Why Aren't I Losing Weight? 10 Factors You Need to Consider.

Every year, millions of people attempt to tackle weight loss. They find talk of calories, of macros, of IIFYM, Paleo, and IF; hormones with really weird names, and fat burning supplements; training programs, met cons, and infomercials galore. Everybody says how simple it should be and then proceeds to muddy the simplicity with hundreds of “if's” and options. There is no shortage of information telling you everything you've done wrong or why this program is better than the others. And I'm not going to write another step-by-step guide to losing weight, discuss macros, diets, and training programs. There are enough of those out there for you to read. Instead, I'm going to address some of the not-so obvious problems in weight loss.

Without boring you with all the different theories and the soapbox lecture about how weight loss is a process and there is no such thing as a quick-fix, I want to remind you that THERE IS NO QUICK-FIX, no magic pill, no insta-cleanse (that's a whole different post), and a whole lot of ways that work. Each person responds differently and part of the challenge is finding what works for you. The most important part is approaching your weight loss systematically and by making small, sustainable life changes and having patience.

Assuming you've got a solid plan (no magic pills, no drastic calorie cuts or food eliminations) and a training program that matches (some cardio, some weight training), you should see progress happen within a few weeks depending on how much you've got to lose. Remember, the scale isn't always going to show progress, so that's why we advocate taking before pictures from multiple angles along with measuring calves, thighs, hips, waist, chest, biceps, and neck. But what happens when you aren't seeing any of these measures move?

Unfortunately, even with the perfect plan, there are other factors that can effect weight loss, and many of them are either overlooked or never discussed. Instead of looking deeper, the fitness world would have you change programs, cut your calories, use a “cleanse” or buy some new variant of bootcamp DVD paired with a TENS Unit (the electro shock thing).

Some of these factors that effect our weight loss are within our control, and many others are not. Even though we can't have 100% control, when we know what is causing our problem, we can take appropriate steps to minimize their effect.

Possible Factors Effecting Weight Loss:

• The Wrong Mentality – This could be the most difficult weight loss stumbling block of them all. Whether it's overconfident or self-defeating, how we think about our weight loss and our plan can determine our chance of success. When we're too stubborn to listen (I didn't say implement) to other options we're likely to make poor decisions when we stall. When we don't believe in the program we're using, we're likely to cheat on the diet, skip workouts, and commit self-sabotage in small ways. Either way, your success depends on you believing

• Stress – We all face stress every day. Some of us train to relieve stress, some of us play sports, some meditate, and others binge eat. For the most part, we handle the stress fairly well, but when we face more stress than we can handle or we don't recover well enough, bad things happen. Stress causes the body releases the hormone Cortisol. While Cortisol is both normal and necessary, too much of it throws off the body's hormonal balance and can result in a number of medical conditions.
  
  One of the best techniques to battle stress in my experience, is learning to meditate. There are apps on both iOS and Android that can guide you through techniques to relax and relieve stress in as little as 5 minutes each day.

• Working Out Too Much – The old addage goes something like “Eat less, move more.” Unfortunately, in weight loss, more isn't always better. When you work out too much, whether it's endless hours of cardio or weights, the body's reaction may be to hold on to weight. Simply explained, working out causes stress, and stress without proper nutrition and recovery leads to negative changes in the body and potential weight gain.
  
  Many unknowingly out-train their recovery and nutrition, resulting in no progress and a lot of frustration. The solution is truly as simple as it seems; do less. That's not to say do nothing, but if you are training 5-6 days per week and you aren't seeing changes, it may be time to consider reducing your training days to only three days per week.

• Too Little Recovery – There are articles and research to be found all over that explain the importance of recovery and sleep on hormonal regulation, recovery, and weight loss. When the hormones get out of whack (yup, science terms here) weight loss and fat burning slows. Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality leave us tired and potentially reaching for sugary food and drink to give us quick bursts of energy, skipping workouts, and eating the easy, fast food because we're too tired to make healthy meals at home.
  
  One of the tools I use to monitor my sleep is called “sleep bot” for Android. There are a plethora of similar trackers that monitor sleep time and movement and can provide a sleep quality. Many can also create “smart alarms” that wake us up at the right time with the right amount of sleep. Another valuable part of getting restful sleep is playing meditation hypnosis before bed to relieve stress. If monitoring and adjusting your sleep isn't working, it may be time to speak to a doctor about it.

• Inconsistency – We all see it or have experienced it, the on again, off again relationship with good nutrition and working out. But what happens when we start and stop repeatedly? What happens when we only work out once a week instead of the three that we planned on? Weight loss takes consistent efforts, and patience to stay the course.
  
  News Flash – The infomercials provide skewed perceptions about typical weight loss rates. The truth is weight loss and body changes don't happen overnight and sometimes not for weeks. Be patient, make your training and nutrition a priority. Plan it into your day and then take no excuses.

• Medical Conditions – Hypothyroidism, Cushing's Syndrome, PCOS, Syndrome X, Depression, and other Hormonal Changes are all conditions that effect weight loss. Each condition occurs for a different reason and can be an underlying cause on why the weight isn't coming off.
  
  While we can read all about these conditions and symptoms, and self-diagnose, the only true diagnosis and treatment comes with the the assistance of a medical professionals.

• Medications – There are millions of medications on the market and being used by people all over the world. Birth Control, Anti-Depressants, Blood Pressure Meds, and many others can all effect our hormone levels, cause fatigue, fluid retention, or can increase appetite. Like everything else that goes into our body, the medications we take can effect how our body works.
  
  You can research the medications you take, along with their side effects online. If you're concerned about your medications and their effect on weight loss, check with the prescribing doctor.

• Food Sensitivities – There is a difference between a sensitivity and an allergy. A trouble food can be tolerated in small amounts and the bad reaction might be prevented with medications in a food sensitivity. The reason for the reaction is certain elements of the offending food might not be digested and processed optimally, resulting in inflammation. Inflammation is typically followed by a level of insulin resistance and possibly leaky gut.
  
  The obvious solution is to limit the intake of foods that you are sensitive too. Another possible solution is the use of Probiotics to help maintain a healthy gut and aid in digestion. If you suspect food sensitivities could be hindering your weight loss, it is best to seek the assistance of a medical professional.

• Lack of Variety – When we do the same thing or eat the same thing for too long, our body adapts. In 6-8 weeks, the body can become more efficient and at that point, a small change needs to be made to keep progress moving forward.
  
  Evaluate your program every 6-8 weeks. If you are still making progress, there is no need to make a change, but when a program that was working, stalls, it's time to consider a small, calculated change.

• Too Much Variety – On the flip side of not changing enough is the person that changes too much. Whether it's switching from carb backloading to IIFYM to IF or from 5x5 to GVT to PHAT, too much variety prevents us from making progress. There is a huge myth out there that says the body needs to be “confused” to produce results.
  
  Like many have mentioned before, progress requires consistency and a chance for the body to adapt. As the body becomes efficient and adapts, then it is time to make just enough of a change to keep progress going.

As you can see, there are a number of factors that can effect weight loss and while we have control over only a few of them, we can be informed and make educated decisions about how to handle all of them. Once you've got the plan and the program it is important to be patient and consistent. Remember to take pictures, use the tape measurements, and the scale to create a whole picture of your transformation. If things aren't moving, instead of giving up or making drastic changes, consider the many factors above and ask for help from the people that know about and have experience working with weight loss.

Fitness Industry Deception

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen it at one point or another in our health and fitness journey; the program or the trainer or the supplement company that boasts unbelievable success, and I admit it’s hard to ignore these claims when you are chasing a goal. As humans, we like to see proof of concept before we buy into something, but we can’t resist a great sales pitch with unbelievable results. We’ve been struggling with this goal for so long that it doesn’t take much to convince us; some pictures, a few well-written marketing pitches, some statistics, and a lot of “air” time. They convince us those products like juice fasts, wraps, and pills are quick and permanent solutions to our fitness problems, that these products or programs can make it easy and will get us what nothing else ever could. It’s sad that fitness preys on ignorance through flashy and sometimes dishonest marketing methods. The proof that calm our doubts and make us into believers can be manipulated to look better!

I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing the hype marketing of the fitness industry, but I will say that as consumers, we need to ignore all the buzzwords. We’ve all been victim to the word game; we get drawn in and go further down the rabbit hole until we analyze the total package. Just a few buzzwords or phrases you see in fitness every day: Muscle Confusion, ROI, Effortless, Alpha, Super Secret, Revolutionary, Shortcut, and Ultimate. Of course, I have to mention the outcomes of these programs: Shredded, Jacked, Beast, Toned, and Ripped. These lists can go on and on. This is where your bullshit-o-meter comes in to play and can move you through the flashy, buzzword, speak.

Images are another element the fitness industry uses to lure you to listen to their sales pitch. They place oiled, tanned, beautiful people on the screen to sell the product.Seriously, when’s the last time you saw a normal person in clothes selling the newest fitness craze? I’m betting the only ones you remember are freakishly fit and wearing skin-tight clothes. Then they flash amazing transformation photos and have these amazing transformations speak about how easy it was. They fail to mention that most of these amazing changes took longer than the 12 weeks of the program. Other photos are less grandiose but never do you see the photo of the participant that lost less than 12 pounds in 12 weeks. It’s as if the average result is tucked away because the average truth doesn’t sell. While photos seem more reliable than marketing, multiple trainers have debunked the before and after photos by showing how to do it in under an hour. I’m not saying everybody does it, but be aware; it isn’t that hard to do. If you haven’t seen the before and after tricks, here are two sites to check out:
Mel V Fitness
Trainer Andrew Dixon

This is where you meet the hardest challenge, the numbers. If you don’t have an idea of what is realistic, you can get caught in the amazing numbers touted by programs. Most people don't want to think about the data and the fitness industry knows it. Programs tend to show their successes, and rarely, their total data including their failures. I’m naturally a skeptic, but when I see only positive data or data that nobody else can substatiate, I get a little worried. Some examples of claims that make me think hard:

Participant’s averaged 80% pure fat lost in the first two weeks.
Participant “X” lost 50 pounds in 12 weeks.
Participant “Y” gained 10 pounds of lean muscle in 12 weeks.
Participant “Z” improved their [choose a lift] by 50 pounds in 12 weeks.

All of these start my BS meter chirping because they are all things we want, but in over 15 years, I’ve learned these types of successes are the rarest exception and some, I have never seen verified, only estimated. I am not saying these numbers are impossible, but results like these are highly unlikely.

I’m going to take a realistic view, break down the examples, and explain where I have issues.

Participant’s averaged 80% pure fat lost in the first two weeks.

80% fat loss sounds really, really, good, right? The biggest problem I have is I want to see the bodyfat measurements, not an estimate or an average. Here’s my second problem; most people entering a diet knowingly or unknowingly restrict their carbohydrate intake. Carbs encourage your body to retain water, so cutting carbs results in lost glycogen and lost water weight. Some estimates say that for every gram of carbs cut from the diet, 3 grams of water weight will be lost. If we accept that it takes a ~3500-calorie deficit to burn a pound, that is a maximum of 125 grams of carbs being removed from a diet per day(I eat over 400 grams of carbs on a normal day, so it’s possible to remove that much). That would be 1500 grams lost between the carbs and the water in one day. That’s 3.3 pounds on day one of just carbs and water, not fat, not muscle! Say you run the same deficit for multiple days and your water loss slows and eventually stops after about a week. Assuming the 80% is truthful, that means you have to lose over 16 pounds just to match up with day one's 3.3 pound water loss. So that was an extreme, let's take a smaller number. A very low estimate of water loss for two weeks, 2 pounds (1 pound per week); that means losing 8 pounds of pure fat over two weeks (~14000 calories below TDEE per week). That doesn't include how much lean muscle would be lost as well to claim 80% pure fat. I can continue to scale the numbers to lower and lower weight loss per week, but you should be seeing the point by now.

Takeaway: If the claim doesn’t have verifiable bodyfat measurements, take any short-term fat-loss claims with a grain of salt.

Participant “X” lost 50 pounds in 12 weeks.
It troubles me with the lack of details because weight loss is a percentage thing to me. Safe weight loss per week is estimated at 1%. First thing I want to know is how overweight was the client? If the client was 400 pounds, this is possible, but if they are 250, not so much. For those of you that watch Extreme Weight Loss or The Biggest Loser, remember those clients are selected because they have over 75 or 100 pounds to lose!

Takeaway: If you have less than 200 pounds to lose and you’re doing it the healthy way, don’t expect to see 50 pounds of weight come off so quickly, and that’s including the water.

Participant “Y” gained 10 pounds of lean muscle in 12 weeks.
I only want to know a few things with this type of claim. First, what was the training age of the participant? A low training age allows for “newbie” gains, and those can be massive. Second, what was their diet? If they ate poorly, didn’t get enough protein, or just plain under-ate, they have room for growth. Third, what is their actual age? Younger, more active participants have the hormonal advantage that us older people don’t have. Finally, show me the bodyfat measurements. Anybody claiming pure fat lost or lean mass gained should have bodyfat measurements to back it up.

Takeaway: Research their “proof.” If it’s a supplement company, ask for a study to support their claims. If they can’t cite a complete study or the numbers don’t line up, chances are it’s a bogus claim.

Participant “Z” improved their [choose a lift] by 60 pounds in 12 weeks.
After 15 years, I know there are two truths to this: The participant was a new lifter with very low training age and was given an appropriate progression or the lifter fixed faulty technique. For people that have been training for years and training with progressive overload programs with solid technique, the chance of this happening because of the program is slim to none. The last piece I worry about is the change in bodyweight. Mass moves mass, so if I put on weight, I expect a jump in my lifts.

Takeaway: Check the background on their participants. Younger lifters and lifters that haven’t trained for long can make these gains easier. If they’re experienced, check the starting and finishing bodyweights. Finally, ask yourself if it’s a technique fix.

The big takeaway from all of this is to be skeptical of fitness industry claims that seem unbelievable. In the fitness world, we are all different, but when the claim seems unbelievable, lack concurrence, and have poorly administered studies or no data at all to back them up, it is probably the exception and not the rule. Do your research, take a moment to think about all of the information, and then make the decision and put 100% effort into it. Fitness is a journey, not a dash.