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23 reasons why you can’t lose weight!

23 Λόγοι που δεν χάνεις λίπος!

Whereas you are convinced you do whatever possible to lose fat, the scale refuses to budge. Don’t get disappointed since the reasons why you are not losing weight are known and will be explained for you below.

 

  1. You eat too much healthy food.

For some reason many people believe that since a food is healthy it can be consumed freely in big portions. I remember characteristically when I was told by a client “I am on the perfect diet, but I’m still not losing weight”. When I asked her what exactly was she eating I found out that her breakfast included three slices of wholemeal bread covered with tahini and honey. In this case, her “perfect diet” was related to the healthy choices of food rather than the amount of it. In other words, there is a chance that you’re not losing weight because you start your day with over 600 calories whereas the appropriate number is around 350 calories. Dry nuts, tahini, honey, wholemeal pasta and many more are highly nutritional but should be consumed accordingly. When we aim to fat loss we should also aim to reduced caloric intake.

 

  1. You don’t exercise

It is true that diet plays a significant role in fat loss but you’re not going to achieve the desired result without exercise. In fact, not training your body is the most important reason why you can’t lose weight since achieving fat loss requires maintenance of muscle mass. Supposed that you are on a low calorie intake diet and your training is chilling on your sofa, two things can happen. You may not lose weight and even if you do, you will miss all the vital benefits of muscle mass in metabolism, overall health and wellness of your body. Plus, chances for a well-shaped strong body are eliminated.

 

  1. You rely only on exercise

Another common reason why people can’t lose weight is because they expect to get thinner just by exercising, whereas their eating habits are so wrong. In the beginning you may witness a slight change but soon you’ll be wondering why you can’t lose fat and weight. Even if you burn a significant number of calories within the gym, you won’t see the scale going down unless you maintain a well-balanced diet. By exercising you achieve muscle strengthening and calories burning. So, you’ll possibly see the scale going up due to muscle mass growth. However, the fat of your body remains the same but this can change because the natural procedures of your organism will help you burn this fat. In order to see these results, you should be aware of your food choices and all the factors that can deter these procedures.

 

  1. You chose to do just aerobic exercise

If your best and only type of exercising is running, then have some doubts on whether you’ll see results. To be more specific, in the beginning there might be some improvement, but at a point you’ll realise that you have stopped losing weight. The reason why this happens is because constant aerobic exercise, except for the desired fat loss, causes also the catabolism of muscle mass, something really negative. Plus, our organism gets adjust for the sake of energy economy. In other words, even if you keep on running the same distance with the same intensity, you’ll burn fewer calories than before.

 

  1. You eat too much in order to replace energy loss

In order to lose weight we need increased burning so we start working out. In this way, at the end of the day we manage to burn more calories than we have perceived within the day. Imagine you return home and enjoy a big meal, regaining all the calories that you have burnt during that workout. You feel the need to replenish lost energy but your body can do that for you by using its existing fat.  So, if you take a high-carb meal, the process I described before will not happen and probably this is the reason why you cannot lose weight no matter what you do.

Moreover, it is common that people overestimate the work that has been done within the gym and think they deserve a big big meal. This is not wise; however, imagine that the average trainee who runs 5kms burns 300 to 400 calories. In order to compensate for this loss someone needs to eat let’s say only 1/3 of cup of rice with2 carrots, 2 boiled eggs with one pepper or 100gr of tuna with one tomato. These small portions are way far from the huge meals people enjoy after training, under the excuse of the need for replenishing lost energy.

 

  1. You don’t sleep well

This is such an important reason why you can’t lose weight and sadly people don’t take it into consideration. You go to sleep very late! During sleep time anabolic processes take place, in other words, your metabolism works for your goal.  Whatever you were trying to achieve during exercise will be done during sleep. What is more, loss of sleep during night time goes together with high cortisol levels. As a consequence, you crave for more food than necessary and your body accumulates fat even if you maintain a well-balanced diet. Keep also in mind that cortisol and belly fat storage go hand-in-hand.

 

  1. You are on stress

One other factor that affects cortisol levels is stress and this alone means fat accumulation.  Elevated cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, is associated with fat storage plus it leads to wrong nutritional choices. In stressful periods is hard to keep a healthy diet and is very likely to indulge in wrong food choices which contain many fats, sugar and carbs.

 

  1. You don’t count the calories you get from your food

Now if you are the kind of person who hates counting the calories of your portions and just make rough estimates about it, your chances of seeing results are very low. There is the possibility of consuming even 800 more calories than you should unless you are aware of your caloric intake. Also, by following a diet with negative caloric balance you may miss up to 300 calories intake, something which is also negative. So, instead of questioning why you’re not losing weight start counting your daily caloric intake.

 

  1. You give 100% of your energy from the start

People say that every start is tough and is true but, interestingly, what I have witnessed so far is that trainees start with much enthusiasm and joy. However, this strong motivation and determination to lose weight gets lost very early, probably because the strategy you have chosen is very demanding and doesn’t work for you. You need to have realistic expectations and realize that you cannot reach the result you want within a day.  One day you were eating like a horse and the other you arrange seven trainings in a row and choose steamed vegetables for meal. These changes are extravagant and lead to frustration and failure. Instead, try to make a smooth shift in your daily habits, changing little things such as what you eat, how you eat, how you sleep.

 

  1. You consume energy drinks and gels while you train

Common mistake in the field of athletics is when methods which are used in advanced competitive sports are introduced to common trainees. Consuming gels and energy drinks is a good way to replenish lost energy and minerals but only within the context of long and highly demanding trainings.  In a case, however, where you exercise for at least one hour and you just want to achieve a nice fitness, these drinks offer you just calories! The lack of energy and the exhaustion you may feel, is part of the training stimulus your body needs to experience in order to see the numbers in your scale decreasing.

 

  1. You get many calories from drinks

The number of calories that should be received within a day is specific. Many people think that whatever is in liquid form has no calories. Guess what! They do have and actually in great proportion. Just think that by drinking two soft drinks you cover the one third of your recommended daily calorie intake. Hypothetically, in order to compensate for this you should omit eating something that would provide you with this one third. What actually happens is that the carbs contained in liquid form don’t make you feel full so your hunger won’t go away and it is very likely that you will eat again and therefore receive these calories. The same applies to your everyday drinking coffee habit. Some people drink two or three of them with sugar and they are not aware that they receive so many calories. To make long story short, you may think you follow a well-balanced diet but you don’t take into consideration some crucial details. Therefore, you are not losing weight. As for diet drinks with zero sugar, keep in mind that all latest research has shown that they increase the possibility of gaining weight. The reason why is because the sweetening substances contained within act as a stimulus to the brain and create an emotional attachment with sugar. Then craving for sugar never stops!

 

  1. You are impatient about seeing results

You feel that you can’t lose weight no matter what you do and you expect results fast. You are frustrated and one possible reason for this is that you act impatiently and don’t give to your body the proper time to manifest change. Even if all of your choices and efforts are the right ones, the least you should wait to see some results is ten days. Try not to weigh yourself before the passing of this period. Otherwise, you will lose your motivation believing that your strategies don’t work. So, give time to your body and be patient!

 

  1. You have chosen the wrong type of exercise

The ways to train your body are hundreds and there is a big chance that you have chosen one that doesn’t work for you. It is probable that you didn’t have an expert to take guidance from and your criteria to choose your type of exercising was what appeals to you most. However, the wise way to decide is whether the type of training serves your purpose and not your liking. Needless to say, whatever requires effort is what eventually will bear fruits. If you have chosen a program with low energy demands then it is very likely to be in the wrong way.

 

  1. You have chosen the right type of exercise but its intensity is low

Intensity is a basic component of your program and plays a significant role to a successful training. If you workouts are characterized by low intensity and long breaks then they are far from the type of exercise that will help you lose fat. Increased intensity is totally connected with increased energy consumption, hence, with calorie burning.

 

  1. You have chosen the right type of exercise but its training volume is low

Training volume is the total amount of training that has been done by the trainee within a week. If the target of your trainings is to burn fat, then the term volume can also relate to the amount of calories that was burnt again within a week. In a case that your workouts display high intensity but low training volume, the total number of burnt calories will be small. If you are constantly asking yourself why I can’t lose weight then take the above into account and be aware that it takes serious planning to set a training that balances intensity and volume.

 

  1. Your only criteria on food choices is taste

Nowadays, people choose their food based mostly on its taste. They neglect whether what they eat provides them with high nutritional benefits. However, nurturing is vital for the maintenance of the natural procedures of the body. Our organism needs minerals, vitamins, anti-oxidants and many more in order to cope with these procedures. Eating healthily is our fuel and it goes without saying that we have to choose what we eat thinking if it is nutritional and not if we like it or not. Make mindful eating choices and your body will reward you!

 

  1. Υοur goals are vague

Non well-defined goals such as “I just want to lose fat from my belly” or “let’s start and we’ll figure something out’’, haven’t helped anybody. These general goals are mostly expressed by the majority of trainees who have no passion for exercising but are aware that it’s high time they took some action. My advice is that if you are not determined don’t bother to start because your experience will end up being a negative one and may deter you from doing serious work in the future. If you are determined to bring some change, however, start with very realistic expectations. In this way, your small achievements will boost your confidence and motivation to move on. If you don’t set your little goals, you will not be aware of the change either and probably you’ll end up to your previous habits.

 

  1. You drink alcohol

Alcohol is one of the most fattening things you can consume. In fact, is that fattening that I could say is like you are drinking fat! Yes it’s true, the difference is really small. One gram of fat provides you with 9 calories, whereas one gram of alcohol with 7. One small glass of an alcoholic drink contains 100-120 calories and if served with a soft drink the number goes really higher. Imagine if you order a cocktail which is usually made with extra sugar and juices, your caloric intake for the night could be more than 300.

 

  1. You think you deserve a cheatday as a reward

After 5 days of following a disciplined healthy diet you feel you deserve a break. And this is a common mistake people make when trying to lose weight. Your diet program is part of the plan and should be followed accordingly and consciously from the very start till the accomplishment of your goals. Once you disturb this flow by eating something unhealthy, the desired results seem further away. And the more you indulge, the worse it gets. I have seen cases of people gaining weight even though they were on a diet. They couldn’t manage the abstention so their cheatdays were getting more and more in number. Cheatdays and cheatmeals can be a possibility only if your plan maker will approve, having taken into consideration every parameter of your case.

 

  1. You are on a diet but don’t stop nibbling

Thanks to your efforts you are having a progress and you are heading closer to the accomplishment of your goals. But, recklessly, you indulge in your colleague’s biscuit offer, in your friend’s birthday cake and in your grandma’s pie. These offerings will never stop and you’d better realize that by saying no you are not being rude. These innocent daily bites can provide you with 400 calories per day! Yes, is a whole meal! Thanks to this snacking you can end up with 2.800 calories more in the end of the month. This is totally a thing you should stop doing if you want to lose weight.

 

  1. You lose your time with dietetic products

Take the following into serious consideration if you believe that you’re doing everything right, but you are still not losing weight. In the market you can find thousands of “magical” products that promise fat and weight loss. 99% of them are not accepted by the scientific community but, of course, they are effectively promoted by companies through misleading information. The rest 1% of the products have demonstrated some positive results while tested on mice, however, and not on humans. Caffeine is the only exception that works positively on fat loss. It boosts the metabolic procedures but its use should be considered as complementary to exercising and to a healthy diet. In case you try to lose weight just by consuming fat-solubles without taking further action then you are doomed to failure.

 

  1. You don’t follow your diet strictly and consciously

Being faithful to your diet program is different from just “taking care” of it. First of all, in order to set the proper diet plan you should ask the help of an expert. Just by “taking care” of what you eat, you don’t count the calories you perceive and may end up with fluctuating intake day by day. Also, you may eat something which is, in your opinion, beneficial for your body but, in reality, it might disturb your metabolism or even harm you. A food might be the right choice for a specific time within the day but in another might prove to be the wrong one. All these choices are made by someone who just “takes care” of his diet. If you really want to lose weight, you need a serious plan and devotion!

 

  1. You don’t drink water

The reduced water intake is a surprising reason why you can’t lose weight. The recommended daily intake is 3.7 liters for men and 2.7 liters for women. Water creates the proper environment where the minerals responsible for lipolysis interact. Note that water is not a fat burner but provides the conditions in which these procedures take place. Automatically, when this work is done in your body, the metabolism is activated and in the end of the day you will have burnt some calories just by having drunk the proper amount of water.