Unwanted weight gain can be so frustrating.
For some of us, the weight creeps us gradually. We’re just living life, gaining a pound here and there until we realize it’s been a long time since we could fit into our skinny jeans.
For others of us, the weight comes on quickly. One day we realize that the weight we expected to gain during that special trip or over the holidays hasn’t gone away … and it’s still hanging around six months later.
So we decide to lose the weight by cutting food portions, increasing exercise or returning to the diet that worked for us before. We do all the work, but the scale doesn’t change. So we try again but get the same results. That’s when weight loss becomes especially frustrating because we have no idea why it isn’t working.
There isn’t one reason people struggle to lose weight. Figuring out your obstacle matters more than trying another diet or exercise plan.
Here are four common reasons we see people struggle to lose unwanted weight on their own.
1. You May Not Fully Understand What Supports Weight Loss
This point isn’t to minimize anyone’s intelligence, but simply to acknowledge that old marketing messages stick around for a very long time, even when they’ve been debunked. For decades, much of the focus around weight loss was “calories in, calories out.” While this is basically true, it led many of us to choose low-calorie processed foods, avoid fats and exercise vigorously 7 days a week in the hopes of “getting in shape.”
What these tactics didn’t do was explain to us that food is more than calories and exercise demands recovery.
For example, calories matter, but calories alone don’t tell the whole story. The foods we choose influence:
- How satisfied we feel during the day
- How well we maintain muscle
- Our energy levels
- Consistently eating in a way that supports our goals
Lifestyle habits, like exercise, sleep and stress, also influence weight management. I don’t remember reading articles back in the day about needing to recover from exercise or the effects sleep and stress have on weight.
Understanding these fundamentals and how they work together can make it easier to create habits that support sustainable weight loss.
2. You Have Knowledge, But Struggle to Make It Work in Your Life
Nutrition advice can sound deceptively simple: just “eat more protein, reduce sugar, strength train, sleep eight hours, and, oh, manage stress.”
But how do you follow all this advice on a Tuesday when you’re:
- Working overtime
- Caring for an ailing family member
- Traveling, for work or pleasure
- Juggling school and after-school activities for children
- Retired and not interested in cooking
- Doing more than one of these things!
People may create plans that don’t fit their lifestyles, misunderstand how to implement recommendations or get confused over which changes should take priority.
I did this when I worked for two businesses at the same time while being involved in my kid’s activities.
I had the best intentions. Every Saturday, I would sit down and create a weekly meal plan by looking at our upcoming schedules, going through all my recipes, making lists of ingredients to get from multiple stores, shopping at said multiple stores, putting away all the items and then meal prepping. However, by Tuesday, usually for reasons out of my control, my meal plan was blown. But I’d start the whole process over again the following Saturday, determined to make healthy meals in the hopes I’d lose weight.
In hindsight, I wish I’d spent less time trying to create the perfect meal plan and more time considering how we could eat well with a busy schedule. What could I keep in the freezer? What could I pull together in 15 minutes? What could I pick up when our schedules fell apart? Those were the skills I really needed.
A good plan isn’t simply one that works on paper. It needs to work in your life.
I can speak from experience that if your weight-loss strategy requires life to go perfectly, it probably won’t be sustainable long enough to produce lasting results.
3. You Have a Plan, But Lack Accountability
Most of us are good at keeping commitments we make to other people, but the commitments we make to ourselves are easier to postpone. You plan to walk after dinner, but it’s been a long day, so you’ll do it tomorrow. You intended to make breakfast instead of grabbing something on the way out, but you’re running late.
None of these individual decisions is a big deal, and flexibility is important. The problem comes when one day turns into seven and, eventually, the changes you were making quietly disappear. Having someone to check in with can keep your goals from moving to the bottom of your list.
Good accountability isn’t about making you feel guilty because you didn’t follow the plan perfectly. Instead, we ask, “What can we change so this is more do-able next week?”
This is important for weight loss because progress doesn’t follow a straight line. There will be vacations, celebrations, stressful weeks and unexpected meals out. Without support, it’s easy to interpret those moments as failure and gradually give up. Accountability is having someone beside you to:
- Keep perspective
- Remind you of your goals
- Brainstorm new ideas
- Provide motivation and encouragement to keep you moving forward.
4. You’re Making Changes, But Aren’t Sure if They’re Working
You have a realistic plan which includes eating more protein, walking after dinner and cutting out snacks. After two weeks, your clothes fit better and you sleep a little better. But for all your efforts, the scale moved just one pound, instead of the five you were expecting.
You’re disappointed because you think your plan isn’t working, and you move on to something more drastic.
People often expect the scale to change quickly. When it doesn’t match their expectations, they assume the approach isn’t working. Good progress may show up first in other areas, such as better energy, sleep, mood, digestion or strength, before they see significant weight loss.
There’s also a difference between giving something enough time to work and continuing with an approach that needs adjustment. And this is hard to see on your own. Don’t get discouraged: this is still very useful information.
Tracking matters. It gives you valuable details about deciding whether to stay the course or adjust, instead of stopping and starting over every few weeks.
5. You’re Doing the Right Things, But Something Else May Be Getting in the Way
You are making good choices, following through and even tracking your changes, but you feel like you’re being sabotaged, because you’re:
- Not getting enough sleep, so you’re tired and craving sweets the next day
- In menopause and gaining weight even though you haven’t changed anything
- Constantly putting out fires without any down time
We’ll explore many of these in upcoming blogs, showing how blood sugar, sleep, inflammation, menopause, intermittent fasting and GLP-1 medications can impact weight loss.
When you’re putting in genuine effort without seeing expected progress, the answer isn’t necessarily to try harder. It may be time to look more closely at what else is happening.
Another Diet is Probably Not the Answer
You may just need:
- Better information
- Help turning knowledge into changes that work for you
- Accountability
- Understanding about what is happening physiologically
- Guidance and tracking to determine what’s working (and what’s not).
Our role isn’t simply to tell you what to eat. It’s to help you understand what may be getting in your way, see what changes make sense for you, help you implement them in real life and adjust the plan as your body responds.
If you’re struggling with unwanted weight and recognize yourself in one or more of these areas, schedule a free phone consultation. We’ll talk about what you’ve already tried, where you’re struggling now and what might make sense as your next step.