Top 5 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

1. Too Many Calories. The most common reason for not losing weight is taking in too many calories. The basic rule for losing weight is eating less calories than you burn. Only after you create this calorie deficit will your body begin to use fat stores for energy which will cause weight loss. Most of the time, people don't know how much they're actually eating. They look at the nutrition label, see 200 calories per serving and assume they're eating that much. In reality, they're probably eating 2-3 servings. Most people underestimate the amount of calories they take in. To figure out how many calories you're eating everyday, count them, at least during the beginning of your diet until you get used to serving sizes. Use measuring cups, spoons and food scales to accurately measure amounts. To figure out how many calories you should be eating each day, use the calorie calculator.

2. Eating Too Little. While it's counter intuitive to think that eating too little will cause anything but weight loss, our bodies work in mysterious ways. Back when we were hunters and gatherers, our food supply wasn't always as steady as it is today. The body adapted to this and learned that when we started to eat less, the supply was running low. When this happened, the body's metabolism would start to slow down in order to conserve calories (known as starvation mode). This adaptation lives on today and whenever we cut our calories too much, our metabolism will slow down which will have an adverse effect on our weight loss. To avoid this, you should never consume under 1,200 calories per day. Doing so is extremely unhealthy and will keep you from losing weight.

3. Not Enough Exercise. Another big reason that people have a hard time losing weight is because they exercise too little. Exercising will help you lose weight by making your calorie deficit bigger. If you aren't exercising and expect to lose weight, you'll have to work twice as hard with your diet to make up for the calories you aren't burning while working out. To lose weight, you should be exercising most days of the week for 45-60 minutes per session. Combine elements of both cardiovascular and strength training for the best results (don't forget about flexibility which will increase your performance but won't directly cause weight loss). Can I lose weight without exercise, through diet alone?

4. Eating Bad Foods. If you're not losing weight, you might be eating the wrong foods. Those high in sugar or white flour are digested very quickly, leaving you hungry soon after eating. This causes you to eat sooner than you should, increasing your daily calorie intake and shrinking your calorie deficit. Foods that are high in fiber and 100% whole wheat flour are digested slower which will leave you full for longer. This will keep you eating less throughout the day.

5. Bad Meal Timing. Eating infrequently can also cause diets to stop working. When you eat the traditional three large meals per day, you're leaving a lot of room for cravings. Typically,you'll have breakfast at 8am and not eat again until 1-2pm. Between those two meals, if you get hungry, by the time lunch comes around, you'll start getting cravings. When you get cravings, how often are they healthy foods? Cravings are usually for unhealthy foods such as pizza, hamburgers, doughnuts and ice cream. If you eat smaller meals and add some snacks into your day, you're much less likely to get these cravings and more likely to stick to your diet plan.