Five Simple Reasons Youre Not Losing Weight by Peggy Bowes l Weight Loss l Weight Loss Plateau l How to Keep Off the Weight

Too Few Calories

Believe it or not, eating too little food can be detrimental to your weight loss efforts. When you significantly cut calories, you may lose a few pounds at first, but your metabolism will quickly start to slow down. Basically, your body perceives that there is a famine and will hold on to fat stores as a survival mechanism. If you are in this situation, try slowly increasing your calories to get your metabolism back to normal.

The best approach to weight loss is to cut calories slowly and increase activity, especially through exercise. A good beginning goal is to cut 500 calories from your daily normal diet (eliminate unhealthy snacks, sugary drinks and “empty” calories) and burn 300-500 calories through exercise and increased daily activity (taking the stairs, parking at the back of the lot, etc.). This will result in about a pound lost each week if you are consistent.

A Metabolic Slowdown

As you lose weight, your metabolism will gradually slow down because you have a lower body mass. For instance, a 40-year-old woman who is 5’4” and weighs 180 lbs has a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR, or baseline metabolism) of 1600 calories per day. If this woman loses 40 pounds, then her RMR slows down to 1370. In order to continue losing weight, she must either decrease her daily calorie level or increase her activity to continue losing weight.

This metabolic slowdown is one of the main causes of diet plateaus. It’s also a primary reason why so many people lose weight and then quickly regain it-- they go back to their “old” way of eating which actually maintained their previous weight and the pounds creep back on. To combat this trend, adjust your calorie input after losing weight to allow for the decrease in metabolism. Careful record keeping will help you determine a maintenance diet.

Not Keeping Records

Study after study shows that those who lose weight and keep it off are careful record keepers. Writing down your daily calorie and activity intake, as well as daily weigh ins, help keep you honest and on track. There are many great computer programs and smartphone apps (my favorite is My Fitness Pal) to chart your progress.

However, a simple notebook that you carry with you everywhere can accomplish the same purpose. Although it is tedious and somewhat time-consuming at first, it's critical to keep daily records as your hard work will pay off in pounds lost. After a few weeks, you the daily entries will take less time as many people eat the same things and do the same exercises over time.

Too Little Activity

It's very difficult to lose a significant amount of weight by simply reducing calories. Increasing activity is really the key, but the exercise must be done on a regular basis. Start slowly with an initial goal of 10-20 minutes, twice weekly. Once you meet this goal for several weeks, start increasing the time or frequency of the exercise. After that, increase the intensity.

Varying your program from time to time will prevent boredom and keep your body from adapting to a predictable exercise routine. In addition to regular exercise, try to be as active as possible. If your day involves a lot of sitting, try to get up frequently and walk around or do some light calisthenics. Small bouts of activity throughout the day can add up to a significant number of calories burned.