So you’re not losing weight. Or maybe you’ve hit a plateau and feel like you’re no longer making progress. Either way, you’re probably wondering why. In a recent video, Team BPI athlete, Noel Arevalo covered this exact topic. Here’s what she had to say:

Half of these things are gonna be stuff that you don’t even necessarily think of, but they are extremely important and are definitely good reasons why you are not seeing weight loss.
  1. Not Eating Enough Calories – I know this sounds weird because the first thing everyone wants to do is cut their calories and up their cardio. But that is definitely not what needs to happen. What happens is yes, we should be in a caloric deficit, which is when we are eating less calories than our bodies run on naturally, but we don’t want to be on too low of calories because then our body will start burning less fat. I know that sounds weird, but what happens is that you go into survival mode. Your body feels like it’s starving and it doesn’t want you to die. So you should be in a caloric deficit, but don’t go overboard. If you’re on too low of calories, your body will start storing whatever fat is left on you.
  2. Eating Too Many Calories – There are a lot of things that factor into weight loss – cardio, training, nutrition. If you haven’t counted calories before, or if you haven’t counted macronutrients, it is very, very easy to rack up your fats and carbs. You can have 200 grams of carbs and 50 grams of fats in one meal! So that is another reason – you may be eating too much food. Focus on portion sizes and caloric control. There are a lot of calorie counter apps that you can download to help you.
  3. Not Enough Sleep & Stress – If you don’t know, I’ve done bikini bodybuilding shows and when I would compete I was at a very lean body fat percentage. In my experience, I was always so much more hungry if I didn’t get sleep than when I got a good night’s rest. Sleep is life! If you don’t get enough sleep, your body craves more fats and carbs and sometimes they are the enemy. Get your beauty rest! Ok, let’s talk about stress. Stress is one of the biggest battles for anyone to avoid. Don’t let yourself get upset about everything that comes your way. Choose your battles! When your stress levels go up, the stress hormone cortisol increases in your body. This tells your body to hold more fat. So get more sleep and don’t stress!
  4. Too Much Cardio – Yes, cardio is a big factor in weight loss. In fact, I always say cardio and nutrition are where you’re going to see the weight loss. But there is a point of doing too much cardio. You want to incorporate weight lifting with your cardio because when you lift weights you put on muscle mass. When you have more muscle mass, you burn more calories. Don’t be afraid to get some delts or make your booty bigger!
  5. Too Little Cardio – I know I just said you’re doing too much cardio, but bear with me. Let’s say you go to Cheesecake Factory and order a salad, which is still like 1,000 calories. Then you go hit the treadmill, but you only do a speed of 2 for 20 minutes… Not gonna cut it, guys. It is really hard to burn calories! That’s why nobody likes cardio! Don’t just get on the treadmill for 20 minutes and go at speed 2. You need to track how many calories you’re burning. Depending on where you’re at, an average goal to aim for is around 200 calories per cardio session.
These are the top five reasons you’re not losing weight. It really is that simple. You just need to learn your body!
-Noel