Why Won’t My Weight Budge?

If you have ever tried losing weight you have been there.   You have been following your training and nutrition plan diligently for a few weeks and started losing some weight and then all of a sudden it stops!  You hit a mark that you just can’t seem to break.

Why does it happen and what can you do about it?

The first thing to look at is the progress you have made so far.   Be proud of the fact that you have put in the work and are losing fat!   It may not be where you want to be, but it is progress none the less and instead of beating yourself up about it be happy that you have seen some success.

The body is smart!  It doesn’t want to be out of its comfort zone and it likes to hold on to that extra fat that it is so used to carrying around everyday.   It also adapts quickly to the things that you are doing to lose that stubborn fat.   At some point you will hit a plateau and not be able to drop any more weight or get to that next pant size without making a few changes.

A lot of times what happens is people start letting little things that are keeping them from making progress back into their routine.  A little extra cheating here and there didn’t hurt for a while, but it will catch up with you.  Bigger portions to reward yourself.   Those extra calories add up fast and can halt your progress.  Take a good hard look at what you are doing and if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing consistently enough to make progress.

IF you are doing everything right and you still aren’t making progress then it is time to make a change.   You might need to tweak your nutrition plan a bit to reflect your new body.  You don’t need as many calories as you needed at a heavier weight.  Start cleaning up your diet or increasing your veggies and taking out the one or two things that are holding you back the most.

The next step is to look at your training program.  Are you comfortable with your current program?  If so you probably need to make it a bit tougher.  We try to change our client programs every 4-6 weeks, but we see a lot people that are hesitant to push themselves to work harder within their programs and increase weight or reduce rest times throughout those 4 weeks.  There is no reason that you should be lifting the same amount of weight in the split squat in week 4 as you were in week 1.   I always shoot for one more rep, a little more weight, or less rest time each time I perform a workout.  It is called progressive overload and it is the basis for changing our bodies.

Will progress be constant?  Absolutely not!   You will hit plateaus and you will hit points at which you feel like you can’t make any more improvements.  This is perfectly acceptable as long as you are doing the things above.  Sometimes the body needs some time to adjust.  Weight loss in particular doesn’t always occur in a linear pattern.  You might have one week that you lose 4 lbs, the next 2 lbs, 3 the next and then you don’t lose any the following week.   It will happen if you follow a simple formula:

Eat quality foods (read lean protein and veggies) + Eat less than you are burning + Perform awesome workouts like we have our clients do at Force Fitness = Fat Loss

If you have stalled out on your fat loss take a look at the things mentioned above and see where you can change something up to get the results you are looking for!