You’re committed to finally losing weight. You chose a plan, started with high hopes, and stuck with it for several months. But somewhere along the way, you notice that the scale won’t budge. Your motivation fizzles out, and you wonder if weight loss is even possible for you.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. Research shows 95% of people who diet and lose weight gain it all back within a year or less. It’s incredibly frustrating. And more often than not, the problem goes deeper than just “eating the wrong thing” or “not hitting the gym frequently enough.”
Problems within your environment, your lifestyle, and even your weight loss strategy itself can derail your efforts. In this blog, we’ll dive into the 10 most common reasons weight loss plans fall short—and how to ensure your journey leads to lasting success.
10 Reasons Why Weight Loss Strategies Don’t Work
1. Your Weight Loss Strategy Isn’t Based On Science.
While there are tried and tested methods of losing weight, such as counting calories and getting your steps in, other weight loss tactics aren’t backed by research. These strategies may help you lose weight initially but then gain it all back again. Or they may not impact your weight in any way.
Common weight loss strategies that aren’t backed by scientific evidence include:
- Cutting out only carbs. While refined carbohydrates and sugar aren’t good for your waistline, healthy carbs are essential for providing your cells with energy. Removing starchy vegetables and whole grains from your diet, more often than not, leads to nutrient deficiencies and hypoglycemia rather than weight loss.
- Skipping meals. There is plenty of evidence backing intermittent fasting as a proven weight loss strategy. But intermittent fasting isn’t the same as starving yourself or skipping random meals throughout the day. It involves fasting for a specific amount of time and eating meals on a consistent schedule. Starving puts your body into survival mode, causing it to hold onto fat rather than shed it, and skipping sporadic meals typically leads to overindulging at your next mealtime.
- Cleanses and detoxes. The idea behind detoxification as a weight loss strategy is that, by removing toxins from your liver, your body is able to run at its full potential, aiding weight loss as well as overall health. And replacing food with liquids for a few days to a week can certainly cut down on your calorie intake. However, there is no compelling research proving the benefits of detoxification for weight loss, and any weight you might shed from liquid diets will come right back once you start eating foods again.
2. Your Weight Loss Diet Is Meant To Be Temporary.
Few things are as exhilarating as seeing the numbers go down on your scale, especially when you’ve worked so hard for those results. Unfortunately, many diets that provide quick results, such as the keto diet, aren’t meant for long-term weight loss. If you stick with them, your results may eventually plateau, or you may experience unforeseen consequences that could be dangerous for your health.
Naturally, this probably isn’t what you want to hear. We’d all love for a week or two of discomfort to provide lasting results instead of watching how many French fries we eat for the unforeseeable future. But the best methods for maintaining long-term weight loss are lifestyle changes, rather than switching up your diet for a few weeks or months and then returning to the standard American diet.
3. You’re Focusing On Just Diet Or Just Exercise.
Speaking of diet, many people tend to focus solely on what they eat when they’re ready to shed a few pounds. And considering the fact that constricting calories is a proven way to lose weight, it’s easy to see why. But exercise also plays a key role in long-term weight loss, as well as optimizing your health to improve your quality of life and life longevity.
Regular aerobic and resistance training (think lifting weights, doing lunges, and running on a treadmill) have been proven to significantly improve weight loss. More than that, exercise helps you burn off fat, including the visceral fat strongly associated with heart attacks and other health problems.
At the same time, hitting the gym alone likely won’t be enough to help you maintain your weight loss results—unless you also modify your diet. Studies have found you need a combination of exercise and a healthy diet to manage your weight, tone your body, improve your energy levels, and prevent obesity.
4. You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep.
When you’re trying to get into shape, spending more time in bed probably doesn’t cross your mind. But quality sleep is essential to helping you shed pounds and keep them off, especially if you’re over 40.
Poor sleep quality increases the level of the hormone cortisol in your blood. This hormone increases your appetite and cravings during the day. At the same time, not getting enough sleep makes it even harder to make good decisions for your health, particularly when it comes to sticking to a healthy diet.
Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep a night, every night. And if you find yourself struggling with insomnia, waking up often, snoring, or feeling exhausted even with a good night’s sleep, talk to your doctor to see if a sleep study could help.
READ: How Sleep Can Help You Lose Weight
5. Your Stress Levels Are Too High.
We’ve all been there. You had a rough day at work. A fight with your partner. A fender bender on a busy road. You can feel your blood pressure rising and your heart pounding. So on your way home, you stop by your favorite bakery and grab a treat to help you get through the day.
At least 37% of people who eat unhealthy foods say stress plays a big part in their eating habits. To make matters worse, the hormones, peptides, and inflammatory cytokines released during stress change the way your body stores fat. In many cases, this leads to weight gain that feels impossible to lose.
If you’re feeling high-strung lately or going through a busy period in life, take some time to prioritize relaxation. Practice yoga or Tai Chi. Follow a guided meditation video for 5 minutes every morning. End the day with a candle-lit bath. Not only will you improve your mental health, but you might also be able to keep those pounds from rising.
6. You’re Unintentionally Consuming Too Many Hidden Calories.
Have you found yourself in the situation where you’re doing everything right––getting enough sleep, working out, and following your diet—but you still aren’t seeing any results? Chances are, hidden calories are to blame.
Did you know consuming just 100 extra calories a day can lead to 10 extra pounds of weight per year? And many of the foods and drinks we choose daily have calories hidden in them, often because they are high on the glycemic index chart. These foods are either full of sugar or lack the protein needed to balance out the natural sugar inside them.
The most common hidden calories you can get tricked by include:
- Coffee: Not a fan of drinking your coffee black? That creamer and extra scoop of sugar a day adds up. Try lighter coffees with a smoother natural flavor to see if you can cut these extra calories out entirely. If you can’t part with them, choose non-fat milk and a sugar substitute (like stevia, xylitol, or Chinese blackberry leaves) instead.
- Yogurt: Yogurt has the reputation of being a health superfood thanks to the probiotics it contains. But many of the leading yogurt brands contain more sugar than nutrients. A single serving of strawberry-flavored Yoplait has 18 grams of sugar and only 5 grams of protein. That’s 4.5 heaping teaspoons of sugar in one small cup. Always go for Greek yogurt, as the higher protein content will keep added sugar from raising your blood sugar as high. We also recommend choosing brands with 5 grams of added sugar or less.
- “Health drinks”: We all know soft drinks are a significant source of sugar. But some of those trendy alternatives that claim to be healthier can be just as bad. Vitamin Water, Naked fruit juices, AriZona Green Tea, Olipop, and Poppi Prebiotic Sodas all contain high amounts of sugar—some even more than Pepsi. If you’re tired of water and looking for a healthier option than soda, stick to the tried and true options: unsweetened flavored water, seltzer water, and unsweetened teas.
- Condiments: Salads are one of the healthiest foods available. But when you drench your salad in ranch, you’re better off sticking to roasted chicken with veggies. Many of us rely on condiments to add extra flavor to our meals. Unfortunately, fatty salad dressings, ketchup, mayonnaise, sour cream, and butter can make a low-calorie meal as high-calorie as some of the alternatives. Instead, choose low-fat, low-sugar alternatives like oil-based vinaigrettes, mustard, salsa, hot sauce, and plant-based margarine.
- Alcohol: There’s nothing better than a good cocktail when you’re out with friends. Unfortunately, most alcoholic drinks are packed with extra calories to help cover up the bitterness of the alcohol. Even if you choose beer and wine, you’ll still be drinking more calories than you would with water and other alternatives. That’s because alcohol in itself is a refined carbohydrate, similar to sugar, and can raise your blood sugar and contribute to weight gain.
7. You’re Eating Out For Every Meal
The Standard American Diet relies heavily on one thing: convenience. In most cases, that convenience comes in the form of prepackaged snacks, fast food, and microwavable meals. But even restaurants that aren’t fast food can be bad for your waistline, particularly if you’re eating out multiple times a week (or day).
One study found participants who ate at restaurants more frequently had a significantly higher risk of early death compared to those who dine out less than once a week. This included an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.
So why is restaurant food worse for you? To make the food taste better and bring in regular customers as a result, restaurant meals include higher amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium. They are also typically low in fiber and whole grains, and the portions tend the be larger than home-cooked meals.
Even if you’re choosing the healthiest option on the menu, you’re still eating a higher-calorie, less nutritious meal than you would be if you made a dish at home.
8. You Don’t Have Enough Support
You may be the one hitting the gym and watching what you eat, but the people around you actually play a crucial role in the success of your weight loss strategy.
Research shows that having support for healthy eating and exercise from friends, family, and coworkers is associated with a slight weight reduction over time. On the other hand, family undermining your healthy eating is associated with weight gain.
We can’t always choose our family and coworkers. So, if you find yourself surrounded by people who encourage you to indulge in unhealthy snacks or skip the gym, you’ll have to take extra steps to find positive influences for your weight loss goals.
- Join a workout class instead of working out alone to meet people going through the same struggles you are.
- Work with a personal trainer and nutritionist and get weekly or monthly tips from a professional who can help you stay on track.
- Join a Facebook group (Like the Weight Loss Support Group), scroll through posts on the Reddit forum r/loseweight instead of Instagram during your downtime at work, or chat live with other people fighting to keep the weight off on the Wholehearted Health Discord group.
- Use apps like Lose It! to track your progress.
- If you’re extremely introverted or struggle to meet new people, consider using an AI app like Replika. You can share your struggles and ask for encouragement anytime you start to feel frustrated or like you’re slipping.
9. The Strategy Doesn’t Include Medical Supervision
Weight loss isn’t just about the numbers on your scale. It’s about improving your whole health, reducing your risk for chronic diseases, feeling your best, and extending your life longevity. But if you aren’t regularly meeting with a doctor, you could be making mistakes with your weight loss plan that actually harm your health.
Medical professionals can perform comprehensive health monitoring and regular health assessments to ensure your workout plan is making a difference. These can include body composition scans to see whether you’re building muscle and losing fat, blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar level tests, vitamin and mineral testing, and more.
Sometimes, your health strategy IS working, but you can’t tell it is based on the scale alone. With the support of a physician, you can see how your hard work is paying off internally as well as externally.
10. You Have Underlying Health Issues Impacting Your Weight
Finally, when you’ve done every step above and you still don’t see any difference in your weight, there may be something else going on. Certain medical problems and mental health issues can impact your waistline, making it harder to lose weight or leading to unexpected weight gain.
These can include:
- Hormonal Imbalances: The hormones leptin, estrogen, androgen, and growth hormone all play essential roles in weight gain and weight loss. If you have too little of these hormones, you may not be able to lose weight, even if you’re doing everything you should be. Having your hormones evaluated by a professional and undergoing hormone replacement therapy is often the only solution.
- Insulin Resistance: Insulin is responsible for lowering the level of glucose, or sugar, in your blood. When your body becomes resistant to insulin, your metabolism will slow down, making it harder to lose weight after you gain it.
- Depression: Depression reduces your motivation to exercise and eat well. At the same time, when we feel low, we tend to look for mood enhancement elsewhere. So it’s no surprise many depressed people turn to sugary meals for the increase in dopamine. Unfortunately, people who are depressed are more likely to be overweight, and people who are overweight are more likely to be depressed. It’s essential to prioritize your mental health for your weight loss goals and quality of life.
Lose The Weight & Keep It Off
Weight loss isn’t easy, especially when you’re over 40. But by following the steps above and choosing the right weight loss strategy, you can cut those extra pounds while boosting your energy levels and overall health.
If you aren’t sure what the right weight loss plan looks like for you, start with Trim & Fit. This customized weight management program is medically supervised and based on your specific health situation, blood tests, and lifestyle. Trim & Fit works by tackling the underlying causes of weight gain in adults: insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction.
By improving your health from the inside out, Trim & Fit allows you to learn how to keep your weight down while improving your quality of life, not making you feel like you have to suffer to maintain your weight goals.
If you live in the DFW area, reach out to The Resurge Clinic today to see if Trim & Fit could be right for you!
