What to do if the scale does not move? |

There is no need to panic, break down, give up your diet, allowing yourself to make frivolous deviations, this is not the way to go. It is worth considering why this is happening and counteracting it. I have compiled a list of errors that may be the reason why you are not losing weight.

You eat too little

For the first period, you were doing fantastic, a decrease of 6 kg per month is a satisfactory result and you do not understand why after this time your magic recipe, i.e. the 1000 kcal diet, does not work. Well, there’s probably a metabolic adaptation here. This is a phenomenon that presupposes that by consuming too little energy and initially having a decline in effect, the body becomes so habituated (“adapted”) to low caloric intake that our total caloric requirement is reduced.

As a consequence, you are left with frustration, a huge appetite for unhealthy snacks, as well as hormonal problems that will affect you sooner or later after the aforementioned crazies such as the 1000 kcal diet, miracle diet, or other not adapted to you, but fashionable nutritional models. Then any caloric surplus (or even a return to the value of the total demand) causes you a yo-yo effect.

You eat too much

This assumption can be broken down into aspects. The first one assumes that you have overestimated the value of your expenses – in other words: you are less active than you expected: you managed to go to work by bike instead of every day, your daughter goes for walks with the dog, and you simply lack time for the planned 5 training sessions in the gym. It is quite natural nowadays, the plan of the day verifies and often cools down the motivation.

ADVICE:
Think about how many trainings you will have time, do it carefully, take into account the time for regeneration, rest. Remember that your motivation is strong in the beginning, you will want to shoulder a lot more than you can. It is better to stop at this point and, in the long run, consider whether it will be better for you to decide on 2-3 workouts a week, but do them all the time, or exercise 5 times a week and stop after a month. Think it over 🙂

Second – make an honest examination of your conscience:

  • Do you weigh the products exactly? Counting by eye can significantly affect your progress, especially when you weigh products such as oil, butter or nuts. They are high-energy and believe me – it makes a difference to your body whether you eat 2 tablespoons of oil instead of one, 10 grams of sunflower or a handful weighing 23.
  • Do you include all consumed foods in your balance sheet? Remember – milk, sugar added to coffee, juice – 100%, alcohol, sugar-sweetened compote – provide energy.
  • Are you eating everything as planned? If you know that there were deviations in addition to the diet, do not explain to yourself that it was a minor thing and will not affect your progress. Will flow. Of course, the extremes are not appropriate, but eating two fudges each day and drinking a grand latte from Starbucks or a cake with a friend will distort the results of your work. And do not make excuses that the day before you ate half an apple less – it does not balance.
ADVICE:
The point here is not to fall perfectly and know the “rules of weight loss” in theory, but to honestly consider whether you have had a cake, a donut or anything else a few times too much. And draw conclusions – if you have a good relationship with food and you want a piece of chocolate, there is nothing wrong with having a meal at once. However, be aware of the frequency of such exceptions.

You exercise too little

It is connected with the point above and refers to the overestimated caloric demand that you should meet. The solution will be to introduce additional exercises. Naturally, you can lose weight by dieting alone, but then your fat tissue will also decrease muscle tissue, and you don’t want that. Remember that muscle tissue uses energy, which means that it affects calorific value (a person with the same parameters, but having more muscle tissue, will need more energy than a person with a predominance of fat tissue -> conclusion, you can eat a little more).

ADVICE:
Try to introduce even small exercises, 10-15 minutes of exercise to start is better than nothing. Look for activities wherever you can, even on the way back home – always take the longer route and take the stairs instead of the elevator.

You exercise too much

As a result, the body does not regenerate. And if the body does not rest, it cannot do its best, in addition, the risk of injury or burnout of motivation for further training is increased. An unregenerated body is also accompanied by inflammation, which results in the accumulation of water.

ADVICE:
Take care of your recovery – don’t exercise every day. Take care of sleep – its quality and length. Do not step on the scale when you were doing a super hard workout the day before. You have probably “accumulated” some water and this will affect the measurement. Take two days off from training before weighing.

You weigh yourself badly

This is especially true of women. Differences in the concentration of hormones during the month, well! even over the course of the day they are significant – that’s why you can see the difference in body weight even overnight. Which of us does not know the sensation of water accumulation, most often in the period from ovulation to the luteal phase? 🙂 It is a natural state and the size of the “symptoms” is individual.

ADVICE:
Don’t you dare overnight. It is optimal to compare your results month by month (on the same day of the cycle). However, for people who are slimming and controlling the trend as to whether the progress is going in the right direction, it is advisable to weigh themselves weekly, biweekly.

You’ve been consuming more sodium for the last few days

It’s no secret that salt promotes water retention in the body. This may result in a higher weight measurement.

ADVICE:
Make sure that your diet includes an adequate supply of sodium. Do not force your products to salt, remember that salt is found in commonly consumed products such as bread, cheese, ham and usually already covers the need for sodium. Make sure your mineral water is not too high in sodium.

The day before the measurement, you ate a hearty dinner or drank half a bottle of water during the night

It is known that you should weigh yourself after the morning toilet, on an empty stomach, but if you ingested more than usual into your stomach the day before, the measurement may be higher.

ADVICE:
Wait one day before weighing 🙂

You build muscle mass

This is technically known as body recomposition. This phenomenon is based on building muscle mass in people who are in a deficit and who have not exercised before, and started with the introduction of the diet. This swap is good for you. As I wrote above, muscle tissue is active tissue, which increases your overall need. To clarify – you need to consume a little more energy – if you have muscle instead of fat. As you can see, there is no need to worry.

ADVICE:
The fastest progress will be made by assessing your body by measuring circumference or trying on older clothes. It is also worth monitoring body composition using specialized analyzers (available in most gyms).

You are struggling with hormonal problems

Body weight can be affected by elevated cortisol, for example from excessive mental stress or too much vigorous exercise. Suboptimal levels of this hormone promote water retention in the body, thanks to the fact that cortisol has the ability to affect the sodium-storing hormone in the body (aldosterone).

Another example is hypothyroidism – as a hormone-dependent disease it affects your basal needs, so if your hormones are not yet regulated, be aware that it may slow down your progress. 

ADVICE:
If you feel that your body is not necessarily working properly, consult your doctor. Describe your symptoms and if you notice any inadequacies, you will be sure to take care of it properly.

As you can see, there are many reasons for the lack of inheritance. They are not always wrong. Remember not to go to extremes, but think carefully about the reasons that may apply to you. Sometimes you will need some time to determine the correct calorific value. Give it to yourself, higher body weight did not happen overnight. And healthy achieving your goal will avoid the yo-yo effect.

Leave a Reply