If you’re not making weight loss progress, you’re probably quick to assume it’s because you haven’t found the perfect diet, yet. Or you’re just not working out long or hard enough.
In reality, it rarely has to do with either.
Here are 6 reasons you’re not making weight loss progress that have nothing to do with diet or exercise.
This episode of The Live Diet-Free Podcast offers up some more insight into why you might not be seeing the results you expect:
Lack of Belief in Yourself
When you’ve had a lot of weight loss “failures” in the past, it’s hard to believe that the future can be any different.
You’ve all but given up on yourself and you can’t even picture a reality other than the current one. You don’t believe that the body and life of your dreams is truly an option for you.
Solution: Pull out a pen and paper and journal a little bit about your why then take some time to list out the things that are holding you back. Work on replacing those negative thoughts with a growth mindset and start taking steps towards becoming the person you say you want to be.
You're Too Hung Up on How Fast
If you’re not trying to slim down for a vacation or a wedding with a firm deadline to motivate you, you struggle with staying consistent.
You do weight loss challenge after challenge hoping it will keep you motivated enough to keep going.
You’re motivated by the scale dropping drastically each week, no matter what it takes.
When that inevitably slows, your motivation goes out the window, and you’re back to not making weight loss progress at all.
You don’t think it’s inevitable that you’ll reach your ultimate goal. You allow yourself to be blinded by fad diets that promise immediate results, rather than focusing on what it will take to be successful long-term.
Solution: Get crystal clear on exactly how you want to be feeling and living in the future.
If you want to feel comfortable going out, indulging with guilt, and taking rest days from the gym, you need to start doing those things now.
When you start to become the version of yourself who knows how to sustain a healthy weight, reaching your goals becomes just a matter of time.
You're Not Making Time
I’m not talking about time to exercise or grocery shop (though those things are important, obviously.) I’m talking about setting aside time specifically to think, to reflect, to strategize, and to plan.
You aren’t thinking about how you’ll reach your goals. Just that you really, really want to.
You wing it each week, hoping that somehow you’ll just start making decisions that are better aligned with your goals.
You don’t set aside the time to plan for success and instead you’re consumed with negative thoughts about yourself and your future.
Solution: In addition to Life Admin time when you make a success plan for the upcoming week, set aside time daily and weekly to journal and reflect on why you’re not making weight loss progress and what you can change to start seeing progress.
You Can't See Where You're Stuck
Without making changes, you’ll continue not making weight loss progress. But when you’re too close to a problem, it’s hard to see the big picture.
You have a hard time remembering that a lot of the things you believe are just stories you’ve been telling yourself for a long time but aren’t actually true.
You feel stuck and at a loss as to what your next steps should be so you just keep spinning your wheels.
Solution: Take an objective approach and look at your own situation the same way you would look at a friend’s. Remove emotion and focus on the facts, even if they mean taking ownership of your results.
You Don't Have the Skills
The longer you’ve been trying, but not making weight loss progress the more likely it is that you need to unlearn some bad habits and overcome some beliefs that just aren’t true.
You might need to learn about nutrition science to help you realize that carbs are not the enemy.
You might need to learn how to stay mindful when you’re eating socially, how to eat for your goals, what portion sizes look like, or what forms of exercise are actually aligned with your goals.
You need to develop new skills but you might not know which you need or how to develop them even if you did.
Solution: Go back to that picture of the future you envisioned and make a list of the skills that Future You needs in order to make that a reality. Compare those to your current skills and work on developing them one-by-one.
You Lack Accountability
Growing and changing things you’ve done or beliefs you’ve had for years is hard. It’s uncomfortable.
You might be motivated sometimes, but there is going to come a time when it feels easier to just stay where you are. You have to choose to grow.
Ultimately, you need to learn how to take compassionate ownership of where you are and where you want to be so you can keep going even when it feels tough.
Solution: Be accountable to another person (or group of people) while you work on taking ownership so you can be that person for yourself.
The Best Solution of All
Having a coach is the absolute best way to tackle all of these issues that have you spinning your wheels but not making weight loss progress.
You can outsource your belief to a coach until you start to believe in yourself just as much.
A coach knows that reaching your weight loss goals is inevitable when you focus on becoming the version of yourself who knows how to maintain a healthy weight.
Having a weekly call or check-in with a coach forces you to set aside time just for you to think, to reflect, to strategize, and to plan.
A coach provides an outside perspective into what’s tripping you up and how to fix it.
Then it’s as simple as putting together a plan and following it. An educated and experienced coach will be able to tell right away which skills you need to develop and help you do exactly that in a way that isn’t overwhelming or defeating.
And finally, a good coach will help you become the CEO of your life so that you no longer need someone for outside accountability.
If it sounds like having a coach would help you reach your weight loss goals – for good – as you build your commitment, consistency, and confidence I’d love to talk to you about working together!
