8 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight!

You are doing everything you are supposed to be doing right?

You are watching what you eat, making sure you're eating the right foods, you are exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. That should be working right? Sometimes, but sometimes not.

Do you still feel like you’re not losing that stubborn weight? The truth is; eating well and exercising often is a very relative and general statement. If we’re truly being honest with ourselves, I’m sure we could admit that we’re all capable of trying a little harder in both areas. We are all human, we are not perfect.

Total-body wellness is a lifestyle, not just a phase. Fat loss happens when you ditch the scale, find an activity you enjoy, and start to see food as fuel instead of something to feed your emotions or occupy your time.

No matter who you are there is a chance that one of the following could be the reason behind all of your frustration.

8 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight!

REASON #1: Too much cortisol

While it is good for you, exercise is a stressor on your body. When you have a healthy balance of exercise-related stress and recovery time, your body is healthy and can lose its excess fat. However, not giving your body enough time to recover can also have a negative impact on you because you’ll start to produce an excessive amount of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Because it is involved in processes that give your muscles the energy needed to get moving, cortisol is both normal and important while working out.

However, when your body is exposed to cortisol for longer periods of time, it starts to produce negative side effects i.e. - the stubborn fat in areas you don’t want. Aside from exercise, a stressful personal or professional life can also make your body produce too much cortisol. The good news is, when you stop exercising, your body stops producing cortisol. The bad news is, it's not quite as easy to turn off the mental stressors going on in your life. Make sure you’re keeping your mental and emotional health in check in addition to your physical health. You should always strive for total-body wellness to be truly healthy.

REASON #2: Eating the wrong foods

If you’re not having any success on your weight loss journey, the place you should always be evaluating first is the kitchen. Some people focus all their energy on burning off calories that they don’t take the time to consider what they’re actually putting in their bodies as fuel. Diet is at least 80% of the battle, believe or not. The exact foods you should be eating depend heavily on your body type, metabolism, etc. so a good rule of thumb is to stick to all natural, whole foods. Avoid excess bread, sugar, and anything else that’s processed as much as possible.

Eat most of your starchy carbohydrates (like potatoes, brown rice, grains) on days when you do strength training or more rigorous exercise. On your rest days or when you’re doing light cardio, try to stick to just protein and veggies. Look for foods that have the fewest ingredients on the label—if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not something you want to be putting into your body.

REASON #3: Eating too much

If you’ve already cleaned up your diet big time and you’re still not losing weight, it may be that you’re simply eating too much. In order to shed pounds your body needs to run a calorie deficit, which means you need to burn more than you consume. That being said, you shouldn’t have to deprive yourself either - life is about balance so don’t become consumed with counting calories or weighing yourself every day.

Eat whenever you’re hungry but eat slowly enough so you can stop just before you get full. Healthy snacking during the day will keep you from overeating during meals. I always carry a few Kind Bars in my bag, because they’re a great snack made with whole foods, and contain nothing artificial. Also, don’t be afraid to give yourself ‘healthy’ cheats, like a few chocolate-covered strawberries or coconut chia seed pudding. The moment you start depriving yourself is when you start to feel like you’re missing out on something and you want to binge.

REASON #4: Not working hard enough

There’s no magic formula for working out and eating healthy—it’s a matter of trial and error to find out what works specifically for your body. That being said, the more time spent in the gym doesn’t always equal a more fit person, either. Unless you’re an athlete, body builder, or a marathoner-in-training, the average person shouldn’t be working out more than an hour a day.

Your workouts should be intensity-dependent, not time dependent. Keep this fact in mind: the harder you work, the shorter your workout time may need to be. That’s why it’s so important to maximize your time spent working out so you can achieve that after burn effect which keeps your metabolism revved up for 24-48 hours after your workout.

REASON #5: Doing too much cardio

Of course cardio is a necessary part of your workout routine, it keeps your heart healthy, boosts your metabolism, and gives you a good sweat. However, only doing cardio—or doing too much of it—can actually add to the problem. Longer cardio sessions like staying on the elliptical for 90 minutes or going for regular 10-mile runs can eat away at your lean muscle mass, which is essential for increasing your metabolism to burn more calories.

This causes the body to become more endurance-focused, storing energy as fat to ensure it has plenty of reserve fuel to keep you going for all those miles. Not to mention it dramatically increases your appetite, making you more susceptible to unnecessary snacking or overeating.

REASON #6: Not lifting weights

This one goes hand in hand with #5 because I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t do cardio. If you love to run or bike for reasons other than losing weight, then by all means don’t stop. However, if your primary goal is fat loss, there are other forms of exercise that give a much better bang for your buck. The best way to lose weight and build lean muscle by doing some form of strength training in addition to cardio. The more muscle tone your body has, the more fat you’ll burn, simple as that.

If you’re not ready to give up your cardio routine just yet, try adding some interval training by performing short bursts of all-out effort mixed into your regular session. These workouts are much more effective at promoting hormones that target stubborn fat. Then, start adding some resistance training to your routine. Body weight exercises like push-ups, squats, and lunges are a great place to start to help build up to lifting actual weights.

REASON #7: Not taking time to recover

When you do achieve that after burn effect and you’re really feeling your workout the next day, those are the days to focus on different muscle groups. If you prefer to work out your whole body, establish a workout routine where you work your entire body one day and then take the next day to do some light cardio, stretching, or take a complete rest day.

Recovery and rest are often more important than the workout itself because this is when your body does most of the actual fat burning. Make sure to always give yourself that time to fully recover so you’re ready to work hard the following day. Remember to always push yourself because you are capable of so much more than you think, but also always remember to listen to your body, too.

REASON #8: Not eating as healthy as you think

The vast majority of people are overweight these days, yet research shows that the vast majority of people also think they eat healthy and consider eating healthy a priority. Are you as confused about that as I am?

Here's the thing: We all think we eat pretty well. Even people who eat a pretty bad diet don't think it's that bad. No one really wants to admit that their diet might be pretty unhealthy. Whether that's actually true or not, the truth is that the vast majority of people could (and probably should) improve their diets immensely. Want to see for yourself? Start a food journal. Write down exactly everything you eat everyday for a whole week - you may be surprised.