Why am I stuck at the same weight? (2023)

Why am I always stuck at the same weight?

When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat. Using the same approach that worked at first may maintain your weight loss, but it won't lead to more weight loss.

This is called a weight loss plateau. The initial weight loss is usually just water weight and not fat loss. The plateau is caused by loss of muscle that occurs during weight loss (if you are not working out). To counter this, you can either cut more calories or increase your physical activity.

If you've been stuck in a plateau for weeks, it usually indicates that calorie input (what you're eating) is equal to calorie output (what you're burning through physical activity). The only way to break through a weight-loss plateau is to cut calorie intake further and/or burn more calories through exercise.

Do you ever wonder why the number on the scale doesn't move after you've made many changes to your diet and lifestyle? When the scale doesn't move, you are losing body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you're moving in the right direction.

It's possible to gain muscle and reduce body fat without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you're moving in the right direction.

Cheat Often

A planned cheat day can sometimes shock your body into breaking through the plateau and going back to weight loss mode. It can also give you a mental break from being so careful with what you eat.

A weight loss plateau is a result of the gradual shift in how many calories your body needs when you lose weight. As you get leaner, your body needs few calories to function. If you don't adjust your diet your exercise accordingly, it can result in the dreaded weight loss plateau.

A plateau can last between eight to twelve weeks, but it also varies individually. After this, it's much easier for us to recommence a period of weight loss. Sustainable weight loss isn't a sprint.

What's preventing me from losing weight?

There are some medical conditions that can drive weight gain and make it much harder to lose weight. These include hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and sleep apnea. Certain medications can also make weight loss harder — or even cause weight gain.

Reasons why you may not be able to gain weight. Genetics play a role in body types and may dictate a naturally lean body type for some people. For others, underlying medical conditions and certain medical treatments may cause weight loss or difficulty gaining weight.

Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.

If you're losing inches but maintaining your weight and you regularly strength train, you may actually be losing fat and gaining muscle. The process of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is called body recomposition. Most scales don't differentiate between the amounts of body fat and muscle you have.

Dehydration causes your body to retain excess water, which can lead to 5 pounds of weight gain overnight (5). When you feel thirsty and drink a lot of fluid at once, you'll absorb the extra fluid quickly and it shows up on the scale within 24 hours.

“When you starve yourself, your body goes into survival mode,” said Karah Stanley, registered dietitian with St. Elizabeth Physicians Weight Management Center. If the body perceives it's being starved and doesn't have food to turn into energy, it continues to hoard fat, rather than burn it, in case food isn't coming.

Changes in total body weight vary for men and women. Men often gain weight until about age 55, and then begin to lose weight later in life. This may be related to a drop in the male sex hormone testosterone. Women usually gain weight until age 65, and then begin to lose weight.

Typically, a safe and sustainable rate of weight loss is about 1 to 2 pounds per week. This means that if you want to lose 10 pounds, it may take you 5 to 10 weeks to see the results on the scale.

How many pounds do you gain on a cheat day?

But if on a cheat day, you decide to eat and drink whatever you want and load up to 300 grams of carbohydrates (the average number of carbs eaten by men, according to the US Department of Agriculture), you would be retaining around 1kg of water or 2.2 pounds.

The bottom line is that a 1000-1500 surplus of calories for a day means you'll only gain about 0.70-112 grams of fat. The scales might say you've gained more, but that's because of the water weight excess sodium and carbohydrates bring along with it.

To gain a pound of fat, you would need to add about 500 calories a day on top of your normal diet, every day, for about 7 days. This makes gaining any significant amount of fat from even the craziest, all-out cheat days unlikely.

Set point theory states that our bodies have a preset weight baseline hardwired into our DNA. According to this theory, our weight and how much it changes from that set point might be limited. The theory says some of us have higher weight set points than others and our bodies fight to stay within these ranges.

On a very simple level, your weight depends on the number of calories you consume, how many of those calories you store, and how many you burn up.

B12 works by converting the food we eat into sugar and other types of fuel that keep the body running smoothly. B12 is often associated with weight loss because of its ability to boost metabolism and provide lasting energy.

Water retention, hormonal changes, stress, and other factors can also lead to temporary blips in your weight. If you're stuck on a plateau for an extended period of time, you'll need to evaluate your healthy eating plan, look to increase your daily step goal, and ensure your walking is intense enough.

“There's no reason to weigh yourself more than once a week. With daily water fluctuations, body weight can change drastically on a day-to-day basis,” says Rachel Fine, registered dietitian and owner of To the Pointe Nutrition. “Weighing yourself at the same time on a weekly basis will give you a more accurate picture.”

If you're positive that you've stayed strictly on your plan during this time and still aren't seeing any changes, it's a sure sign that you are at a plateau. Unfortunately, a weight loss plateau won't go away on its own - so this means that it's probably time to shake up your diet and/or exercise plan.

You've gained muscle.

And here's an often overlooked fact: Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue. So as you gain more muscle and lose fat, you change your overall body composition, which can result in a higher weight, but a smaller figure and better health.

What is your biggest problem losing weight?

As your body metabolizes fat, fatty acid molecules are released into the bloodstream and travel to the heart, lungs, and muscles, which break them apart and use the energy stored in their chemical bonds. The pounds you shed are essentially the byproducts of that process.

The first stage of weight loss is when you tend to lose the most weight and begin to notice changes in your appearance and how your clothes fit. It usually happens within the first 4–6 weeks ( 1 ). Most of the weight loss in this stage comes from carb stores, protein, and water — and to a lesser extent, body fat.

Losing weight safely typically involves losing 1-2 pounds per week ( 1 ). This would allow you to lose 20 pounds within about 5 months at 1 pound per week or 2 1/2 months at about 2 pounds per week.

Excess visceral fat can pose serious health risks, but when you embark on a healthy diet and exercise plan, this fat is often the first to disappear. This means you're likely to notice weight loss in your abdominal area first.

Cardio work, strength training and counting calories and macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat) are the three big components of weight loss. You should be doing all three, but each of these is not created equally when you're trying to lose weight.

The simple answer to your question is: only stay in a calorie deficit for as long as you need for weight loss. Going beyond the necessary time frame can bring about some nasty side effects (which we'll cover in more detail in just a bit).

Keep in mind that you may not need a calorie deficit at all. You only need it if you want to lose weight for health or other reasons. Always talk to your doctor before you start a weight loss plan, especially if you have other health problems.

There is no doubt that a calorie deficit is important for losing weight. However, decreasing your calories too low for too long can actually hinder your progress. If calorie intake is too low, the body will defend against this by decreasing the metabolism. This is the metabolic adaptation we mentioned earlier!

What happens if you stay in a calorie deficit for too long?

Severely restricting your calories can decrease your metabolism and cause you to lose muscle mass. This makes it more difficult to maintain your weight loss in the long term.

It depends on how large you are and the amount of weight you have to lose. A larger person with more fat tends to have larger Total Energy Expenditure so they can have a 1000 - 1500 calorie deficit and still be okay.

Eating too few calories can be the start of a vicious cycle that causes diet distress. When you cut your calories so low that your metabolism slows and you stop losing weight, you probably will become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. This can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain weight.

A 1,200-calorie diet is much too low for most people and can result in negative side effects like dizziness, extreme hunger, nausea, micronutrient deficiencies, fatigue, headaches, and gallstones ( 23 ). Furthermore, a 1,200-calorie diet can set you up for failure if long-term weight loss is your goal.

You've gained muscle.

And here's an often overlooked fact: Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue. So as you gain more muscle and lose fat, you change your overall body composition, which can result in a higher weight, but a smaller figure and better health.

One of the main reasons why burning calories through exercise may still not result in weight loss is due to overexertion, or inflammation of your body. If you exercise too hard on a daily basis, there is an excess of inflammation in your body. All the added up inflammation makes you gain more weight than lose.

What can you eat on a calorie deficit diet? Technically, you can eat anything on a calorie deficit diet—as long as you eat in a deficit, Cording says. “But, that said, whatever you're eating needs to end up being less than the energy you expend,” she says.

If you're moderately active, it takes about 2,250 calories a day to maintain 160 pounds, and 1,250 calories a day to lose 2 pounds per week.

So, How Long Until You See Results? As you can see, individual weight-loss experiences and time frames can vary heavily. However, most people who start dieting by cutting out a certain amount of calories each day will see results within one to two weeks, even if it's just one pound lost.

In order to lose at least a pound a week, try to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days, and reduce your daily calorie intake by at least 500 calories. However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day in women or 1,500 a day in men, except under the supervision of a health professional.

What does being in a calorie deficit feel like?

When you don't eat enough calories, you're likely to feel tired most of the time. The number of calories needed for these basic functions within a 24-hour period is referred to as your resting metabolic rate. Most people have a resting metabolic rate higher than 1,000 calories per day.

That being said, people who are leaner typically need diet breaks (or times at maintenance) more often than those who have more weight to lose and/or have less muscle. But, a general rule of thumb for most people is to take a 1-2 week break after 12 weeks of consistent dieting.