3 Reasons You May Not Be Losing Weight

The number one reason my clients come to see me is weight loss. They’ve tried diet after diet losing the weight and then gaining it back. Exasperated and frustrated they finally seek help. After more than 10 years of coaching I found some common threads for the lack of success at weight loss and weight maintenance.

1) Your Behaviors/Relationship with Food

The most common reason people have trouble with weight loss is their behavior/relationship with food and eating. Behaviors and feelings around food develop at a young age and tend to remain through adulthood. Over-eating can be triggered by “feelings” of guilt, sadness, anger, stress, boredom, anxiety and all other negative emotions. Food does not make these bad feelings go away and it doesn’t give you comfort. To eat when you are not hungry while you are trying to lose weight stirs up feelings of guilt and the cycle starts all over again.

How can you change this behavior? The first thing you need to do is have an awareness that you are eating due to your feelings vs. hunger. When you find yourself in the refrigerator shortly after a meal you need to stop and ask yourself “AM I HUNGRY?” If the answer is "no", sit down and think about what you are feeling and why you are reaching for food to soothe those feelings.

While working on behavior modification with a female client she recounted to me an “aha” moment that she had. She was in the refrigerator when she stopped herself and asked “Am I hungry? I just ate dinner.” What she realized was that she was angry at her husband. So she closed the refrigerator door and went to her room to avoid eating and a fight with her husband.

2) You Are Not Exercising Enough

To lose or maintain your weight you need to exercise. End of story. The best way to boost your metabolism is to lift weights. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in your body. Increasing the number of active muscle cells improves your ability to burn body fat and become leaner. Combining cardio and weight training is the best way to keep the pounds away and lose inches. If you don’t belong to a gym you can purchase some hand weights and resistance bands. You can also use your own body weight as resistance. Schedule your exercise time in your calendar as you would schedule any appointment. This way you know you’ve blocked out the time to take care of your health.

3) You Have Food Sensitivities