Are you struggling to lose weight even if you think you’re doing all you can to do so? Don’t worry, not losing weight is a struggle many of us face. And it’s not just a matter of being lazy or undisciplined either. There are plenty of reasons why losing weight is not easy, and below we highlight other reasons that hinder your weight loss journey.
1. Good and Bad Bacteria
Our gut is home to a ton of bacteria. Some of these bacteria are good because they help us digest food, while some are bad because they make us prone to disease and inflammation. To have a healthy digestive system, we always want to make sure the good bacteria vastly outnumber the bad bacteria. According to scientists, the ratio is important because good bacteria help us maintain a healthy weight!
We can do this by having a steady supply of prebiotics and weight loss friendly foods. These are foods that let good bacteria flourish by feeding them. They can be found in foods like oats, apples, bananas, asparagus, mushrooms, and more.
2. Genetics
If your body doesn’t look like models have on Instagram, then don’t worry at all. We should always be inclusive of all body types because there are lots of factors that contribute to it, including genetics.
Yes, you heard that right! Some of us are just meant to be thicker and curvier than others. So, don’t be too hard on yourself for not losing weight like the others. Just think of it as being blessed!
It’s still possible to lose weight you’re naturally predisposed to, but you have to be careful about it. Researchers theorize that our bodies have an ideal weight range—if you’re lighter or heavier, your body will do everything it can to go back within range. That means you shouldn’t do crash diets—your body is only going to panic and try everything it can to make you gain weight.
3. Old Age
As we age, we start losing muscles more easily. This takes a toll on our weight maintenance since muscle burns more calories than fat. The less muscle we have, the fewer calories we burn, and those calories quickly stick and become fat.
To combat this, we need to adapt to this change. We should train our muscles to retain them, and replace processed and sugary foods with nutrient-dense foods.
4. Medications
Whether it’s asthma or diabetes or migraines, there are a lot of conditions out there that can hinder our weight loss goals. The medications we take for them affect how much we lose weight. Some throw our hormones out of order, some affect our appetite by making us hungrier or fuller, some retain water in our bodies, some make us feel more fatigued and less active, and lots more.
Whatever the case is, don’t do anything drastic before consulting with your doctor. They might be able to adjust your dose or recommend an alternative medication. Additionally, remember that not losing weight is a much better option than letting a disease wreak havoc in your body.
It’ll be tough to lose weight with medications, but it’s not impossible.
5. Portion Sizes
It’s ridiculously easy to go over your recommended daily intake if you’re not fully aware of what you’re eating. This happens for a variety of reasons. Some companies purposefully make it difficult to read their nutrition facts. For example, a small bag of candy might have nutrition facts for three or four pieces, not the whole bag, thereby tricking you.
Some of us also just ignore nutrition facts altogether. What does it matter what we eat as long as we’re satisfied, right? This mindset will easily push us over our limit, making not losing weight very hard.
We should always be mindful of our portion sizes. One way we highly recommend is by planning out your meals in advance. This way, you’ll know how much you’re eating, how much you’ll need, and how much macronutrients we’re gaining with every meal.
6. Mindless Eating
We’ve all done it before—we’ve eaten when we had nothing to do, eaten without even thinking about it, or eaten when we were harboring negative feelings. But that doesn’t mean we should eat. Eating while we’re distracted makes it harder for our brains to distinguish when it’s full. This leads to overeating.
To combat mindless eating, you should practice cooking. Knowing what exactly goes into your food gives you peace of mind. The cooking process also makes you appreciate and savor your food more and not just wolf everything down.
Another thing you can do is remove yourself from gadgets when eating. Put the phone down and the laptop away and just enjoy your meal.
7. Skipping Meals and Binge Eating
This is what amateurs love to do, isn’t it? They spend the whole day not eating because they think it’ll help them lose weight. Then, when their body can’t take the hunger anymore, they eat whatever is in reach to drive the hunger away.
If you keep eating like this, your metabolism is eventually going to work against you. It’ll think you don’t have a steady supply of food and store more fat. It’ll also affect your other bodily processes like sleeping—if you don’t eat the whole day, you might stay up all night thinking about eating.
Instead of skipping meals and bingeing, you should have a predictable eating schedule. Then, your body will know there’s no reason to panic and will use its glycogen storage more efficiently. You can also try IV therapy such as IVLA in Los Angeles to repair your metabolism.
You should also not limit foods you love just because they’re unhealthy. Treat yourself once in a while with a cookie or a scoop of ice cream.
8. Lack of Calorie Deficit
When you’re losing weight, it’s not the number of hours you put into exercising you should be worried about—it’s what you eat that matters the most. You can burn 1000 calories by exercising for hours but make up for it in an instant with a greasy, fat-laden meal!
Instead, you should view exercise as the final nail in the coffin. Eating healthy burns fat, but exercise makes it permanent. It does this by making your cells more efficient at burning fat and excess carbohydrates.
If you’re having a hard time exercising, keep experimenting until you find something you like. Exercising isn’t a punishment. The more you enjoy exercise, the more motivated you are to stay committed.
