5 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight
5 reasons you’re not losing weight
You feel like throwing in the towel. You got motivated, went shopping, you’ve been so good for weeks now yet the weight is still stubbornly and mysteriously not shifting.
It feels unfair!
“Why can’t I lose weight?”
Over the last fifty years we have been led to believe a number of things we now know actually make losing weight HARDER!
These include that ‘low fat’ or ‘diet’ foods are better for us, that we should have snacks in between meals to regulate our blood sugar and perhaps one of the worst; that fruit juice is a healthy choice.
So here’s my 5 reasons you might be struggling to lose weight!
1. Eating ‘healthy’ foods which are high in calories or fat.
If your goal is weight loss, consuming foods which are healthy but high in calories or fat will not help your efforts. Certain fruits are higher in sugar and so should be swapped in for lower sugar alternatives.
Limit fruits such as:
Bananas
Mangoes
Apples
Pears
Cherries
Grapes
Lychees
Instead replace with:
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Lemon
Lime
Papaya
Increase your vegetable intake, they contain less sugar and provide antioxidants which combat oxidative stress in the body (precursor to inflammation).
Yoghurts can also contain higher amounts of sugar which I’ll talk about shortly.
Some healthy foods are also high in fat which means if you are trying to lose weight, you need to strike a balance between obtaining the nutrition they offer but not eating so much that their fat content becomes detrimental to your weight loss plans.
These foods include:
Avocados
Cheese
Fatty fish
Nuts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Full fat yoghurt
Coconuts and coconut oil
2. Choosing ‘low fat’ or ‘diet’ foods.
Newsflash! Many low fat foods contain added sugar to improve the taste. So there we are believing we are making the right choices when in actual fact, we are consuming hidden sugar that we don’t want or need.
Yoghurts are an example of this. Low fat yoghurts regularly contain added sugar to enhance the flavour. I mean, if it tastes yuck, you’re hardly going to buy it again?
It’s always a good idea to check the label. If that becomes arduous then just remember this general rule; choose a plain yoghurt and add your own ingredients to it if necessary!
Avoid flavoured yoghurts or those that have added fruits.
Processed foods tend to contain added sugar.
Low fat breakfast cereals seem like a healthy choice but many are packed full of sugar which all adds up to no weight loss! Avoid and choose an option like plain oats instead.
Low fat and fat free salad dressings often contain lots of sugar and preservatives and have little nutritional value. A healthy salad dressing would use olive oil as a base which is a healthy fat useful for helping our body to absorb antioxidants from vegetables. We can add things like balsamic or apple cider vinegar plus lemon to the oil to create a simple yet nutritious dressing.
3. You’re not eating enough protein.
Protein can help with weight loss as it helps you stay fuller for longer. A protein rich diet can also help you build lean muscle if you are strength training - and lean muscle burns more fat. If you are trying to lose weight, exercise should form part of your health plan.
Getting adequate protein can mean the difference between boosting your metabolism, or not.
Protein intake at higher levels can increase levels of satiety hormones GLP-1 and peptide YY whilst also reducing levels of the grehlin, the hunger hormone. Essentially protein is helping your brain decide that you have had enough to eat!
So what’s high in protein?
Well you should eat plenty of good quality meats, fish in poultry such as chicken, turkey, pork, beef, salmon, tuna and tempeh.
Include vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, potatoes, legumes, beans, artichokes, lentils, asparagus, peas, chickpeas, quinoa and watercress in your diet.
Nuts high in protein include chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and almonds. And be sure you are consuming the right dairy products (or alternatives) in the form of milk, cottage cheese and Greek yoghurt.
4. You are snacking too much!
Many of us have become accustomed to thinking snacking is okay, beneficial even. However, if you are trying to lose weight, snacking should mainly be avoided. Some people prefer to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day in order to stabilise blood sugar and if you are diabetic, have reactive glycemia or have other blood sugar issues, there may be good reasons to do this.
But for most people, snacking just means we keep our insulin levels in a perpetual state of spiking and we are only adding to the amount of calories we are consuming.
The more you eat, the more you fill your body with insulin and have fluctuations in blood sugar. This roller-coaster effect on blood sugar can cause cravings, fat storage and irritability. If we are eating nutritious, balanced meals packed with protein and fibre, our bodies simply don’t need more snacks.
Note, in a few cases, where clients have started on a new diet and are struggling, I may recommend a snack. This could be a small handful of nuts or some vegetable sticks. Most of the time though, it’s advisable not to have anything unless absolutely necessary.
5. You are drinking too much fruit juice or other drinks.
Although fruit juice is full of vitamins, it’s also packed full of sugar. When whole fruits are broken down into juice, much of the existing fibre is lost. Fibre is essential for good gut health and helps digestion and prevent constipation. It helps us to feel full and is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
Because of the way juicing depletes fibre, the fructose in the juice is counted as ‘free sugars’ so add to the amount of sugar we should ideally be eating each day. If you are trying to lose weight, you may want to minimise sugar in the diet or even try to exclude it totally.
But there’s more…
Because juices pass to the stomach quicker than whole fruits, the sugar can cause faster glucose and insulin changes which is not useful for your risk of diabetes.
When our levels of insulin are constantly being increased, the risk of becoming insulin resistant also increases. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.
The upshot? Eat whole fruits and drink fruit occasionally. Water is a better choice for weight loss. If you want to liven up the water, why not add a squeeze of lemon or fresh ginger to sparkling water.
Other drinks to avoid if you are trying to lose weight are sports drinks.
Sports drinks provide fluid fuel in the form of a dilute carbohydrate, so it leaves the stomach faster. It also provides sodium, which helps the body to maintain fluid balance. This is great BUT sports drinks do contain a significant number of calories and if your goal is weight loss, this is a problem.
For the average person, drinking water throughout your workout is adequate.
Kombucha is also another drink to approach with caution. It’s a great drink with a number of benefits including containing antioxidants and probiotics. It basically feeds the good bacteria in your gut however it can contain up to 28g of sugar per serving and is often sweetened with fruit juice and cane sugar to enhance the flavour.
Check the label - brands do differ in the amount of sugar. Aim for 4g or less per serving or go without. There are plenty of other probiotic foods you can include in your diet that will be as beneficial and keep you fuller for longer (hello cottage cheese and yoghurt!).
So there you have it. If you haven’t tried these solutions yet, give them a go and be sure to let me know how things are going.
If you are still struggling, you may want to consider DNA testing which will help you find out exactly what could be affecting your diet. Read more about why you’re always hungry here.
If you’d like to find out more about how I can help you with weight loss, please get in touch.