleep is very very important as the body repairs itself during the night and rejuvenates you to perform the next day. Constantly sleeping less is another way to stress your body out. NOT GOOD.
And if you are still not convinced, SLEEPING BURNS A LOT OF CALORIES. So, go sleep now.
Are you constantly jumping on weighing machines and ignoring non-scale victories?
Your weight will fluctuate during the day depending on how much you have eaten, whether you have gone to the bathroom, how much water you are drinking, how much you are sweating, if you are bloated and so on. Multitude of reasons, really, especially if you are a girl hormonal changes can make you gain some weight one day and lose it the next day. So measuring your weight five hundred times a day will get you nowhere and only cause you frustration and disappointment. Healthy approach is to weigh yourself once a week to make sure you are progressing in the right direction and stop worrying about the daily fluctuations, because they won’t go no matter how much you worry about them.
Another very important measure of progress are non-scale victories which basically stand for measurements of your body taken at different places such as waist, arms, thighs, hips etc. It is highly probable that if you’re lifting weights you are building muscle and losing fat at the same time. Hence, you may not see a decrease in weight and it may even increase. DON’T PANIC. Take your measurements weekly. If your measurements are getting smaller and your clothes fit you better that means you are witnessing some pretty cool non-scale victories. You are on the right path. So keep going and soon you will see the scales tip in your favour too.
Are you ignoring the weights?
Another very common mistake especially by girls. Lifting Weights Will Make Women Bulky is a MYTH. Some useful benefits of lifting are –
- More muscles = more calories burned = you can eat more
- Toned body overall
- Six pack abs
- More fat loss = speed up your weight loss process
- Optimum performance in other workouts
- Curves in the right places
- Better sleep and digestion
- Good for heart and bone health““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`
- Mood booster and stress reliever
Read more about the weight lifting myth here.
So, these were the 5 most common reasons that you are not losing weight.
I cut this blog in half because it was turning out to be waaaay too long. Stay tuned for PART 2 of this post where I will share the other 5. 🙂
