You aren’t losing fat, and you don’t know why. Here’s my list of what may prevent weight loss. Which of the factors below might be at fault for you?
- Eating more calories than you realize
- Not eating enough
- Having absolutely no way to track your food intake. Some of my clients use a nutrition tracker; some use smartphone apps, but none of them just guess.
- You’re sedentary and don’t work out
- Inconsistency – You follow your nutrition plan for a few days, veer off plan or loosely follow a plan.
- Consuming more carbohydrates than your body can handle and/or consuming too many total calories. Some people are simply carb sensitive.
- Conversely, reducing carbs to practically zilch
- Never increasing your workout intensity and never changing your routine
- Believing that if you work out you can eat anything
- Drinking too much alcohol. Even if you get proper nutrition, your alcohol intake shouldn’t be excessive.
- Medications. If you’re taking medications, always ask your doctor what the side effects are. Ask specifically about weight gain or stall
- In rare cases, intense periods of working out (over the course of months) and undereating can create adrenal fatigue, a condition that would prevent weight loss. It’s not prevalent, but I do see it happening more than I did in the past
- You haven’t given it enough time. Getting on the scale every single day and expecting results every single day is insanity. Give your body seven to 10 days to see a scale weight change.
- Every time you face stress, you turn to food or alcohol to make you feel better
There is always a solution, so don’t be distraught if you’ve been struggling. Just determine what you believe the issue is and plan to change it.
4 Comments to "14 Factors That Might Prevent Weight Loss"
Lori says:
April 25, 2013 at 10:57 am -
You go me- #9 and # 14! Thanks!
Raphael says:
April 25, 2013 at 1:22 pm -
Thanks, Lori! Interesting to find out which of the factors people are affected by.
Carla says:
December 30, 2013 at 12:53 pm -
2, 5, 11 & 13 of which the medication one I’m working on
It does amaze me that des want me to lose weight but yet give me a medication that can cause bloatiness or water retention, how does that possibly help me? Sigh
Raphael says:
December 30, 2013 at 6:09 pm -
Hi Carla, some of these you can control though. I know you know that already but with 2014 approaching you have an opportunity to start the year with consistency and taking in enough calories. Consistency and giving it enough time to work are huge. Do you have a plan for 2014?