8 Reasons Why You Aren't Losing Fat (Effectively)

People tend to blame lack of weight loss progress on a multitude of different reasons. Although there are many reasons why you may not be making fat loss progress, it all comes down to one very simple formula.

Calories in versus calories out.

In order to lose weight effectively you must expend more calories than you are putting into your body. This occurs by either eating less, working out more, or a combination of the two.

People may blame plateaus and progress on different things but there are some common reasons that many people struggle with weight loss.

Why You Aren't Losing Fat Effectively

#1 - You aren?t tracking calories

People generally complain that they are doing everything they possibly can do to lose those few extra pounds. But if you stop and ask them 90% of the time they are not tracking their calories. There is no possible way to lose weight unless you are in taking fewer calories than your body needs to sustain itself.

This does not have to be complicated. There are several apps available to help guide you in this process. Many of them simply require scanning a bar code of a particular food item and the app does the rest for you.

#2 - You don't know how many calories you need

Not understanding how many calories your body requires is similar to driving somewhere without a navigation system. If you want to get to where you?re going (goal weight) you need a way to get there. Use a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator to determine how many calories your body needs based on a given set of variables such as age, weight, height, sex, and activity level.

Although this is not a perfect formula it will aide in providing you with some sort of ballpark figure to aim for. Based on your individual body type you can adjust it to your own unique goals.

#3 - You think you?re eating healthy

When people say they are struggling with weight loss they often think that just because they are eating ?health? foods weight should be lost. Someone might say, I eat a bowl of granola for breakfast with almond milk, but it may well contain over 1000 calories if you fill up the entire bowl.

Or perhaps they had an avocado as a snack but did you know an avocado has over 30 grams of fat? Just because a food is considered ?healthy? and has some sort of nutritional value does not mean you can eat that food in endless amounts.

#4 - You cheat on the weekends

A lot of people will go through endless amounts of effort to meal prep and keep their diet in perfect harmony during the week. Monday through Thursday macronutrients are in check then all of a sudden Friday night happens. Time for happy hour with the guys or pizza night with the significant other.

People tend to forget that diet is a 24-7, 365 days per year habit that takes no days off. Keep your diet in check on the weekends as well. If you absolutely need it have a cheat meal to maintain sanity, but don't go overboard because all of your hard work will quickly go down the drain.

#5 - You eat unhealthy snacks

Your diet may be healthy most of the time but if you reach for a free office donut or bagel at every opportunity you likely are not doing yourself any sort of good. Maybe you walk by the candy dish and grab a few treats every time you pass by.

100 Calories here and there may not seem like an overly significant figure, but if you are constantly taking every free snack in sight good luck in maintaining progress.

#6 - You drink too many calories

Satiation, or the feeling of fullness, is one of the most critical factors to achieving weight loss success. However, generally when you drink beverages you are not helping satiation or the feeling of fullness.

There are plenty of hidden calories in common beverages such as juices, milk, and sodas. Try to drink mainly water or low calorie dairy drinks. Be sure not to waste those calories on unneeded beverages.

#7 - You aren?t performing enough weight training

Resistance training is a great way to build quality muscle and lose fat. As the body becomes leaner it burns more fat at a higher rate as your metabolism increases.

Too often people neglect weight training and focus strictly on cardiovascular training for long periods of time. Use weight training as the basis of your exercise and perform cardio afterwards.

#8 - You are doing too much cardio

Doing cardiovascular training more than 30 minutes per day is not overly beneficial to the body. Furthermore, if you are doing cardio for 1 to 2 hours per day or more, chances are your body is being worn down.

The body adapts to what you put it through. Therefore, if you do endless amounts of cardio and then stop the body will be more likely to add additional fat. Keep cardio to about 3 to 4 times per week 15-30 minutes and only make modest modifications as needed.

Use These Fat Loss Tips to Lose Weight Effectively

There are several ways you can help improve fat loss by following the steps listed above. Fat loss should be a slow steady process that is done in a controlled and methodical manner. Everything worth having in life comes with due time.

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