Losing weight can be an incredibly frustrating and difficult journey for many people. You may be diligently dieting and exercising, yet still finding those extra pounds difficult to shed.
There are many potential reasons why you may be hitting a plateau or finding weight loss to be more of a challenge than you expected.
By understanding some of the common obstacles, you can work to adapt your approach and get your weight loss efforts back on track.
Why am I struggling so hard to lose weight?
Weight loss can be challenging for various reasons, including factors such as inconsistent adherence to a healthy diet, lack of regular physical activity, hormonal imbalances, medical conditions, inadequate sleep, and high-stress levels. Consulting with a healthcare professional or a registered dietitian can help identify personalized strategies to address specific barriers and create a sustainable weight loss plan.
Not Being in a Calorie Deficit
The most basic concept behind weight loss is being in a calorie deficit, meaning you are burning more calories than you are consuming on a daily basis.
If you are not in a deficit, it will be extremely difficult to lose weight no matter how hard you are working out or how healthy you are eating. Some reasons you may struggle to be in a deficit include:
Overestimating Calories Burned Through Exercise
It’s easy to overestimate the number of calories you are burning through exercise. While workouts are important, you may be eating back more calories than you actually burned if you are not accurately tracking.
For example, a 30 minute jog may only burn around 300 calories. But it’s easy to undo that work by eating an extra snack.
Carefully monitor your calorie burn through fitness devices or look up estimates online. Don’t eat back all exercise calories.
Underestimating Calorie Intake
Conversely, many people underestimate how many calories they are actually consuming. This makes it harder to create a deficit. Things that commonly trip people up include:
- Forgetting to track cooking oils, dressings, sauce toppings
- Underestimating portion sizes
- Not counting liquid calories from juice, soda, alcohol, etc.
- Skipping tracking small snacks or tastes of food
Carefully measure and track every single thing you eat to avoid underestimation.
Medical Conditions or Medications
Some people struggle to lose weight due to underlying medical conditions like hypothyroidism, PCOS, or insulin resistance.
These can slow metabolism and impact weight loss abilities. Certain medications like steroids or antidepressants may also cause increased weight gain or difficulty losing. Speak to your doctor if you think you may have a condition impeding weight loss.
Eating Too Few Calories
While being in a calorie deficit is necessary, dropping too low in calories can actually backfire and stall your weight loss. Reason include:
Lowering Metabolism
When you severely slash calories, your body responds by lowering your metabolic rate in order to conserve energy. This causes you to burn fewer calories at rest.
So you may have to keep reducing food intake more and more just to keep seeing the scale drop, which is unsustainable. Allow for a modest deficit instead.
Increased Hunger and Cravings
Eating too little often leads to intense hunger, cravings, and even binge episodes. Once you finally do eat, it becomes harder to control portions when your body is in starvation mode.
Allowing satisfying meals and snacks keeps hormones balanced and hunger at bay for more consistent weight loss.
Loss of Muscle Mass
Along with increased hunger, not eating enough can cause your body to break down lean muscle mass for energy. But muscle helps boost metabolism.
So losing it means you burn fewer daily calories and struggle more with ongoing weight loss. Ensure you eat enough protein and do strength training to preserve muscle.
Issues With Your Diet Approach
Sometimes the type of diet you are following can impact your ability to consistently lose weight. Problems that may arise include:
Too Extreme or Restrictive Diets
It’s tempting to try extreme diets that promise dramatic, quick results. But plans that completely eliminate foods or food groups are generally impossible to adhere to long term.
Attempting such restrictive plans often leads to burnout and giving up after a short period of time. Moderation is key for lifestyle changes.
Fad crash diets
Similarly, fad diets providing complex sets of random rules or requiring you to only eat specific combinations of foods are also downright impossible to stick to.
They aren’t based in science and eventually lead to feelings of deprivation. Sustainable plans are more flexible and balanced.
Not Tailored to Your Lifestyle
Some diets may technically “work” for weight loss, but that doesn’t mean they are right for YOUR lifestyle.
For example, a diet requiring complex meal prep may not fit for someone working long hours. Or a plan too restrictive in dining out wouldn’t suit someone very social. Choose an eating strategy tailored for your needs and preferences for success.
Stress and Lifestyle Barriers
Finally, various lifestyle factors and stress can make losing weight more difficult. Issues that contribute for many people include:
Not Getting Enough Sleep
Lack of quality sleep is linked to increased hunger/appetite and cravings. It can also disrupt hormones related to weight control.
Shoot for 7-9 hours per night minimum for easier weight management. Develop good sleep hygiene by limiting electronics before bed, eliminating caffeine, and keeping your bedroom comfortable.
High Stress Levels
Being overstressed releases extra cortisol into your system which can increase belly fat storage and drive overeating behaviors. Chronic work, family or financial stress takes a toll.
Set aside time each day to decompress through techniques like meditation, yoga, massage or talking therapy.
Too Much Alcohol
While the odd glass of wine or beer may be fine, regular heavy drinking adds excess empty calories slowing weight loss. Alcohol also lowers inhibitions leading to bad food choices. Consider cutting back your drinking if more than 1-2 servings daily.
Health Issues
Health problems that cause pain, mobility issues, fatigue or medication side effects can understandably make eating well and exercising consistently much harder. Don’t beat yourself up if this applies. Do the best with circumstances and consult your doctor.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a multitude of reasons why losing weight can end up being more difficult than expected.
By understanding potential obstacles related to calorie deficits, extreme diets, lifestyle factors and more, you can troubleshoot what may be stalling your own efforts.
Adjust your strategy based on areas you identify. Most importantly, be kind to yourself on the journey. Making even small, gradual changes is still great progress.
Consistency over perfection is what counts. With some tweaks, you can get your weight loss back on a downward trend and reach your body goals.
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