10 good reasons why you don't lose weight despite training

Losing weight is a very strong motivation for many people who regularly attend classes in the gym. But many people find that they can't get any kind of results. How come? From not taking enough protein, to weekends that involve too many treats, there are several factors that limit the results. Let's find out together.

1. You don’t consume enough protein
2. You don’t eat enough calories
3. You train, but without perseverance
4. You train, but without method
5. Just do cardio activities and don't do muscle strength exercises
6. You are stressed
7. You are at a standstill but still in a downward trend
8. You have reached your ideal shape weight
9. You're giving yourself too many cheat days
10. You want everything now: give yourself time, persevere

Difference between losing weight and slimming

Losing weight is a way of saying that comes from a literal translation of English. But if losing weight means the total reduction in body weight, to lose weight means that you want to add quality to a widely desired goal. First, it’s necessary to clarify a now widespread misunderstanding. This is already a source of confusion and limits the achievement of our goal of slimming effectively and sustainably.

Slimming, in fact, means reducing your own weight of fat mass only, leaving intact the lean mass, in particular, the muscle mass, which in a perspective of weight loss, on the other hand, is also reduced, with an external loss of muscle tone and skin elasticity.

1. You do not take enough protein

When you want to lose weight, it is important that there is no loss of lean mass, in particular of muscles. If there are not enough proteins in your daily diet, your muscle mass will inevitably decrease. The result? Greater flaccidity and probably also hunger. In the body, in fact, there are no real stores of proteins that can be used in situations of low intake from the diet or increased needs.

It happens that the body goes to draw from the muscles themselves in situations of need, detaching the "bricks" (aka the proteins) it needs through food or food supplementation. According to researchers Hector and Phillips SM (2018), proteins - in a dietary plan that aims at slimming - are also essential for their activity of thermogenesis. Proteins, in fact, by their nature, once ingested, increase the energy expenditure of the body because of the commitment that the same must use in their digestion process.

2. You don’t eat enough calories

When you want to lose weight, the first commitment is to cut calories. The mistake is that we are inclined to think about food only as a source of energy. In fact, the foods we eat and how we combine them in meals and snacks can really do much more. An example? Modulate the expression of certain genes and the synthesis of certain hormones in our bodies

it is necessary for losing weight that the hormones are in balance with each other, within a certain area. If they are not in tune, or the synthesis of one exceeds the other, weight loss will not only be so effective, but health will also be put in crisis at the same time. This is the case when diet does not effectively cover energy needs.

3. You train but without perseverance

it is essential that a certain training load is respected for a certain type of training to be effective for those adaptations to be created. It is composed of three factors: volume (i.e. distance or time), intensity (i.e. intensity of heart rate at which we perform it) and frequency (i.e. repetitiveness in the interval of a certain period such as a week).

By not respecting one of these three factors, the training will not be effective or at least not as effective as we would expect. Sometimes, in fact, the mistake is to train at an intensity too high or too low and to carry out close sessions with an excessive interval of time between them. Assuming 3-4 workouts per week, best training situation would be to carry out training sessions on alternate days, with a day of rest between them.

4. You train but without method

Running or walking at low intensity and for a very long time is what instinct leads us to do to lose weight. The limit lies in the fact that it is not possible with the time available in our days, as well as having further critical issues. For example, losing 1 kg of fat mass means you would need to consume at least 7000 calories. Let's suppose that the desire is to lose 1 kg (of fat mass only) in a week.

This would imply a consumption of 1000 calories per day. If we spread over two weeks, it would require a consumption of 500 calories per day. This is a remarkable figure, especially if you think of the rare (or no) availability of time that our working days leave us available for physical activity. It is clear, therefore, that it is necessary to aim for more effective strategies coming from the methodology of training we choose.

This is the case, for example, of HIIT – high intensity interval training sessions, a "smart" criterion - as the English say - that allows you to reconcile free time with weight loss without sacrificing the energy to devote to other commitments of the day.

5. Just do cardio activities and don't do muscle strength exercises

The common belief is that to lose weight it is necessary to counterbalance the caloric intake with the expenditure of energy by the body. In other words, eat little and burn a lot. Nothing could be more wrong. To lose weight you need a balanced low-calorie diet combined with an aerobic activity - also called "cardio" - but it is essential to alternate it with sessions against resistance like strength training.

This is both to tone the muscles and to activate the synthesis of so-called anabolic hormones that take part in the mechanisms of slimming.

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6. Are you stressed?

When you are stressed, the levels of the "stress" hormone increase.  Whether it's because of an event in your life or your daily commitments, or even because you have a reduction in your night's sleep. This factor not only goes against the slimming process but also puts the immune system in crisis and in the long run your health. The advice to promote weight loss is to adopt a balanced dietary strategy that also balances hormones, as personalized as possible by a qualified specialist in nutrition. For further information see point 1.

7. You are at a standstill but still in a downward trend

When we are on a diet, we imagine weight loss as a linear and constant process, even a little deluded from the first days when we see our body weight on the scale going down day after day. This, however, until a moment of stalemate arrives. Then it's back down again. The process of slimming, in fact, is made by alternating periods. However, this does not mean that the slimming process is no longer active. Above all, this trend must not demoralize you. On the contrary, it is necessary to persist with constancy.

8. You reached your ideal weight

We often set ourselves ambitious targets. However, these objectives are not always achievable. You need to aim for your own ideal weight when you set yourself a weight to aim for during your weight loss period. A balance between lean and fat mass where our body can function at its best without sacrificing well-being or suppressing, for example, the immune system.

Knowing your own weight shape and the accumulated excess fat mass is important. It can be investigated through surveys - from the simplest to the most expensive.

9. You're too forgiving of yourself

Even in daily diet as in sports training, it is necessary to have continuity. It is, in fact, constancy that leads to the result. Bad things, i.e. culinary relaxation, are necessary in the diet as, like days of rest in sporting activity. They are fundamental in achieving the result. Even in the slimming phase. They avoid excessively restrictive behaviors and help the constancy of the diet.

It is also recommended as much continuity as possible in the first phase of slimming. Ideally, you should enjoy a free meal every 7-10 days, depending also on the body weight target to be reached.

10. You want it all, you want it now: give yourself time, persevere

Achieving every goal takes time. Unfortunately, all and immediately doesn't get you success. If by losing weight it is possible to reach the weight goal more quickly, slimming - i.e. oxidizing only the fat mass - requires more time and patience. But patience will be the choice that will reward you. The faster you lose weight, the more you will put on.

On the other hand, weight loss if it does not follow a linear and constant process, favouring the reduction of the fat mass only and the preservation of the muscular mass will be more lasting in time. Be constant and continue your journey with confidence.