Why You’re Not Seeing Results
You finally decided you were ready to start a health and wellness journey. You’ve done some research and hired a coach, and given a set plan for workouts and nutrition, but you’re not seeing progress or the results that you want.
Weight loss is often portrayed as a straightforward process, but many people find themselves struggling at some point in the journey. Here are some key reasons why people struggle to see results:
Unrealistic Expectations
You are being too impatient. You are expecting rapid results, fueled by diet culture and media portrayals of quick transformations. You think if you go lower on your calories or “burn off” that food in the gym it will help move that scale faster. When you stop seeing the scale go down as quickly as you hoped for, frustration sets in and can feel discouraging.
Here’s the problem: extreme and rapid results are not sustainable. You may lose weight, but what happens when you stop being so extreme? That weight comes right back, maybe gradually or perhaps quickly. Now you’re even more frustrated than when you started. And you’re doing your body more harm than good.
What To Do:
Set realistic goals and be patient.
Start by setting small, achievable goals rather than aiming for rapid weight loss. Instead of focusing on a specific number on the scale, consider goals related to healthy habits, like eating more veggies or walking a certain number of steps each day. While the process might be slower, the goal is sustainable weight loss, not yo-yo weight loss. And don’t forget to celebrate your small victories- they add up over time and keep you motivated.
You Aren’t Following Your Plan
You hired a coach, and you were given some nutrition guidelines and a workout plan. After all, your way of doing it hasn’t worked up until this point, so it makes sense to hire someone who has helped lots of other people achieve their goals. But now you start questioning the plan, you may even decide that you want to “push” yourself more by cutting your calories and increasing your workouts, even if it goes against what your coach is telling you.
What To Do:
Putting it bluntly, you need to trust the process and your coach. Working against your coach will not help you get to your goals faster, in fact, quite the opposite. As coaches, we go through rigorous training and certification in order to teach others how to be successful with their goals. We have studied the science behind nutrition and fitness, and the plan that is given to you is unique to your individual health and goals. Why pay for a coach and their expertise if you’re not willing to follow the plan?
You’ve Dieted for Too Long
If you’ve been in a calorie deficit for a long period of time, eventually your body starts to adapt to that calorie number. Your body’s metabolism slows down, making it harder to continue losing weight at the same pace. This is a biological response known as metabolic adaptation, but it can feel discouraging and frustrating.
What To Do:
This is a hard one for a lot of people: you may have to think about switching strategies by increasing your calories and going on a “diet break”. Long term, your body cannot remain in a calorie deficit. It needs the calorie increase to help your metabolism recover and allow your body to function at a higher level.
A short-term diet break can be exactly what your body needs to recover and resume your weight loss journey. You’ll find your body quickly responds with better energy, increased strength, improved sleep, and a better mood. You might see a few pounds go back on the scale during this time, but it’s important to remember that weight loss is never totally linear. Once you’ve helped your metabolism improve, your body will show an improved response to resuming the calorie deficit.
You Continue to Make Excuses
“I’m tired. I had a long day at work and couldn’t make it to the gym.”
“ I slept awful last night and didn’t have time to prep my meals.”
“ My kid has practice so I can’t get to the gym like I thought.”
“It was too late, so we stopped for fast food.”
For every reason we can come up with to eat better and move our bodies more, there are an equal number of reasons we come up with that prevent us from following through. As coaches, our job is to guide you through your journey to better health and wellness. But if you’re getting in your own way, that’s completely on you.
What To Do
Stop allowing yourself to make excuses. We are all tired. We all have crazy days at work. Many of us have kids who are involved in sports. These are not novel problems and while this might seem harsh, encouraging your excuses doesn’t make us help you…it makes us enable you.
Start with setting realistic goals, and stick with your commitment.
Prepare yourself: you already know on Sunday night if your week is going to be hectic and crazy, it’s not often a surprise. Use your weekends to evaluate the week ahead: meal prep for the nights you’ll be home late due to sports practice, schedule your workouts for days that you have less going on, or maybe it’s a busy season and you need to temporarily reduce the frequency of your workouts. Be proactive and hold yourself accountable: if you fail to plan then you plan to fail.
You’ll Do “Anything”…But You Aren’t Willing to Do the Basics
I get it.
It’s not sexy to hear that 8 hours of sleep, regular movement, and staying well hydrated are the keys to successful weight loss.
It’s boring, surely there has to be a more “appealing” way to achieve your goal. Maybe you need supplements, you’ve heard about all those fat burners and metabolism revvers…after all, you know lots of people taking them and they’re having great results. That must be the missing link right??
What To Do
Sexy may sell, but sexy is not sustainable. If you aren’t willing to do the basics, the rest of what you do will not change your results. No supplement in the world will replace consistency with basic healthy habits. How can you add a supplement when you don’t even know what you’re missing in your diet because you aren’t consistent with tracking or eating? Why take a fat burner if you aren’t willing to move your body outside of your 1-hour workout a few days a week?
If you’ll really do “anything”, you’ll start with the basics.
You Aren’t Tracking your Food Correctly
Most folks who hire a coach are recommended to use a food tracking system. It allows for us as coaches to monitor your calorie and nutrient balance, identify eating patterns that help or hinder your progress, and monitor progress towards your goals.
If you aren’t using your tracker correctly, this can seriously undermine your progress. If you’re “eyeballing” portions and not correctly weighing them, your calorie and macro numbers will be off. If you aren’t checking to make sure the numbers in your tracker match the labels on your food, you could have inaccuracies in your food journal. Did you forget to log that little handful of nuts you ate? Those calories count too!
What To Do:
Be mindful at tracking ALL of your food, including those little “BLT’s” (bites, licks, tastes). It all adds up towards your total calories for the day.
If you aren’t sure how to properly use your food tracking system, ask your coach for a tutorial. Weighing precisely and correctly is key to success. “Eyeballing” portions is not a consistent way to measure food. Start measuring your food in grams and ounces for a more precise account of your calories and nutrients for the day.
Remember: your weight loss journey requires more than just hoping for results- it demands honest self-reflection and consistent effort.
It requires you to change your daily habits. This isn’t something temporary just to lose weihgt, this is a lifelong journey.
You only get one body, one life to live. If you are struggling to change your daily habits or find balance in life AND your fitness/health routine, we can help you! We take a select number of clients each month to ensure the best experience. Our Enrollment Dates are the 10th and the 25th.
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If you want to listen to our podcast episode on this topic…check it out below!