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It is incredibly common for the scale not to budge for a few days (or weeks) at a time but this is not necessarily always a bad thing or something that means you will stay on a plateau forever.

Body mass tends to fluctuate by a few kilograms and this can depend on a number of things including the food you are eating, hormones and your training regime.

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This article is aimed with the intention of making you think about all of the different factors that could be playing a part in why your weight may not be shifting. It is not going to answer EXACTLY where the problem lies but it may assist you in determining which areas of your life may need some improvement. Of course, as always, consult with your Coach or a Health Professional to help you as an individual 😊
 

Sleep & Hormones

 

Getting a good amount of sleep is an important factor for both your physical and mental health as well as your journey to lose weight. Poor sleep is one of the single biggest factors for obesity and adults have a 55% chance of becoming obese if they don’t get enough sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, the hormones that regulate your appetite (the ones that tell you whether you are hungry or full) are altered . If you do not get the recommended eight hours of sleep at night, the next day you will often have increased cravings and can end up overeating.

Furthermore, sleep is the time in which your body repairs and rejuvenates itself. If you do not get enough sleep, eventually your body will be running on empty.

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Hormonal imbalances can sometimes to contribute to why losing weight can be hard for some people. If you are fatigued but still getting enough sleep, suffer from PMS, experience irregular menstrual cycles, feel depressed or anxious or find it hard to lose weight (even though you are doing all the right things!), then you may be suffering an imbalance in your hormones. However, it is important to remember that if you are weighing yourself in the week before your period, you may have a higher body mass due to the fact that you can gain anywhere from one to five kilograms during these days. Once you start your period, your weight will return back to normal.

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Additionally, if you are stressed frequently, this can begin to have an impact on your body. Long term stress means you are likely to have higher levels of the hormone Cortisol which is known to be linked to blood sugar imbalances and weight gain particularly around your mid section. This is one reason why eating well, getting enough sleep and engaging in regular exercise is so important…all of these have been found to help reduce your levels of stress!  

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Hormonal imbalance is often one of the last resorts checked when struggling with weight loss but if you or your coach think this may be a potential problem, consult with your GP or dietitian so that appropriate action can be taken.

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Training Consistency and Adherence

 

For most people, it is far easier to put on weight than it is to lose it so you need to stick with your food and exercise regime pretty religiously to see results. The odd treat or slip up is inevitable and it is important not to lose hope and throw all your hard work down the drain when this happens. But is the number of times these ‘treats’ occur that can be your downfall. Just because you have stayed on track for a week does not mean you should go on a weekend binge to ‘treat yo’self’. Consistency in your hard efforts is what will get the big results and that Sunday full of treats can undo your whole weeks work and put you back at the start so this is something you need to keep in mind.

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Sometimes it can also be that you are exercising (yay you!), but simply not doing exercise that is benefiting your body. People can often overexercise when trying to lose weight and this is a big mistake. Try to incorporate a couple of different types of exercise into your week to both allow your body the rest when needed and also avoid the plateau that can occur when the same type of exercise is done continuously.

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One of the most important things to do when trying to lose weight is to do some form of resistance training eg. Lifting weights. By doing this type of training, you can build and maintain lean muscle mass and as a result of this, actually burn more calories than your standard cardio workout. If you do not do any weight training (or exercise at all), your lean muscle mass is often burned alongside your body fat. It is also important to remember that you can gain Lean Muscle Mass at the same time that you are losing fat. This is particularly evident when you first start exercising. So if you have recently engaged in lifting weights and the scales have not moved (or even gone up!), don’t panic too quickly. It could be that you have simply gained muscle, not fat!

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Alongside weight lifting, you should also aim to incorporate some form of aerobic exercise (interval training is best for weight loss!) and stretching or yoga into your weekly routine.

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Furthermore, even if you exercise regularly through the week, you should set the intention to move more through the day. If you don’t get up and move throughout the day, your body doesn’t like this! Even if you have a desk job, set yourself up to move every hour at least. Even if it is to get up and fill up your glass of water or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, every little bit counts!

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Diet

 

Awareness of what is actually going into your mouth is one of the biggest factors when it comes to weight loss. Most people don’t actually have an idea of what they are eating in terms of the actual food or drink itself or the portion size. In order to understand what you may need to improve on in terms of your diet, you must first understand what your current situation looks like. To do this, we recommend you keep a food diary and consult with your Dietitian or Coach to decipher where you could make some changes to get the results you are chasing.

Most commonly, people who are struggling to lose weight are eating too much aka. Too many calories. Studies have shown that people tend to underestimate their calorie intake by a significant amount. Using a calorie calculator such as the MyFitness Pal app or similar in conjunction with your food diary can help you recognise just how much (or little!) you may be eating and how you need to adjust to reach your goals.

 

Often, people are not meeting the most important nutrient for losing weight: protein. Generally, your diet should be made of 25-30% protein as it can reduce cravings and the desire to snack by keeping you fuller for longer. It is also vitally important to help with building and maintaining the lean muscle mass you have worked hard for in your training. Again, your food diary will be able to help determine if you are meeting your protein intake.

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We want to point out that using a food diary, tracking and weighing your food is not something that you will do for the rest of your lives. In fact, we strongly recommend you don’t make it a long term habit especially if it causes you distress. But, we do suggest you do it for a week every now and then just to get a feel of how much and what you are eating.

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Binge eating is also another common mistake people can often make when trying to lose weight. By restricting yourself too much within your diet, you can end up caving and bingeing because you have deprived yourself too much whether it be certain types of food or calories overall. Even if you binge on something “healthy”, the calories still count. So although you may be eating dark chocolate, cheese or nuts, if you eat too much of it, you are over indulging in calories. Depending on just how much you eat, one binge can ruin an entire weeks’ worth of eating well so it is important to try and not let 10 minutes of weakness unravel your hard work.

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And what about all those fancy diets? The Keto Diet, the Atkins Diet, Low Carb-High Protein….they are all Fad Diets and although they may work for some people, they are not sustainable for most. Weight loss all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. Stick to this method and you are much more likely to be able to make it a way of life as opposed to a short-term diet. Avoid any diets that have red flags such as cutting out complete food groups, promotes one nutrient as more important than anything else or uses the words “detox” or “cleanse” (you have a liver that does this for you already!).

 

Water Weight & Hydration

 

Water and hydration is another factor that can influence weight loss. If you are feeling “bloated”, often it means you are retaining a lot of water, not a lot of fat. When people change up their diet and lose a stack of kilograms in the first couple of weeks, this can often partly be because they have lost a lot of water weight. Your body is made up of 60 to 70 percent water and when you eat certain foods (or not enough of some!), this causes your body to hold onto extra water which can make you feel puffy or bloated. For example, eating more foods that are high in antioxidants such as vegetables and fruits can help you lose water weight whilst eating foods high in salt can make your body retain it. Carbohydrates are also a surprising trigger for water retention because they are converted to glycogen once in the body and for every gram of glycogen, the body holds onto three times the amount of water!
 

Also, when we say be more hydrated, one liquid to be careful with is alcohol which can actually dehydrate you. Alcohol is a diuretic and drinking large amounts can contribute to water holding. These types of drinks are also often mixed with high calorie sodas, juices or other mixers that have a high carbohydrate content (as does beer) so if you are going to have a drink, alternate alcoholic drinks with water to maintain proper hydration.

 

 

Important Note:

Just because the scales are not moving and the number you see is not going down, it does not mean you are not getting progress. Next time you get down about what’s on the scales, look at your body in the mirror or take note of how your clothes are fitting. Often your body shape has changed even though you have not lost any weight (or even gained some!). Muscle weighs more than fat so you need to be mindful that the scale is definitely not the be all and end all of your results from your health and fitness journey.