Five reasons why your diet isn’t working

Been on your new eating plan for a few weeks but not really getting the results you’d hoped for? Swapped in healthy meals for your usual takeaways but the weight loss has stalled after a month or so? There could be a number of factors why you’re not shedding the pounds or still don’t fit in those old favourite jeans. Fit Squad DXB personal trainer and nutrition coach Devinder Bains gives you the lowdown on what could be going wrong…

You’re not eating enough

You’re following a diet plan that tells you to keep your calorie count between 1200 and 1500 calories a day and the weight loss has been quick, but a few weeks in and it’s pretty much plateaued – even though you’re sticking to the diet plan. 

This might sound crazy but your body could be in ‘starvation mode’. When you put yourself in a severe calorie deficit, after the first few weeks the weight loss will significantly reduce because the body will slow down its metabolism and kick into ‘survival mode’ in order to preserve an energy balance. A slower metabolism means it’s harder to burn the same amount of calories – your body is putting this mechanism in place to insure that it conserves enough energy should you continue on this diet forever - which could put your wellbeing in danger by causing a severe energy in vs energy out imbalance. Speak to a personal trainer or nutrition coach to make sure your calorie deficit is in a safe zone - one that will help you lose weight sensibly and for the long-term, rather than a quick fad diet.

Your ‘healthy food’ intake is too high

You’ve swapped your morning cereal for a stack of avocado and eggs, you’re snacking on nuts and fruits all day and you’ve taken to healthy coconut oil to cook all those veggies and salmon to go with your piles of brown pasta and rice. 

Well done on introducing all these healthy fats and slow-release carbs to your diet, but could you be over indulging when it comes to portion size? Fat is essential for the body and foods like salmon, nut and avocado are great for omega 3 intake but they are also high in calories - with fat providing twice as many calories per gram than protein or carbs, so it’s still important to watch how much you’re having. One avocado or half a cup of walnuts can have almost 300 calories in them - which is the same as three-and-a-half chocolate digestives! It’s important to keep these foods in your diet but they could be increasing your calorie intake and stopping you from losing weight, the same can be said for healthy carbs like fruit and brown pasta…you still can’t just eat as much as you want. 

You’re not watching those pesky condiments 

You’re sticking to a food plan that's based on oats and fruits for breakfast, mostly salads for lunch, and meat and veg for dinner, with the odd treat meal here and there.

You’re 100% making the right food choices but have you thought about what’s accompanying these meals? Are you helping yourself to honey, maple syrup or peanut butter with that breakfast, does that salad come with a creamy dressing, olive oil or mayo? And is dinner being washed down with the help of ketchup, pesto or creamy ranch sauces. Condiments and sauces could be adding hundreds of extra calories, as well as ‘secret’ sugars and high salt levels to your diet every single day. A tablespoon of mayonnaise will add almost 100 calories to your meal and for a ranch sauce you’re looking at around 70 calories. A tablespoon of ketchup has a huge 4g of sugar and although honey is a natural sweetener: you’re looking at 17g of sugar and 65 cals per 21g tablespoon. And, do keep an eye on the number of those treat meals - make sure they’re not undoing all your hard work.

You’re not moving enough 

You’re eating pretty well and you’ve even incorporated a training plan into your weight loss regime. You’re trying to add in a 30-60 minute weights or cardio session three times a week. 

Good work on the workouts! The question is: what are you doing the rest of the day? If your weights or cardio session is the only time you’re really moving during the day - you might not be burning enough calories through non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This accounts for all the movement that forms part of our daily lives that isn’t exercise: housework, walking to the shop, carrying the groceries, taking the stairs and even fidgeting, and NEAT can burn 1000 to 2000 extra calories a day for some people. If you’re the type that does their 30 minutes of hardcore training but spends the rest of the day laying on the couch or sat at a desk - think about getting up and moving around, tackling some chores and even taking the stairs or opting for a ‘standing desk’.

Your calorie counting is inaccurate

You’ve worked out how many calories you should be eating a day to lose weight and you’ve been sticking to it pretty strictly, only going a little over now and again, you’ve even been using a calorie counting app like Under Armour’s My Fitness Pal.

Although the principle behind the ‘number of calories in versus number of calories expended’ is absolute when it comes to weight loss, unfortunately it’s not an exact science for a number of reasons. The main reason is that the calorie count you get on most packaging is not precise, it is worked out based on an average: the calorie intake can vary depending on where, what time of year and how that food was grown and nurtured. The packaging might show what is presumed to be the calories but doesn’t show what happens to the calorie count once the food is cooked - this can change vastly depending on how you cook it. It doesn’t take into account that the body does not absorb all the calories in the food and also how each body absorbs the food differently. This and a number of other factors (including not actually measuring portion sizes) means that your calorie count can be off by about 25% every day. 

Read next: Five Healthy Snacks to make at home

Want to get on top of your weight loss goals? Book a free consultation with one of our personal trainers now by calling or WhatsApping us on +971 55 542 7231 or emailing us at info@fitsquaddxb.com