Why can't I lose weight?
Weight loss is hard and it sure isn’t as simple as “you are what you eat”. While diet is important, there are many other influences on our weight and metabolism. Stress, sleep, hormones, age, genetics, medications and many other lifestyle factors can impact our weight.
If you ask yourself any of the following questions, you’re not alone.
I’m doing all the right things – Why can’t I lose weight?
I am only eating healthy foods and I am exercising most days. Why can’t I lose weight?
I barely eat anything, only 1, maybe 2 meals per day. Why can’t I lose weight?
I am fasting but it isn’t helping. Why can’t I lose weight?
I walk every day and I do yoga 3 times per week and I swim too. Why can’t I lose weight?
I have tried every diet you can think of and nothing works. Why can’t I lose weight?
This is a frustrating reality for many people. But there are things you can do to set yourself up for success.
6 realistic things you can do to help with weight loss
Exercise: Exercise is important– this includes cardiovascular exercise like walking, swimming and cycling, but perhaps more importantly requires 2 days of strength exercise as well. Strength training is also important to include and guidelines for exercise suggest 2-3 days of strength exercise is beneficial (see ACSM Physical Activity Guidelines 2022). Strength training will increase muscle mass. Muscle mass will improve metabolism – this means your body will utilise more energy each day to maintain the lean muscle on your body. Strength training has the added bonus of reducing pain in your joints, improving posture and preventing bone loss as we age.
Diet: Diet is also important– the healthy eating guidelines can be quite vague: Choose nutritious food to meet your energy needs; Enjoy a wide variety of food from the 5 food groups – Vegetables / Fruits / Grains / Proteins / Dairy; Limit foods containing saturated fats, added salts, added sugars and alcohol; Encourage and support breastfeeding; Care for your food. This is hard to interpret and difficult to figure out what exactly your body needs. Often guidance and support is needed to figure out portions sizes, ‘ healthy fats’ and low GI grains and protein sources.
Sleep: There is a definite link between lack of sleep and weight gain. Researchers are still looking into the reasons why but it is suggested that lack of sleep causes an increased appetite leading to higher food intake. Lack of sleep will also lower energy output, reducing your capacity to exercise. Lack of sleep can also increase stress levels, but we will get to stress in number 4. Healthy sleep habits include –regular bedtime , limit food right before bed, avoid using devices before sleep and sleep in a dark room , and wake up at a regular time.
Stress: Most of you will have heard of cortisol. It is a hormone released by the body in times of stress. Cortisol releases sugars into your bloodstream to prepare for a ‘fight or flight’ response to remove yourself from danger. Unfortunately, in our modern society, the stressors we are exposed to are not life-threatening but still elicit the same response. This build-up of sugar in the blood leads to a build-up of fat around the middle. One of the most important things you can do to help with weight loss is to reduce stress. Exercise can help manage stress, but also meditation, being in nature, reading or yoga.
Alcohol: The body detects alcohol as a toxin. It cannot store alcohol in the body for use later as it can with protein (muscles), fat and carbohydrates (sugar). Your body will stop processing everything else, like your last meal, and process the alcohol completely first. Often, this means the food that you ate in your last meal, will turn to fat and increase your blood sugar levels. Not only that, but alcohol will be processed by the liver as a priority over estrogen. But we will talk about hormones next!
Hormones: There are many hormones that have a role in weight management. I will start with estrogen , which mostly effects women but can also affect men. High levels of estrogen can trigger insulin to release sugars into the blood cause weight gain around the middle. Thyroid hormones are responsible for regulating metabolism and sleep among many other things. An underactive thyroid can lead to stubborn weight gain. Other tricky hormones that can play a part in weight gain include cortisol (see stress above), leptin – signals when the body is full, insulin – controls blood sugar levels, testosterone – low levels of testosterone will lead to weight gain, stress and inflammation. Hormones can be a little trickier to manage, but there are changes you can make.
Small changes can make a difference
Weight loss is hard. It isn’t as simple as eating better and exercising more. A lot of small changes need to come together to make real and sustainable differences to the body. There is not one solution that is going to work for everyone. And it is not going to be a smooth road to success.
Irrespective of weight loss, improving your diet, increasing your exercise, improving your sleep, getting control of your stress and reducing your alcohol consumption is making positive changes to your health. Even if the scales don’t budge, if you implement these changes to your lifestyle, your heart health will improve, your energy will increase, your cholesterol levels will improve and your bones and joints will thank you.
How Embody Movement can support your weight loss journey
If you are ready to make a change and get control of your body, we have a keen interest in Weight Loss Services. Embody Movement offers 30-minute strength and fitness classes in the gym as well as 30-minute and 50-minute Pilates classes in the Pilates studio across both of our locations. Each participant after an initial screening will complete their own indiviaulised session tailored to their goals and needs.
Contact our Exercise Physiologist today and we will discuss your goals and implement small modifications to make habits that last and bring back your vitality.
Originally published 5 February 2021, revised and updated 30 January 2024,
