If you’re eating nutritious foods and staying active but the number on the scale refuses to move, you’re definitely not alone. Many people struggle with weight loss despite putting in consistent effort. The truth is, losing weight is rarely straightforward, and several hidden factors may be slowing your progress. The good news? Once you understand what’s holding you back, you can make the right adjustments and move forward again.
At its core, weight loss depends on creating a calorie deficit. This happens when your body burns more calories through daily functions and physical activity than it takes in from food and drinks. When this imbalance occurs, your body is forced to tap into stored energy — primarily body fat — to meet its needs.
In simple terms, fat loss only occurs when a calorie deficit exists. There’s no way around it. To reduce body fat, your body must access its energy reserves, and that only happens when calorie intake is lower than calorie expenditure. As a general guideline, losing one pound of body fat requires an energy deficit of about 3,500 calories.
To achieve this deficit, some form of limitation is always involved. Certain eating plans focus on cutting specific foods, such as sugar or refined carbohydrates. Others emphasize restricting macronutrients, like low-carb or low-fat diets, while some eliminate entire food groups. There are also approaches that limit when you eat — such as intermittent fasting — or how much you eat through portion control, calorie tracking, or macro counting.
Although the nutrition world often debates which method is best, research consistently shows one thing: any eating strategy that reduces calorie intake can lead to weight loss — as long as it’s followed consistently(1).
That said, knowing the theory is much easier than applying it in real life. Even though a calorie deficit is essential, many people struggle to achieve or maintain one. Lifestyle habits, mindset, and small daily behaviors can quietly sabotage progress. Fortunately, once you identify these common obstacles, you can remove them and get your weight loss journey back on track.
Most Common Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight
Here is a ranking of the most common reasons you’re not losing weight.
1. You’re not in a true calorie deficit, consistently.
Many people will say “I’m in a calorie deficit but I’m not losing
weight”, but if you’re not losing weight, you’re not in a calorie
deficit. Unfortunately, many people think they are in a calorie
deficit because they’re following a fancy meal plan, they’ve cut foods
from their diet, or they’ve used a fancy online calorie intake
calculator, but none of those things guarantee you are in a calorie deficit.
Because a calorie deficit is fat loss, you only know you’re in a
calorie deficit when you’re seeing results. Unfortunately, many people
assume that they are in a calorie deficit without properly calculating
their calorie needs, monitoring their activity level, tracking their
food, or weighing their food.
Determining your required calorie intake for weight loss is a game of
consistency, monitoring, and adjustment. Not only do you need to
estimate your calorie deficit needs with accurate data – and most people
underestimate their calorie intake and overestimate their activity
level – but you need to monitor data points by accurately tracking food intake and weighing yourself, consistently.
Consistency is king when it comes to weight loss. Even if you are in
true calorie deficit 4 days of the week or 20 days of the month, if you
are in a surplus the other 3 days of the week and 10 days of the month
you likely won’t see the weight loss progress you desire.
Not to mention, your calorie needs will change as you progress in
your weight loss journey as you experience the natural process of
metabolic adaption, when your body becomes more efficient at using
energy and burns fewer calories, which makes consistency, tracking, and
calorie intake adjustments all of the more important (2).
2. You’re not as active as you think you are.
When calculating the calorie intake required for weight loss, many
people overestimate their activity level. Not only do people tend to
overreport their physical activity by roughly 50%, but studies have
shown that “smart” watches overestimate calories burned during exercise
by 28-93% (3, 4).
This overestimating of activity level can be detrimental to weight
loss progress as your “calories burned” are much lower than estimated
and, therefore, the calorie deficit you thought you had created is not
there.
3. You’re not resistance training.
Many people with weight loss goals gravitate to what they consider
“high-calorie burn” forms of exercise, such as cardio and high-intensity
interval training, when in reality walking and resistance training are
just as effective, if not more.
Resistance training, also known as
weightlifting and strength training, helps to build muscle mass by
challenging your muscles to work against a weight or force. This
increase in muscle mass helps to support our basal metabolism rate,
which is the primary component of metabolism
and total calories burned throughout the day. Our resting energy
expenditure is largely dependent on our fat-free mass, therefore, the
more muscle mass we build through resistance training, the higher our
resting energy expenditure (4).
Although resistance training doesn’t typically burn as many calories
as high-intensity cardio during exercise, resistance training is more
effective at building and preserving lean muscle mass during the
fat-loss process, which helps to mitigate decreases in metabolic rate
that can impede weight loss. Furthermore, if the intensity is high
enough, post resistance training workout you will benefit from excess
post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which is the increased energy
your body uses after a workout to recover, repair, and return to its
pre-exercise state (5, 6).
Additionally, resistance training is the most effective exercise
approach for changing body composition, which can alter body shape and
reduce inches, even if there is little weight loss reflected on the
scale.
If you are new to resistance training, to minimize the risk of
injury, it is best to start with body-weight exercises and allow the
body to build strength before adding external resistance such as bands,
kettlebells, dumbbells, and barbells. That said, exercise alone is not as effective of a weight loss strategy as diet and exercise combined, therefore, both should be made a priority if you’re trying to lose weight.
4. You’re not prioritizing whole foods.
Eating a diet composed primarily of whole foods is one of the easiest ways to quickly cut calories. Not only is real food free of added sugars and oils, which are major sources of added calories in processed foods, but they are far more filling, satiating, and nourishing.
In the nutrition prioritization pyramid,
after consistency and lifestyle, food quality ranks as one of the most
important diet and lifestyle changes for health and weight loss. Not
only does prioritizing whole foods in the diet help to ensure you are
organically eating a better balance of macronutrients and micronutrients, but it naturally affects how much you eat.
Whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes,
nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy products, poultry, red meat, seafood, and
shellfish, are the most nutrient-dense foods and most filling foods.
The high protein, fiber, fat, and micronutrients of whole foods
positively impact our hunger hormones to increase feelings of fullness
compared to ultra-processed foods, which are hyper-palatable and very easy to overeat.
That said, you don’t need to cook everything from scratch if you want to lose weight. There are many healthy store-bought foods and products that are made from whole foods and minimally processed that you can include in a healthy diet. Just be sure to read the label and ingredients to choose the best options possible.
5. You’re not weighing your food.
Weighing your food is the only way to accurately track how many
calories you are consuming. Although many weight loss programs will
suggest using your hand to estimate portion sizes as a portion control
tool, using portion plates, or measuring cups to portion your food,
weighing your food on a scale is, by far, the most precise way to track
your calorie intake.
To use an analogy, tracking your calorie intake without weighing your
food is like tracking your financial budget without looking at your
expenses. If you’re trying to save money, you need to know how much
money is going into your bank account and how much is leaving your bank
account. If you’re tracking your budget on a spreadsheet and estimating
your income and expenses, but you never cross reference the numbers to
ensure they are accurate, it is highly unlikely your spreadsheet will
match your bank account at the end of the month.
While done with good intentions,
many people track their food intake in a calorie-counting app but fail
to weigh any of the food they are eating. In doing so, they are merely
estimating how much food they are consuming and tracking this estimate.
So, while their app may say they are eating 1,500 calories, there is no
way to confirm this is actually how much they are consuming because they
haven’t weighed anything.
In fact, research has shown that people underestimate their calorie
intake by up to 20%, and overweight people may underestimate their
calorie intake by up to 40% (3). While this can be frustrating to hear, it merely demonstrates the average person’s lack of understanding of portion sizes.
Weighing your food, even if only for a brief period, can be a very
eye-opening and educational tool to help increase this area of nutrition
knowledge and support your weight loss efforts.
6. You’re not tracking cooking oils.
If you’re tracking your food, but you’re not tracking cooking oil,
you may be leaving hundreds of calories untracked. In fact, not tracking
cooking oils is one of the most common calorie-counting mistakes.
Although olive oil, coconut oil, and even butter are healthy fats that can be included in a healthy diet and support weight loss, cooking oils are some of the most calorie-dense foods.
A mere tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of olive oil add up to
340 calories, which, when left untracked, can remove you from the
calorie deficit you think you are in (8, 9).
7. You’re not tracking beverages.
While what you eat is important for weight loss, what you drink is
equally important and, unfortunately, all too often ignored. The
“calories in” side of the calorie deficit equation comes from the food
you eat and the beverages you drink and not tracking calories from
beverages can quickly erode any calorie deficit you think you’ve
created.
Many beverages are just as
calorie-dense, if not more, than food, and sugary beverages are some of
the biggest contributors to weight gain (10).
Although soda, milkshakes, and alcohol are generally considered
unhealthy, high-calorie beverages, even healthy beverages, such as fresh
fruit juices, smoothies, and protein shakes contribute to your daily
calorie intake.
While these beverages do not need to be avoided for weight loss to
occur, their calorie content must be considered and tracked to ensure
they are accounted for in your calorie deficit. Even healthy beverages
can easily add up to several hundred calories per day. For example, not
tracking a green juice (111 calories), small latte (155 calories), and
protein shake (165 calories) can increase your total daily calorie
intake by 431 calories and remove you from what you thought was a
calorie deficit (11, 12, 13).
Moreover, alcohol consumption can make it harder to lose weight. Not
only is alcohol high in calories, and mixers often even more, but after a
few drinks people are more likely to make poorer food choices, which
adds even more calories (14).
8. You’re not eating enough protein.
Protein
is the most satiating macronutrient as it impacts several
appetite-regulating hormones, namely ghrelin, that increase feelings of
fullness, which is incredibly helpful when you are trying to lose
weight.
Moreover, protein has the highest thermic effect of food, which is
the energy expended to digest, metabolize, absorb, and store the food
that you eat (15).
This is particularly beneficial for weight loss as it can help to
increase calories burned by increasing the body’s resting energy
expenditure, which is an integral component in metabolism.
The protein requirements for weight loss are higher due to the
greater threat to lean muscle mass from bodily protein being used to
battle a calorie deficit. While exactly how much protein you need
varies based on the size of the calorie deficit and leanness of the
individual, evidence suggests that a protein intake of 0.7-1.0 grams of
protein per pound of body weight per day is ideal for weight loss (16).
As for when to eat your protein, the exact breakdown throughout the
day is less important than meeting your optimal total daily needs.
According to research, the body appears to be more flexible with the
distribution of protein intake throughout the day for retaining muscle
mass during a calorie deficit, as long as protein intake is met and
resistance training is engaged (17).
There are many ways to increase your protein intake, however, generally speaking consuming a source of plant or animal protein at every meal can help ensure you are eating more calories from protein to support weight loss. Eating a high-protein, low-calorie food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a simple, yet effective, way to increase your protein intake.
9. You eat at restaurants often.
Everyone loves a good restaurant meal and, while it’s important to
treat yourself, eating at restaurants too frequently can hinder weight
loss progress.
Tracking your food is pretty easy when you’re making every meal at
home, as you can measure and weigh everything, but when you’re eating at
restaurants you’re often left to guess and estimate the ingredients and
portions of your meals. Not only does this diminish the accuracy of
tracking, but restaurants often use more oil and butter than one would
use cooking at home, which can quickly increase the calories of a meal.
In fact, one study found that
eating at fast food and full-service restaurants was associated with an
increase in daily total energy intake of roughly 200 calories and
significant increases in saturated fat, sugar, and salt (18).
And another study found that meals from non-chain restaurants contained
an average of 1,205 calories, which is roughly 60% of the daily calorie
needs for an adult female ( 2,000 kcal/day) and roughly 48% of the
daily calorie needs for an adult male ( 2,500 kcal/day) (19).
When eating at restaurants frequently, these significant calorie
increases can easily pull you out of a calorie deficit and even lead to weight gain.
However, if you must, do your best to plan ahead, read the restaurant
menu on their website, and consider “banking” some calories by eating a
little lighter during the day so you aren’t concerned about going over.
10. You’re misinterpreting the scale.
If you’re trying to lose weight, one of the most important things to understand is that there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss and this difference has a big impact on the scale.
Weight loss refers to a decrease in your body weight from muscle,
bone, water, and fat, while fat loss refers to weight loss strictly from
fat, which contributes to weight loss.
Many factors can influence weight and it is completely normal to see
small fluctuations in weight from one day to the next. Changes in water,
salt, and carbohydrate intake and lack of bowel movements can cause
weight increases, however, these do not necessarily mean there was an
increase in fat tissue. This is especially true for women as they
experience natural fluctuations in weight during their menstrual cycle (20).
Moreover, if you’re confident you are consistently in a calorie
deficit, eating enough protein, and resistance training, but are not
seeing changes on the scale, it is possible that losing fat and building
muscle mass simultaneously. This process is known as body recomposition
and is often reflected in a loss of inches through loss of body fat and
muscle gain but not reflected as weight loss as most scales do not
differentiate between the amounts of body fat and muscle you have.
It is for this reason that weighing
yourself regularly is important but it is the larger trends that are
most important, not the small day-to-day changes. If you’re committed to
losing weight, it is best to weigh yourself daily so you can collect
more data points, however, instead of comparing today’s weight to
yesterday’s weight, compare this month’s weight to next month’s weight.
While you will experience weight fluctuations in the process – and they
will be frustrating in the moment – the goal is to see a very gradual
downward trend in weight over time.
11. Your expectations are unrealistic.
Happiness equals reality minus expectations and this couldn’t be truer than when you’re trying to lose weight.
Unfortunately, many people start a weight loss program with
unrealistic expectations and, therefore, become frustrated when the
process does not pan out the way they expected. When this happens, they
give up on their weight loss efforts and often regain weight any weight
they had lost, if not gain more.
The truth is that healthy weight loss is a slow and progressive
process. While you can experience rapid drops in weight when you start
your weight loss journey, which are often due to water loss, on average,
a 2-4% monthly weight loss/fat loss rate is considered normal and
sustainable. For instance, if you weigh 170 pounds, a healthy weight
loss rate would range from 3.4 to 6.8 pounds per month. Not to mention,
every individual has a different healthy set point range that is largely predetermined by genetics, height, sex, age, metabolism, and hormones.
Furthermore, it is normal for weight loss plateaus to occur in the process. A weight loss plateau is when you temporarily stop losing weight and it may occur for several weeks before weight begins trending down again.
For these reasons, you must set clear and realistic expectations
before you begin your weight loss journey to reduce frustrations and
help you weather the storm when setbacks occur.
12. You’ve not chosen a sustainable approach.
As previously noted, weight loss
requires some form of calorie restriction and research has shown that
all dietary approaches that restrict calories are equally effective when
adhered to.
Unfortunately, too often people pick the dietary approach they think
is the “best” or the “quickest” and not the one that suits their
personal preferences. Following a low-carb diet when you love carbs or
intermittent fasting when you love sharing meals with your family may
lead to some short-term success, but is more than likely to fail in the
long run simply because you don’t like it.
When choosing a dietary approach for weight loss, personal
preferences, schedules, and flexibility should not be ignored. While
there are pros and cons to every diet, the pros must outweigh the cons
and make logical sense for your lifestyle so you can stick to it.
The reality is that you don’t need to micromanage every meal to achieve fat loss, rather, you need to develop healthy eating habits
that you can adhere to consistently to ensure you maintain a calorie
deficit. Not only does this help in the weight loss process, but it aids
in the long term to ensure you don’t experience weight regain once you
stop dieting.
