You have been watching your diet, you've stuck to your workout routine, and you feel as though you are doing everything you can to reach a healthy weight. At some point you might find yourself wondering why the scale isn't budging and your belt has needed no adjusting.

It can be very frustrating to be following a diet plan diligently, only to feel as though you are making little to no progress. Here are some possible reasons why you are having trouble dropping extra pounds.


You aren't working out hard enough.

One possible reason why you aren’t seeing progress could be that you think that you are working out harder than they actually are.

When you workout, can you easily hold up a conversation? Are you reading a magazine during your workout on the treadmill? Do you have a workout partner who works out at a lower intensity than you are capable of? All of these factors can lead to a misperception in exercise exertion.

Any exercise is good exercise, but if you think you are burning 600 calories an hour and you're really only burning 200, you are setting yourself up for weight loss failure. Don’t be afraid to push your comfort zones while working out; aim to break a healthy sweat. And while your exercising, let your focus be present, rather than on the cell phone, in the office, or in the pages of a celebrity gossip magazine. Try using a calorie counter device to get a better idea of how many calories you are actually burning.


You are miscalculating your caloric intake.

Many people are "grazers" who snack all day long and end up unknowingly taking in an excess of calories. Other people opt for low calorie food choices but end up eating three serving sizes worth. If you are having trouble losing weight, take a good, honest look at your diet; you may very well be unintentionally eating too many calories.

Keeping a food journal can help a dieter become more aware of their caloric intake and pin down where their trouble foods and weaknesses are slowing their fitness progress.


Self sabotage; you could be addicted to dieting.

It sounds absolutely ridiculous but the truth is that dieting can be addicting. When you lose weight, it's exciting; it feels good to make progress towards a goal and people may notice and compliment you. When you reach your goal, that feeling goes away and is replaced by a focus on maintaining, which can feel much less gratifying and more tedious.

If you are a yo-yo dieter; someone who has success with weight loss but inevitably gains it back, you may be up against your own self-sabotaging. You can prevent the weight rollercoaster ride by dropping the intermittent dieting and committing to long-term lifestyle changes. Evaluate your own dieting strategy candidly to make sure that you are not self-sabotaging your own efforts.


You mutter excuses akin to "heredity", "hormones", or "it's what happens after having kids".

Yes, there are many different obstacles and challenges in staying fit, some of them of which are out of your control-but there are many other variables that you can and should have power of. Take responsibility for your weight and health; you won't get anywhere by making excuses and handing out blame to exterior forces.


You go on "emergency diets" rather than commit to a healthy lifestyle.

A healthy weight is about more than just looking good for vacation or a high school reunion. A healthy body comes from a healthy lifestyle and you don't get there by crash dieting.

Crash dieting might result in an initial drop in body weight, but it also throws your metabolism into preservation mode. This means that once you start eating “normal” again, your body will cling to calories and fat in expectation that someday soon, you might again provide it with inadequate nutrition. Change your habits and your everyday choices and you wont ever have to rely on a crash diet again.