Why am I not losing weight any more? What can I do about it?

By Heather

It's so frustrating isn't it? You're doing everything you can and every time you jump onto the scale your weight hasn't changed. You might not be losing weight because:

1. You're not eating as healthily as you think

If you are calorie tracking and have set yourself a fixed calorie allowance per day you need to be very strict. If you want to track accurately you can't even pop a grape into your mouth without accounting for it. This is especially true if you are getting close to your ideal weight.

The more overweight you are the larger the impact of small changes on your weight loss. However, as you get closer to a normal weight you need to eat a lot better to lose anything. Do not eat mindlessly. Learn to say no to offers of food. There's always a reason to celebrate and you have to say, no!

Solution: calorie count to remind yourself how you should be eating

It's easy to forget how many calories are in food. I recommend that every three or four months you do a week of calorie counting. I find calorie counting so time intensive but I think doing just a week can help you with discipline and it will remind you what foods you should be eating.

2. You're not burning enough calories

To lose 1 lb of weight a week you need a deficit of 3,500 calories per week. This can come from a combination of burning more calories and eating fewer calories. You might be burning less than you think. 

Solution: discount gadget estimates

It's very hard to estimate the calories burnt by a particular exercise. If you're using a gadget that tells you how many calories you've burnt, I recommend discounting the value by at least 10% to account for inaccuracies.

3. You're building muscle

Muscle weighs more than fat so I wouldn't worry if you can see that your body is changing but the scale says you weigh the same. The more muscle you build, the more calories you will burn at rest.

Solution: just keep at it, you'll start losing weight again soon

4. Hormonal changes e.g. due to stress your hormones might be resisting change

If you are suffering from stress deal with that underlying issue. High stress levels stimulate increased production of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol promotes fat storage.

Solution: destress

5. The compliments are getting to you

I recently went home for a holiday and everyone was complimenting my weight loss. They were astounded that I wasn't chubby any more. It felt great and unfortunately I felt as though it gave me license to eat more liberally, and I did. I had a piece of cake almost everyday for two weeks! 

Do you think this could be happening to you? 

Solution: don't let compliments get to your head, use them to egg you on.

Is it the type of food you are eating?

It's better to substitute junk food with healthy alternatives but ultimately it's the total number of calories that you eat that matters. Whatever you eat, have a small portion. Portion control is the ultimate problem for most people and dealing with just that is massive progress.

Consistency and time

I am personally still working on losing weight but sometimes I go for a couple months without losing anything. On the plus side I have been on a general downward trend and I'm not gaining weight either. I have learnt that consistency makes a big difference especially consistent exercise. Don't be impatient. Give your body time to adjust to changes in your diet and in your exercise regime.

If your exercise schedule is too ambitious you will feel discouraged when you miss a session and might end up giving it up altogether. It's better to exercise twice a week only consistently than to exercise four times in one week and then do nothing for two weeks.

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​Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
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