Common Weight Loss Mistakes

“Why am I not losing weight?”

You’ve hit another weight loss plateau and it's time to face the truth: your workout plan and diet aren't working for weight loss. You've been doing everything you know how to do. However, no matter what you try, you’re not losing weight.

The truth is, no matter how much time or effort you put into a weight loss plan. If you are making any of these common weight loss mistakes, then it won't work. In reality, there are many factors that affect your weight loss journey. It is important to understand what can prevent weight loss.

This blog post talks about the exercise and diet mistakes everyone makes, so you can understand why you’re not losing weight and break through your plateau. Learn to avoid common fat loss mistakes, what to do when you can't lose weight!

Not Understanding the Power of Energy Balance

One of the biggest weight loss mistakes is either misunderstanding or underestimating the power of energy balance.

Energy balance is the relationship between the energy you consume and the energy you expend. The energy you consume is calories from food and drink. Energy expended is calories you burn through physical activity and basic body functions.

Energy balance is the driving principle behind changes to our weight because it determines whether you're in a state of caloric deficit or caloric surplus. Underestimating the power of energy balance is the largest weight loss mistake you can make.

If you’re saying “I work out and eat well but can't lose weight” this is likely the mistake you’re making and why you’re not losing weight.

Many people make the mistake of focusing solely on eating healthier foods for weight loss. Focusing on healthy foods is a weight loss mistake because it doesn't always take energy balance into account. It is possible to overeat healthy foods and no longer be in a caloric deficit.

A caloric deficit is the difference between the energy (calories) you consume and the energy you expend. To create a deficit, you must be consuming fewer calories than you are burning. When you are in a caloric deficit, your body uses stored body fat as energy. This is what leads to weight loss.

Another common weight loss mistake is focusing solely on exercise plans for weight loss.

If you’re saying “I've been working out but not losing weight” it is because you are still underestimating the power of energy balance.

Exercise (energy expended) is only one part of the energy balance equation. If you're not paying attention to the total calories (energy consumed) you eat in relation to what you expend, you're likely not going to be in a caloric deficit.

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The bottom line with understanding energy balance is if you're not in a caloric deficit, you're not going to be losing weight. You need to pay attention to both the calories you consume through food in relation to the calories you expend through physical activity to lose weight.

Not Eating Enough Protein

The first thing to keep in mind when it comes to weight loss is that your objective should not be to simply reduce weight. Instead, your objective should be to lose fat. In other words, you want any weight loss to come from body fat rather than muscle mass.

Focusing on weight loss over fat loss is another common weight loss mistake. Muscle mass is important for maintaining weight loss because muscle burns more calories at rest. This means that the more muscle mass you have, the easier it is to maintain a healthy weight. Muscle mass also helps protect your bones and joints and plays a role in hormone production.

Protein is a significant nutrient for weight loss because it helps maintain muscle mass while dieting. When you are in a caloric deficit, your body is primed to lose muscle mass. Losing muscle mass can reduce your metabolic rate and make it harder to lose and maintain weight.

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Protein helps prevent this from happening by providing the nutrients your body needs to build or maintain muscle mass. It also helps you feel fuller longer, which can help you eat fewer calories and lose weight.

Your weight loss program should include high-protein foods in your diet. Meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, and legumes, are all foods high in protein. You can also add protein powder to your smoothies or shakes. It's important to include a variety of protein sources in your diet to ensure you're getting all the nutrients your body needs.

Skipping Meals

Most people who skip meals do so because they think that if they don't eat, they'll be in a caloric deficit and lose more weight. This is a weight loss mistake. The problem with this thinking is that it's not sustainable.

Skipping meals can be bad for weight loss because it can throw your energy balance off-kilter. When you skip a meal, you're not consuming any calories. This can put unnecessary stress on your body. What's more, when you're starving, you're more likely to make unhealthy choices the next time you eat. In this way, skipping meals can lead to both weight gain and poor food choices and might be the reason you’re not losing weight.

If you’re saying “I’m eating less but not losing weight” you might be eating too little and accidentally overcompensating - ruining your caloric deficit.

The goal of creating a caloric deficit for weight loss is not to eat as few calories as possible. This often backfires.

Instead, be of the mindset to eat as many calories as possible while maintaining a slight deficit. You want to eat small meals and snacks regularly. This helps to keep you satiated and prevent impulsively over-eating.

Not Drinking Enough Water

Water is indispensable for weight loss and is essential for human health. Water is necessary for many bodily functions, including digestion, absorption of food and nutrients, circulation, creation of energy, and maintenance of temperature. Consuming enough water each day is important for maintaining optimal health.

Staying hydrated also helps with fat metabolism. When you're in a caloric deficit, your body starts to break down stored fat for energy. Drinking adequate amounts of water may help this process by ensuring that all the cells in your body are functioning optimally and performing their best.

Not drinking enough water is a common weight loss mistake and might be why you’re not losing weight. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends drinking 68 ounces of water per day for women and 104 ounces for men.

However, you may need to drink more or less water depending on your body size, activity level, climate, and other factors. Adding calorie-free beverages such as sparkling water or unsweetened tea will help meet your hydration needs while keeping things more interesting!

Not Moving Enough Throughout the Day

One of the most common fitness mistakes that prevent weight loss is focusing too much on exercise - and not enough on physical activity.

Physical activity and exercise are not the same. Physical activity is any kind of movement. Exercise is a type of physical activity that is structured, and repetitive.

Exercise is specifically designed to improve or maintain cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility. These are the things that make up your physical fitness.

Physical activity can include exercise, but it doesn't have to. Physical activity can come from anything you do that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat a little bit. Gardening, swimming, playing with your kids – all of these count as physical activity!

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Physical activity plays an important role in weight loss because it helps you burn more calories throughout the day than exercise alone. Remember: when you burn more calories than you eat, you are in a caloric deficit. When you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight.

Physical activity can also mean moving more throughout the day – walking instead of driving, taking the stairs at work, parking far away from your destination, etc. These small changes add up over time and help you burn extra calories.

If you're exercising but not losing weight, take a look at your physical activity. How much are you moving throughout the day? Increasing your physical activity outside of exercise can help you break through a weight loss plateau.

A great way to track your physical activity progress is to use a fitness tracker or pedometer to count the number of steps you take each day. This can help you understand how much you currently move throughout the day. Then, you can create small goals to increase your physical activity based on your step count.

Going to Bed Too Late, or Waking Up Too Early

Are your early morning gym sessions a weight loss mistake? Sleep deprivation can cause weight gain in a number of ways. First, it can lower inhibitions and lead to poor food choices. When you're tired, you're not as likely to make healthy decisions about what to eat.

Second, lack of sleep disrupts your body's hormones, which regulate appetite and metabolism. This can lead to increases in hunger and cravings, as well as a slowdown in your metabolism.

Third, sleep deprivation can lead to an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is linked with weight gain, especially around the midsection.

Finally, when you don't get enough sleep, you may feel more tired. Feeling more tired may lead to you exercising less or being less physically active throughout the day.

All of these factors together can be why you’re not losing weight and can lead to weight gain over time. There are a number of things you can do to get more sleep each night.

• Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool.

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed.

• Establish a regular sleep schedule and stick to it as much as possible.

• Get up and move around every few hours throughout the day to keep your body active.

• Practice some relaxation techniques before bed, such as deep breathing or visualization exercises.

• Avoid using electronic devices in bed, especially right before bedtime. The blue light from screens can interfere with your natural sleep cycle.

If you're still having trouble getting enough sleep, see a doctor or sleep therapist. Most adults should be sleeping around 7-9 hours a night. Getting enough sleep is important for overall health and can help with weight loss.

Trying To Do Everything At Once - Exercise, Diet, and Mental Health All At the Same Time!

Trying to do everything at once is one of the biggest reasons why people fail to lose weight. It's simply too much for most people to handle, and they end up overwhelmed and giving up on it all.

It's important to realize that weight loss is a process, and you need to focus on one thing at a time.

Making small changes is better than making big changes because it's more manageable. When you make big changes, there's a greater chance of failing because it's harder to stick to them.

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When you make small changes, you're more likely to succeed because they're easier to do. Making small changes is cumulative. They build on each other. Over time, these small changes add up to big results!

Small adjustments are a great way to approach weight loss. Here are a few examples of small changes you can try:

• Making one meal a day higher in protein.

• Reducing your calorie intake by 100 calories a day.

• Adding one exercise session to your week.

• Increasing your step count by 500 steps a day.

• Going to bed 20 minutes earlier.

• Drinking a glass of water every morning.

Focusing on small changes during the weight loss process will make losing weight easier, more sustainable, and help you maintain your results long-term.

Common Weight Loss Mistakes to Avoid

It doesn't matter how hard you work on your weight loss plan, if the diet and exercise aren't right for your body type or lifestyle, then you're not going to see the results you're aiming for.

If you’re having trouble losing weight with diet and exercise, remember that weight loss is not a one-size-fits-all approach. There are many factors in lifestyle habits that play into the success of your weight-loss journey. Avoiding these common weight loss mistakes will help you troubleshoot your inability to lose weight despite diet and exercise!

Still find you’re not losing weight? Working with a coach can help you find an eating plan and activity regimen tailored for your lifestyle and personal goals. Apply today to get started on your personalized CBM 1:1 Coaching program and begin making more progress toward your goals!