“Why can’t I lose Weight?!”
It’s a pretty common question to hear from someone who’s trying and failing to lose weight. As someone who’s been there, done that, and got the t-shirt, I know just how frustrating it can be. You exercise, watch your diet, try to do everything right – but the scales just don’t budge. Or maybe you do lose a bit of weight, but it creeps back up immediately.
Here are some common fitness errors. Just one of these can set you back on your weight loss efforts….
1. You’re making excuses – you’re not really serious
First of all, some tough love.
Most of the readers of this blog are very very serious about their weight loss and will do what it takes. But losing weight means accepting that the only way to actually get fit and shed the pounds is to get healthy. There are no miracle pills or potions that will work unless you start leading a healthy lifestyle. It’s even becoming quite common these days for people who’ve had gastric bypass surgery (aka weight loss surgery) to start putting on weight again – an incredibly saddening thing to read.
So start by asking yourself, “Do I really want to lose weight?” It’s not as difficult as you might think. After a month or so of leading a healthy lifestyle, you actually start to love it – and not just because you’re losing weight! Being healthy is fun and satisfying – you have more energy, you’re more alert, you’re happier.
Stop making excuses: I’ve heard them all, and they’re not reasons, they’re just excuses. “I’m busy” and “it’s genetic” are two of the most common ones. You’re never too busy to eat healthy – at the very least do some intermittent fasts, that doesn’t take any time. And Turbulence Training has some 10-minute workouts you can do to shape up. And as for genes? That doesn’t matter. See a doctor first, but I know a few people who claimed genetic reasons for their inability to lose weight – but when they got really serious about it, they shed away most of the pounds! So please give it a try, you’ll be surprised at what you can acheive.
2. You don’t exercise
I’m fond of saying, “Great abs are made in the kitchen,” and diet is one of the most important factors to losing weight. But exercise is crucial! Please, please get moving – even if it’s 20 minutes of brisk walking each day.
As one of my doctor friends explained to me, diet will shrink your fat cells, but only exercise will burn them off completely. If you’re not exercising, you’re not going to get rid of that fat – it’ll just come right back once you go off your diet.
So GET MOVING! (*drill master voice!*)
3. You don’t do strength training
Not doing strength training is a rookie weight-loss mistake.
You might think that you’re better served by doing cardio – but strength training and HIIT are the best combo for fat burning.
If you’re a woman, you might be worried about “bulking up” by doing strength training – but this is rare unless you’re already very skinny. I personally did the Turbulence Training workouts to lose fat quickly, and I can tell you that I definitely did not get bulky muscles. Once I was happy with my weight, and just wanted to get a bit toned up and shed those last 5 – 10 pounds, I switched to Visual Impact For Women, which has a very heavy focus on staying slim and NOT getting bulky muscles.
Finally, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn an extra 75 calories per day maintaining it – so strength training will increase your weight loss!
4.You’re doing strength training
Sound contradictory? It’s not, really – if you’re doing strength training, you’re probably replacing fat with muscle. As discussed above, this is really good, since more muscle means you burn more calories per day. Plus, you’ll look more toned! If you’re not losing weight but you’re looking better, go ahead and measure yourself. Another indicator is if you’re dropping dress sizes, or can fit into your skinny jeans again 
5. You’re doing it alone
Losing weight alone is very, very hard. Gather around your support team now. And of course I’ll be your biggest supporter
Many of your friends and family will make life more difficult for you if you’re trying to lose weight. Snide remarks, stuffing themselves full of donuts while you sip your black coffee, pushing you to eat more – the list goes on and on. Ignoring them is essential, but you need some supporters.
Get your spouse or close friend to join you on your journey. Update me with your comments on my blog. Join a gym, walking group or sports team where everyone’s into fitness – make some new friends who support your goals. Try to get in touch with people who are doing the same thing as you – Turbulence Training has a private members’ forum which supported me when I was losing weight and cheered me on. You need cheerleaders!
6. You’re not keeping up the motivation
You need to stay motivated. At some point, it will seem very normal to lead a healthy lifestyle, but initially, you may get discouraged by the lack of results.
Don’t get discouraged! I like the idea of doing some intermittent fasting which gets quick results. But if you don’t want to do that, remind yourself that leading a healthy lifestyle is beneficial in itself, and you’ll see the results soon. Reward yourself with some non-food treats like watching your favorite movies, hanging out with friends, or getting a new hairstyle or makeover.
7. You’re depressed
If you’re depressed, get medical help. I have many friends who struggle with clinical depression, so please don’t take it likely. See a psychologist (but avoid drugs, they lead to nasty side effects), get more sunlight, exercise, and/or hang out with friends who make you happy.
Depression can lead to weight gain. You’re more likely to binge eat, or stuff yourself full of fattening comfort foods.
8. You’re not watching your portion sizes
Calorie counting and weighing your food can be incredibly annoying at first, but you need to do this – you absolutely have to stick to a low calorie diet if you want to lose weight. Please take some time to measure your food properly. This is especially important if you’re trying to lose weight for a medical condition such as diabetes.
After some time, you can stop measuring and start guesstimating, but you should check that your guesses are right every few weeks or so.
9. You’re mistaking healthy food for “weight loss foods”
Just because food is healthy, doesn’t mean it won’t pack the calories. Just as with portion sizes, eating too much of a food that’s healthy will lead to weight gain.
For instance, one tablespoon of olive oil has 100 calories. An avocado is 190 calories and 40 peanuts (“a handful”) is 160 calories.
Another mistake many people make is to eat chicken with its skin on. The skin contains a lot of fat, and will really pack on the pounds if you eat it – always remember to buy skinless chicken, or to de-skin it before cooking.
Yet another mistake is to smother healthy food with unhealthy, fatty dressings. For instance, most commercial salad dressings are very fatty and high in calories. Sandwiches smothered in mayonnaise or other dressings are another danger. Soups can be thick with cream and may contain more calories than you’d expect.
10. You’re not eating enough
This is sometimes a classic dieter’s mistake. If you’re not eating enough then your body goes into starvation mode and stops burning fat. That’s why diets that involve a lot of food, such as Cheat Your Way Thin, are so successful. Incorporating a cheat day has been very important to me, and cheat days are meant to increase your body’s leptin levels and burn more fat overall.
Plus, if you’re not eating enough, especially if you’re on a very restrictive diet, you’re more likely to feel very deprived and ultimately give up. Eating enough, especially your favorite treats, is very important to losing weight and staying healthy for life.
11. You’re thirsty, not hungry
Too often, we mistake thirst for hunger. This leads to overeating. An easy way to stop this is to go ahead and have a glass or two of water the next time you feel hungry. Most of the time your hunger will go away. If you’re still hungry, you can go ahead and have a meal – but you’ll still eat less since the water you’ve just drunk will fill you up somewhat, and you’ll eat less.
12. You’re forgetting about liquid calories
Sometimes people forget that drinks have calories. The only drinks that have no calories are plain water, soda water (with nothing else added) and black, sugar-free coffees and teas. Everything else has calories!
As a cappuccino-lover, I have to let you know that one standard cappuccino has 120 calories – and the number of calories are higher for larger drinks and other types of coffee like lattes and flavored coffees. A standard skinny cappuccino with no chocolate on top is 60 calories.
One glass of sugar-free juice (250 ml) contains 120 – 200 calories.
Calories in alcohol are also quite high. In addition, alcohol makes you hungry, or feel like munching something – so you’ll pack on more calories in total.
13. You’re weighing yourself too often
If you’re weighing yourself every few days, you’re unlikely to see much movement on the scales. Our body takes time to adjust, and on any given day you may be bloated from water retention. So don’t stress about the daily weight loss – check once a week on the same day, at the same time. Even then, your weight won’t be 100% accurate, so don’t stress about a pound or so here or there.
14. You’re eating the kids’ leftovers
Waste is bad, but eating your kids’ leftovers won’t help world poverty, it will just make you fatter.
Instead of eating the leftovers, make a point of throwing them away.
15. You’re stressed
Stress is a weight loss killer – and being stressed often leads to overeating. This is another reason exercise is so helpful – intense exercise can lower your stress levels.
16. You’re not getting enough sleep
If you’re not sleeping enough, your body burns fat at a slower rate, so make sure you’re getting enough shut-eye
17. You’re having the wrong snacks
Yes, there are healthy snacks out there! See my post on healthy snacks for weight loss to read about the kind of snacks you should be eating in more details.
Also, try to reduce your snacking – if you’re snacking out of boredom, opt for sugar-free gum, or sugar-free drinks instead. That’s what I do, and I can tell you it works! I tend to drink lots of decaf during the day, although I’m trying to switch to green tea now because of the weight loss benefits of green tea.
18. You’re eating too much sugar
Sugar will prevent you from losing weight at a good pace. Sugar increases your glycemic index, and if you’re serious about losing weight, you need to cut down on the sugar.
Hardcore fitness enthusiasts often cut processed sugar out of their diet entirely. But I’m all about moderation, so I just try to limit my processed sugar intake. Most days I only have the tiny bit of sugar that’s in one small square of dark chocolate.
19. You’re aiming too high
One thing that really annoys me is the ridiculous claims that many programs make like, “lose 10 pounds in 3 days!” They’re usually either fake, or they lead to loss of water and not fat loss.
However, these claims make people want to lose weight at a rate that’s not feasible or healthy.
20. You’re not drinking enough water
If you’re not drinking enough water, you’re more likely to overeat. Although how much water you should drink each day is disputed, the fact is that drinking a glass or two of the h2O before each meal will make you eat less and feel full sooner.
21. You’re doing it half-way
If you’re not really motivated or serious about losing weight, you’ll have a harder time. If you diet one day and eat whatever you like the next, there’s not much chance of your losing weight. Similarly, if you don’t diet and only exercise or vice versa, you’re unlikely to lose much weight.
22. You’re thinking too short-term
Real fat loss takes time. Yes, you may want to see results in a week, but doing a crash diet now and then eating it all back and more is not worth it.
Be realistic, and have your eye on the prize – this will stop you from yo-yo dieting and not being able to lose weight. A cohesive long-term plan will actually help you lose weight more quickly.
23. You’re not keeping a food diary
Yes, this is another of those boring tasks. But not keeping track of what you’re eating might mean that you forget about those two cookies you ate in the afternoon, or the cappuccino you had in the morning. Keeping a food diary will help you understand your eating habits and keep better track of your calories.
24. You’re banning foods
Hardcore fitness experts sometimes ban certain foods from there diet. But if your goal is to lose weight, and you’re not getting the results you want, practice some moderation.
Banning foods from your diet means it’s harder for you to stay on track, you’re likely to get demotivated more quickly and you won’t lose weight. Instead, have a little bit of your favorite treats, practice portion control, and have a cheat day where you indulge yourself – all this will lead to fat loss, which is your end goal.
25. You’re not getting the right weight loss minerals
If you don’t have enough of the right minerals, your body thinks that it’s not getting enough nutrition so it stops burning fat. This is why it’s so important to take a good multivitamin each day.
Women should also try to to have a calcium supplement each day in order to get the required 1000mg of calcium per day. Scientific studies, such as that conducted by Laval University in Quebec, show that women who don’t consume enough calcium burn fat at a slower rate than those who do.
In short…
In short, I hope these 25 reasons help you identify any weight loss mistakes you might be making, and you’re able to lose fat and get fitter Please leave a comment or question if you’ve got a few seconds; I love hearing from my readers!
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