Real, healthy, lasting weight loss is not just about calories in and calories out. Nor is it solely reliant on a strict diet or intense exercise. It’s about everything – all of the various environmental signals that affect how our genes express themselves, our thoughts and mood, the supplements we take (or don’t take), the lifestyle we live, the amount of sleep we get, our willpower, you name it. As you learn about these elements of your life, you’ll understand why you aren’t losing weight.
Like most things that anyone strives for, effectively losing weight can be filtered down to one truth…
It’s about creating good habits and eliminating the bad ones.
Today’s article will highlight 13 various areas of your life that you may be neglecting and how modifying them can help with your weight loss goals.
Reason #1 why you aren’t losing weight: You think you’re eating healthy but you’re not
Your diet should not consist of heavy amounts of processed foods or products. Your food should be real.
Diet soda, gluten-free bread, low-carb noodles, organic candy – that’s not real. You’re just feeding an addiction and consuming empty calories.
Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat – they are real and they should make up the majority of your food intake.
Losing weight is about way more than just low-carb. Get rid of all of the crap “healthy” products and eat what you know is good for you.
Reason #2 why you’re not losing weight: You’re under too much stress
The stress response system is subconscious and responds only to stimuli either from within or from your outside environment.
No matter where you stress comes from, it temporarily puts you in a state of fight or flight where your body products cortisol, a hormone that breaks down muscle and promotes the storage of fat.
For our hunter gatherer ancestors, this stress response hormone was intense, infrequent, and served to increase our chances of survival. Today, although the life/death stresses of our ancestors are gone, the stress isn’t. Pushy bosses, traffic jams, relationship problems, school work – all of it keeps us in a stressful state.
Take a step back from your life and take note of your stress levels. For a lot of us, we don’t even realize we are stressed because we’ve grown accustomed to the feeling of being chronically stressed out.
Try meditation, gratitude journaling, or take a moment out of your day to be fully present. No thinking of the past of the future, just the now. This may be the missing link that’s holding you back.
Reason #3 you’re not losing weight: Your carbohydrate intake is too high
There’s so much confusion out there about what the optimal carbohydrate intake is if you want to lose weight and it doesn’t help that there’s hundreds of Instagram and Youtube ads that show a person devouring carbs while showing off their six pack abs.
Carbs are only a small part of the puzzle and it’s unrealistic to think that the only way to gain muscle and lose weight is by upping carb intake.
In fact, eating lots of carbs inhibits your body from burning fat for energy and their sources are generally full of lots of empty calories and sugar.
When you limit the carbs you eat, you can put your body into a state of ketosis (where you burn fat for energy) and start losing weight with ease.
If you want to seriously lose weight, lowering your carbohydrate intake as much as possible is key.
Reason #4 you’re not losing weight: You’re adding muscle
If you’re working hard in the gym, don’t get discouraged when your weight doesn’t change, or if it even goes up. The scale never tells the whole story – you may be lowering your body fat percentage, but you’re also putting on muscle.
Working out also increases your bone density, another factor that will affect that number on the scale.
Reason #5 you’re not losing weight: You’re not active enough
Frequent movement can have hugely profound effect on any weight loss initiative.
Going hard in the gym a few days a week and then sitting for the rest of the time is not going to get you the results you want.
Adding consistent, low intensity activities to your daily routine is what is going to make the difference between you achieving or falling short of your health and weight goals. Try yoga, go for morning walks, take a stretch break from sitting every 30 minutes.
It’s the little things that eventually add up to something huge.
Reason #6 you’re not losing weight: You’re doing too much chronic cardio
Too much cardio is bad in any sense, but especially when it comes to losing weight. Cardio demands lots of energy from your body, so it turns to burning glycogen/carbs and will spur cravings for sugar to replenish those lost reserves.
You’ll be stuck in a cycle of cardio -> carb and sugar cravings until you shorten all long, intense cardio sessions.
Reason #7 you’re not losing weight: You haven’t tried intermittent fasting
I talk a lot about intermittent fasting on my Instagram and have previously explained what it is and how it works.
I.F is a great tool to break through any weight loss plateau and is a skill that can be learned by anyone.
It’s easiest to start when you have already transitioned to eating clean food because you’ve already tamed most of the cravings. However, it’s not impossible if you haven’t. In fact, I recently wrote a post on how to be healthy without actually eating healthy foods. Start by going as long as you can without feeling hunger in the morning. Try to go a little longer every day until you can make it until lunch.
Once you’ve got intermittent fasting nailed down, you can start exercising in a fasted state to maximize the metabolic advantage it offers.
Reason #8 you’re not losing weight: You give yourself cheat days
Cheat days are not a part of a healthy lifestyle. What they represent is an escape from suffering – and under no circumstance should your diet/lifestyle include any suffering.
Work on building a lifestyle and eating habits that you can sustain in the long term with ease and that brings you joy. I highly recommend the Paleo/Weston A. Price foundation diet but you don’t need to put a name too it. Focus on eating real food – meats, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits that are organic, non-gmo, etc.
Reason #9 you’re not losing weight: you’re eating too much
Calories in vs. calories out isn’t the end all be all like it is made out to be, however, it is a piece of the puzzle.
As you approach your ideal weight, the last few pounds will take more effort and more tools than those that helped you to get this far. You’ve got to tighten things up and make sure you’re not eating too much.
Reason #10 you’re not losing weight: you’ve already reached your optimal weight
Congratulations! You’ve already reached your ideal weight and your body is not going to let you drop any more.
Your body knows best and if you’ve got the healthy diet, the healthy lifestyle, the right environment, and taken care of all these other reasons I’ve mentioned, you’re probably at your suite spot.
At this point, just focus on how good you feel and the goals that you’ve achieved. Don’t obsess over a few more pounds.
Reason #11 you’re not losing weight: You’re low on willpower
Do you get easily distracted, procrastinate, make excuses to skip the gym, or simply refuse to commit to a healthy diet?
That’s a willpower problem.
Willpower is a muscle that must be practiced and used. When your tempted to make an excuse for a bad habit/lack of willpower, immediately do something. Anything. Build momentum through one small action. That’s all it takes.
Go for a walk if you really don’t want to go to the gym. Do yoga. Stand rather than sit at your desk all day.
Make sure you also get very clear on your reasons. Knowing your why and being clear on why you want to lose weight leads to better and more consistent results in the long-term.
Reason #12 you’re not losing weight: You haven’t focused enough on diet
Diet and lifestyle is more important that exercise when it comes to weight loss. The food you eat makes up every single living cell in your body. If you eat crap, you and your body are going to look and act like crap.
Get passed the barriers that are stopping you from going out and getting in the best health of your life. Raise you willpower. Commit to learning about a healthier diet right now and begin right now.
Reason #13 you’re not losing weight: You aren’t sleeping enough
Sleep deprivation causes the release of the stress hormone, cortisol – the hormone that promotes fat storage and muscle loss. Not getting enough sleep is linked to weight gain, not to mention the other health problems associated with not getting the proper rest and healing your body needs.
Get plenty of sleep (7-8 hours) consistently, every single night.
Wrap-Up
Now you’ve got 13 more strategies in your tool-belt to finally tackle your fitness, health, and weight loss goals.
Which reason above has been holding you back the most?
What are you going to do about it?
Let me know right now in the comments!
