Why Can’t I Lose Weight? 7 Likely Reasons
Trying to lose weight is frustrating enough even when you are succeeding, but when you feel like you’re doing everything right and the scale still isn’t budging, it’s even more upsetting and, ironically, makes you more likely to give into temptation.
Yes, you want to get healthy, but you also want some pay-off for your hard work, and if you’re not seeing results, then it can get harder and harder to muster up the motivation to continue.
So, if you are tired of wondering, ‘Why can’t I lose weight no matter what I do?’, here we look at some of the possible reasons for weight loss stalls and how to overcome them to help you get your weight loss journey back on track.
7 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight
1. Undiagnosed Thyroid Problems
For anyone who’s struggled with excess weight for much of their life, especially if they lead an otherwise healthy lifestyle, thyroid problems should always be investigated.
Hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid that causes the whole body to slow down, including metabolism, heart rate, and digestive tract. This means body functions are sluggish, and weight loss is especially difficult.
Ask your doctor to test your thyroid to rule this out as a possibility; symptoms include fatigue, dry hair, skin, and nails, constipation, cramps, depression, and weight gain.
2. You’re Not Adding Protein to Your Plate
Protein is the satiety macronutrient that helps us balance out blood sugars and, therefore, helps to control our weight. Plus, proteins such as eggs, fish, and chicken contain a variety of nutrients and vitamins, and the all-important weight loss vitamin B12 is only obtained through animal products such as meat, which is also abundant in protein.
So, try to include protein with every meal to naturally suppress your hunger, keep your blood sugar levels balanced, and keep your metabolism ticking along smoothly.
3. Slow Metabolism
Your metabolism is partly genetic, so it’s difficult to change it, but you can certainly improve it. To ensure your metabolism is working at optimum speed, always get a good night’s sleep and start your day with a good breakfast.
Avoid eating too little, try to maintain the same eating schedule each day, and be sure to avoid long periods of sitting.
4. Lacking Vitamins
We say we want to get healthy, but really, most of our focus is on losing weight. In fact, the two goals are often mutually inclusive, and this is especially true if your diet is lacking in important nutrients.
Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals lead to a slowed metabolism and inefficient bodily systems. These systems have to work extra hard to process the food you eat, making weight loss more difficult.
So, make sure you get the recommended daily requirements of vitamins and nutrients like A, B, C, and E, magnesium, folate, chromium, selenium, and biotin, and give your weight loss efforts a huge boost at the same time.
5. Too Many Empty Calories
Losing weight isn’t all about eating less; it’s more about eating better. The same is true of your calorie allowance; just because two foods have the same amount of calories does not make them equally good for you.
Furthermore, low-calorie or low-fat options aren’t always the way to go, so try to avoid light, low-fat, or specific diet foods as they often substitute healthy fats or calories for added sugar or salt and can be more processed than the regular foods they aim to replace.
Instead, aim to get goodness from your diet by seeking out foods packed with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats, avoid anything overly processed, and fill up on fiber and protein to keep hunger at bay for longer.
You should also watch the calories and sugar in your drinks, as liquid calories can really add up without offering any value for money in terms of goodness.
6. You’re Not Mixing Up Your Workout Routine
If you can do your workout routine with your eyes closed, then you’re probably not challenging your body enough. Repeating the same moves day in and day out means your metabolism isn’t being activated to burn calories and show you the payoff you want.
While finding an exercise you love is the key to enjoying regular exercise, mixing up your routine and giving your body a shock every few weeks is the way to weight loss. So, enjoy a variety, including weight-bearing exercises like Pilates, yoga, and weight training, as well as cardio with different routes, speeds, and movements each time.
7. You’re Scared of Good Fats
There was a time when fat was considered your enemy if you wanted to lose weight, but things have changed since then. We now know how important good fats are for your body and how they help you lose weight.
Good fats found in foods like oily fish, avocado, olive oil, and nuts are crucial for making important hormones that lower LDL cholesterol, keep the body and brain functioning well, improve mood, and reduce inflammation.
This means a reduction in overall body fat, especially around your middle, where it’s most dangerous to carry excess fat.
Not eating enough of these good fats leads to hormone imbalances, which have the knock-on effects of a slowed metabolism, inadequate appetite suppression, low mood, and fewer resources to fight off infections and ill health. Make sure you add some good fats to your daily diet, and your body and scale will thank you for it!
You can see that weight loss is a complicated business. If a part of the process isn’t working as well as it should, whether it’s your health, your diet, or your exercise routine, weight loss can easily stall.
