Why aren't you losing weight?

Trying to loose weight seems to be a girls (and some guys) favourite past time. But no matter how much cardio you do, how strict your diet is or how many weight sessions you do, that number never seems to budge on the scale. Its probably that same number for 2 years or more but still you try and try to get under your magic number. Yet all through those 2 years your body has probably changed to show some muscle definition and weight has shifted to other areas. But still we grumble and moan about getting under a particular number. So in this article thought I'd give you some reasons people do not lose weight despite going on a diet and doing exercise, and why some of you may always be at your magic number!

Your weight is already normal!
One of the prime reasons for failure to lose weight, is the fact that your weight may already fall into the normal range. Very often a person's BMI falls within the normal range from 18 to 25.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of how fat or thin you are.
To calculate your BMI, you need to divide your weight in kg (e.g. 55 kg) by your height in metres squared (e.g. 1,67 m x 1,67 m = 2.79), thus 55 divided by 2.79 = 19.7. A person with a BMI of 19.7 is just above the lower end of the normal range and such an individual would find it very difficult to lose more weight.

If you have calculated your BMI and it falls into the normal range of 18 to 25, then you will probably struggle to lose weight because the human body resists weight loss in an attempt to preserve its health and equilibrium. Please keep in mind that this is a simplistic calculation of BMI as there are other factors affecting the numbers such as height, structure and muscle mass.

If your weight does fall into the normal range, then it may be a good idea to rethink your diet plans. By all means continue with the low-fat diet because it has many other advantages for your health (you certainly won't gain any weight, you are protecting your health against a whole range of degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and bowel problems, and you are providing your body with potent protective nutrients).

You must, however, stop fretting about your inability to lose weight as this can stress you to such an extent that you may produce certain hormones which can cause weight gain. Alternatively you may go into a reactive phase and decide to stop eating sensibly (seeing that it does not seem to work for you) and overindulge in fatty foods again, which is not a good idea. Instead, concentrate on working out whether it be weights and/or cardio to build muscle mass and shaping your body and stop hopping on the scales every 5 minutes!

In the face of starvation the body tries to conserve its stores of energy in the form of fat for the bad times that lie ahead. This reaction can be traced back to prehistory when famine was much more common than plenty and the human race had to have a built-in mechanism to protect it against food shortages.

You are eating too little?
Some people list the few meagre foods they eat in tiny quantities and are horrified that they are not losing weight. Once again the human body and its struggle to maintain equilibrium is to blame. As soon as your food intake falls below a certain critical energy level, the body gets a message "Food supply cut off!" it switches off most of the mechanisms that help you to lose weight.  

The trick is to provide the body with sufficient energy in the form of complex carbohydrates so that it does not think it is being starved and does not switch off the metabolic processes that promote weight loss. This is one of the reasons why the low-fat, high-fibre diets work so well and often prescribe more food than most people think is suitable when one is slimming.

So if you are eating like a sparrow and not losing weight, switch over to one of the low-fat, medium carbs and protein, and high-fibre diet and you will be surprised how easily you do lose weight.

Lisa