5 reasons that might be blocking your fat-loss

Fat-loss can be a challenging journey, especially when you're putting in the effort but not seeing the desired results. Despite eating right and exercising regularly, there are several factors that could be hindering your fat-loss progress. Here are five common reasons why you might not be achieving fat loss.

1. Lack of Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to fat-loss. It's not just about following a healthy diet or exercising intensely for a few days; it's about maintaining these habits over the long term. If you find yourself skipping workouts or giving in to unhealthy food temptations frequently, it can stall your progress. Going all-in isn’t necessarily best, keep nutrition and exercise changes sustainable long-term to help you keep it up.

2. Underestimating Caloric Intake

Even if you're eating nutritious foods, consuming too many calories will prevent fat-loss. Portion sizes, snacking habits, and hidden calories in beverages and condiments can all contribute to a surplus of calories. Consider tracking your food intake for a week to get a clearer picture of how much you're consuming. Sometimes, small adjustments in portion sizes, macronutrient balance or choosing a higher protein alternatives can make a significant difference.

3. Lack of Sleep

Quality sleep is often over-looked but is CRUCIAL for overall health and weight management. Sleep deprivation can disrupt hormonal balance, specifically increasing levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) and ghrelin (the hunger hormone), while decreasing levels of leptin (the satiety hormone). This hormonal imbalance can lead to increased appetite, cravings for unhealthy foods, and difficulty achieving fat-loss. Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to support your fat-loss efforts.

4. Not Enough Physical Activity

Exercise is great to aid fat-loss, improve metabolism and maintain muscle mass. If you're not seeing results, consider if you are incorporating both cardio and strength training into your exercise routine? Adding variety and changing intensity to your workouts can help break through fat-loss plateaus.

But more importantly, have you considered your daily movement? The calories we burn during regular daily life are 7 times more than during planned exercise. An easy way to increase and monitor this is by counting steps, find out what your daily average is and aim to increase it until you reach 10,000 daily steps. Another effective method is standing/moving instead of sitting where possible for example, try out a sit-stand desk at work or stroll around when making phone calls, take a walk when on a coffee break.

5. Stress and Emotional Eating

Stress and emotional eating can sabotage fat-loss efforts. Many people turn to food for comfort or as a coping mechanism during stressful times, which can lead to overeating and consuming high-calorie foods. Additionally, stress can elevate cortisol levels, which promotes fat storage, especially around the belly. Finding healthier ways to manage stress, such as meditation, yoga, a walk outside, disconnecting from technology, connecting with friends and family or talking to a therapist, can help reduce emotional eating and support fat-loss.

Conclusion

Achieving fat-loss requires an approach that addresses various factors affecting your health and well-being as a whole, not just focussing on the number on the scales. By identifying and addressing common barriers such as lack of consistency, underestimating caloric intake, sleep deprivation, inadequate physical activity, and stress/emotional eating, you can make positive changes to support a health body composition.

Remember, sustainable fat-loss takes time and effort, but with patience and persistence, you can achieve your goals and maintain a healthy lifestyle. By making small, sustainable changes in your daily habits and mindset, you can overcome these obstacles and progress towards achieving your desired results.

A nutritionist (like me) can be a great support to keep you focussing on the right things and helping you keep at it. Get in touch if you’d like any info on how I can help.