“I’ve tried everything to lose weight and nothing works.”
I would bet that this is a statement that you have said to yourself at some point in your life. You’ve tried everything and nothings working – why? Dieting can be exceptionally frustrating especially when you feel like nothing is working.
Let’s pause for a minute and take a step back. If you have in fact tried “everything” and nothing is working maybe it’s you. You’re the common element in the equation. It is hard to admit to yourself, but maybe you are the reason why nothing has worked despite all of your efforts.
If you find yourself in this situation take a minute to ask yourself a few questions:
1. Are you a weekend binger?
Are you someone who all week Monday-Friday will eat strictly healthy but then when the weekends come around and you eat everything? If this sounds like something that you do – you officially have one reason for why it’s not working.
I completely understand that after a long hard week at work you want nothing more than to come home on the weekends and eat all of the food. I mean you ate healthy all week, so you earned it…right? Unfortunately that’s not how it works.
Taking in an excess amount of calories on the weekends will likely erase whatever progress you made during the week. If you truly do want to see some weight loss happen, you will have to make a better effort to plan out your spurges instead of making every weekend a treat weekend.
2. How often do you drink?
Are you someone who likes to drink every weekend? If you answered yes to that question – then you just found out another reason why this isn’t working. I know that when I was working a “9-5” which was actually more like a 7-7 job, I would be so burnt out when the weekend came that I would want nothing more than to come home have a glass of wine or 2 or 3 and sit on the couch to decompress.
When we drink, without getting too scientific in my explanation, our bodies go into fat storing mode. So basically, whatever you consume while you’re drinking will be stored as fat. Again, if weight loss is something that you really want to see happen you should try to save your drinking for special occasions instead of an every weekend type thing.
3. How often do you go out to eat?
Do you go out for lunch of dinner frequently during the week? While yes you can find some healthy alternatives at restaurants, it is hard to know exactly how each dish is being prepared. More often than not, you’re food is cooked with extra oil/butter and more sodium than you yourself would eat. If you’re answering yes to this question, then you just found another reason why it’s not working.
Going out to dinner is one of my favorite ways to have a date night. What’s better than going to a nice restaurant, having a glass of wine and having your food be prepared for you without have to worry about cleaning up the mess? There’s almost nothing better! We like to save our restaurant date nights for special occasions instead of doing this on a weekly basis.
Also, if you are someone who goes out to lunch with your coworkers everyday or does takeout for lunch everyday at work – that could be another reason why this isn’t working. If you really do want to start seeing results, try to limit your lunch outings at work and prepare your own lunch everyday instead.
4. Are you tracking everything you eat?
Do you like to nibble and snack on food throughout the day? Do you nibble and snack on your food with the thought process of “oh a bite of this wouldn’t hurt and oh I just had a handful of that”? I think you know where I’m going here, but if you answered yes to that question then you just found probably the biggest reason for why this isn’t working.
For example, say its your co-workers birthday and there are all these treats in the work break room, you say to yourself “one bite won’t hurt or oh just a small piece”, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that one bite and small piece can be hurting your daily progress. Another example, are you cooking dinner for yourself or family and sampling parts of it as you are cooking? I do this all of the time! I mean you want to be sure that the food tastes good, but again these small bites really do start to add up quickly!
Having a few bites of food here and there throughout the day can really add up – probably to more calories than you thought, especially if you are having bites and nibbles of unhealthy food throughout the day. More often than not we are eating way more food per day than we actually think that we are.
Tracking everything you eat can sound like an impossibly overwhelming task and at first it is, but once you make it part of your daily routine you won’t even notice yourself doing it anymore. Again, if you truly do want to see significant results in your weight loss try tracking every thing you eat.
These are just a few examples and scenarios of why all of you’re hard work could not be paying off. The next time you feel like nothing is working. Take a minute to ask yourself these questions and be honest in your answers. If you truly do feel like you are putting forth an extraordinary amount of effort without any of the results you could be self sabotaging yourself without even realizing.
You’re 100% right about the eating out piece. My husband travels and he has such a hard time sticking to a diet when he has to eat out so much. He is now going to WholeFoods and eating 🙂
I love WholeFoods you can get so many great healthy meals there!
Excellent points in this article! These are factors that many people may not consider when they are working so hard to lose weight and aren’t seeing results.
Thanks for your feedback! Most people don’t realize these things!
Lots of factors to consider with weight gain and loss
So many factors! Thank you for checking us out 🙂
Thanks for writing this insightful article. It’ll help many people going this direction.
Thank you!
These suggestions remind me of how easy it is to have hidden calories slip in to my diet. Thanks for the reminders.
So many ways for hidden calories to sneak up – glad our post was able to help you out with some reminders 🙂
I also constantly follow a diet and track macros.. It’s funny how some people go on diets, yet keep eating out and not tracking their what they eat. Really valid and good points!
We also regularly track our macros! I’m glad you liked our post 🙂
I am also working towards my fitness, and this is a very helpful article for me.
I’m glad you liked and found this helpful! We have lots of other great posts regarding diet and exercise – check them out if you’re looking for more tips 🙂
I am guilty I am a weekend binger! lol Thankfully I am not trying to loose wait, I am actually really good at maintaining my weight. However this post is 100% accurate, I might have to show my mom. lol
LOL! I’m glad you liked our post! 🙂 I hope your mom likes it too!
Yes, we need to take some time out to reflect over what we are achieving and if there is nothing why it is so. You are right.
Glad you agree, thanks for checking us out 🙂
In my case the problem is psychological. I eat when I am stressed and I am stressed all the time. I also breastfeed and I am hungry all the time, lol! I know excuses, excuses…
If you are currently breastfeeding your body needs the extra calories – so enjoy! Our website will have a postpartum health and fitness section (its currently under construction). I’m recently postpartum myself and getting certified to be a pregnancy and postpartum health coach/
Great points, I’m sure many are overlooked when on a diet. Especially counting everything you eat and binging on weekends.
Most of these are definitely overlooked, I’m glad you agree 🙂
I am for sure a weekend binger! But I tend to binge on healthy foods (rice cakes, boiled eggs, fruits etc.,) lol…. I tell myself if -I am going to binge I better binge healthy foods so I won’t regret it later in the gym. lol
LOL! Smart thinking – keep it up 🙂
These are some excellent yet practical tips you mentioned in the post. Great info amd thanks for sharing.
Thanks! 🙂
Excellent viewpoint. I love where you are coming from with this. Thanks for the encouraging words!!
Thanks! 🙂
These are great tip in helping to shed some fat. I got to keep track of my food too. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! I always track my food, more often than not we always under-estimate what we eat.
This is exactly what I was discussing today with my friends. Being a physical therapist, I make it a point to have a healthy lifestyle, but come weekends, I was going into a rut of eating unhealthy with friends. But since 1 week I have been following a healthier diet and your post is very motivational to keep me going further into this week.
Thanks for your feedback 🙂 It’s so easy to slip up on the weekends when there’s so many temptations present. I’m glad you found some motivation in our post.
Excellent article! These are factors that many people do not consider when they are working so hard to lose weight .that why they aren’t seeing results.
Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you liked our article 🙂
I’m a calorie counter and it worked for me for over 7 years. Unfortunately, it has recently stopped working though. I am consuming the same amount of calories but the scale is creeping up. It may also have something to do with my age (I’m 44). But it’s super depressing.
Hormones can definitely be a factor especially in women! Have you considered tracking your macros instead?
I have been working towards being healthier and this was such a great read! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it 🙂
Great points raised here! I struggle with my weight and am trying to be better but I think I fall short of all the points you raise! Gah, not easy!
It’s definitely not easy! Work on tweaking one thing at a time so you don’t overwhelm yourself!
Being fit is not just an option. It’s a responsibility. Nice blog
Thanks! It really does take constant focus 🙂
This was great! I honestly get peeved when people talk about their “cheat” days 😂
Glad you liked our article 🙂
Oh no, I often eat out. Better start my diet real soon =O
Eating out really can cause extra calories to sneak right into your diet!