What Should I Do If I Am Not Losing Weight?

What Should I Do If I Am Not Losing Weight?

Dec 27, 2024 mindpump

Look, I get it. You’re busting your ass in the gym, eating clean, doing everything “right” – and the scale still isn’t moving. It’s frustrating as hell. But before you start blaming your metabolism or thinking your body is sabotaging you, let’s break this down.

The Calorie Confusion Trap

Here’s what people don’t want to hear: You’re probably eating way more than you think. And I mean WAY more. That “healthy” smoothie you’re downing? Might as well be a milkshake. Those “handful of nuts” you’re casually munching? More like a full meal’s worth of calories. Most people hugely underestimate how many calories are in their food, causing them to believe they’re undereating.

Start tracking everything. Use a food tracking app. This doesn’t have to be a forever habit, but I generally like to tell my clients to do this for at least a week or two so they get a better sense of what makes up their days’ worth of eating. Research was done comparing people tracking the amount of food they ate, and guess what they found? That people underestimate their daily intake by 500 calories. For a quick reference, those handful of nuts you snack on throughout that day may not seem like a lot each grab. That total tally at the end of the day could easily equal up to 300 calories. Look up the nutrition facts of a burger compared to the salad at Jack in the Box. The salad has more overall calories! I know it’s not just about calories – it’s what’s in them – but the rule still applies. At least with the burger you are getting a good amount of protein. The bulk of the calories from the salad is ALL dressing which is both processed and not good for you.

First Things First: Get Your Head Right

Weight loss isn’t just about numbers. It’s about understanding yourself. Why are you doing this? If your only motivation is looking good in Instagram photos, you’re gonna burn out fast.

Ask yourself the real questions:

• What’s driving this journey?
• Are there emotional triggers around food?
• Are you trying to prove something to yourself or someone else?

Pro tip: If you’re not mentally prepared, forget about weight loss. Work on your mindset first.

The Scale Is Just One Piece of the Puzzle

Scales doesn’t tell the whole story. Maybe you set out to lose 20 pounds and you’re “only” down 15. But hold up – 15 pounds is freaking awesome! Stop beating yourself up and look at the bigger picture:

• How’s your energy?
• Quality of sleep?
• Strength?
• Overall mood?

I’ll take feeling incredible and losing 15 pounds over hitting a number and feeling like garbage any day.

Mix Up Your Training

Your body is smart. Do the same workout for weeks? It adapts and progress starts to plateau. Just like what makes up a calorie matters, what makes up your training matters. Are you doing too much cardio? If you are doing more cardio sessions than you are lifting sessions, you may be slowing your muscle gain and prioritizing endurance. If you are lifting, when is the last time you changed the exercises out or rep range? Now, we don’t want to be doing changes every week but at least make a single change and implement that for 3-4 weeks. Make sure you are lifting at least 2-3 days a week.

Your goal should be preserving muscle while losing fat. Cardio sends a conflicting signal to burn muscle, and being in a deficit for a prolonged period of time sends a signal to hold onto fat.

Track Smarter, Not Harder

Weigh yourself daily. One weekly weigh-in can be thrown off by water weight, what you ate yesterday, etc. When tracking daily, use it as data. It’ll show you trends over time. Try to remove the emotion and treat it like data collection. If you do still find you are emotionally tied to what’s on the scale then ignore this step. Go by how you feel and look in the mirror.

The Mental Game is EVERYTHING

Consistency beats perfection. Some days you’ll crush it. Some days you’ll miss the mark. But keep showing up. Keep learning. Your body is constantly giving you feedback – you just need to listen. I’d rather you follow the imperfect program consistently than the most perfect program hardly ever followed. Consistency is what matters at the end of the day.

Let’s try and lean into extreme ownership. No more “I’m doing everything right” when you’re not truly tracking, or truly trying to understand your body and what it’s telling you. Your mental resilience and ability to take ownership of your life is not just good here, but it applies everywhere in life.

Prioritize eating protein first with every meal. Workout 2-3 times a week, and make sure you are doing a little better than the week before (1 more rep or 5 pounds more). Get 7-9 hours of quality sleep, and keep your stress low. It’s about progression, not just the end result. The goal each week is to be a slightly better version of yourself than the week before.