9 Reasons You're NOt Losing Body Fat

9 reasons? Why not 10, Craven?


Because 9 seemed like an underused number for these list-type articles that have become so popular all over the inter webs machine. 


So let's get into it. 

1.  You’re unknowingly consuming too many calories
This might seem like a pretty obvious point for most people, but for some reason there’s a whole lot of folks that seem to think “calories don’t matter”, as long as you restrict your carbohydrate intake.  

This couldn’t be any less true.  It always comes down to the fact that you just need to eat less. It’s that simple.

If you’re eating roughly 10 to 12 calories for every pound of bodyweight then it should not be that difficult for your body to lose fat.  People typically stuff their faces every 3 hours or so to “jack up their metabolism” or “stoke the metabolic fire” and as a result, inadvertently end up eating waaay more calories than they actually need. 

This is why it’s important to track your macros/calories, or at the very least keep a mindful tab on the quantities of foods you’re eating every day.

Eating less can be difficult. It can be challenging.  Consuming 2000 calories a day requires some structure, discipline, motivation, and a bit of sacrifice. 

But I ask you, what doesn’t require all of that in this life that is worthwhile that you would like to accomplish?

2.  You’re Not Eating Enough Total Calories
This is the inverse problem of over consumption.  Some people tend to diet too hard and really ramp down their metabolisms and limit their body’s fat utilization. 

When calories are cut too hard for an extended period of time, it can reduce your thyroid production and losing body fat will become extremely difficult.  One easy way to measure your thyroid function is to take your body temperature immediately upon waking up in the morning.   If it’s dipped below 98 degrees Fahrenheit you may have a sluggish metabolism. 

The best way to remedy a slowed metabolism is to increase calories (mostly carbohydrates) for around 10-14 days until regular thyroid and leptin functions return.  You may even utilize a REFEED to help get things moving a long quicker. 

3.   You’ve jumped on the Latest Celebrity Diet or Quick Fix Bandwagon
You didn’t get fat overnight.  You didn’t wake up one morning with an extra 20 pounds of body fat.  Whether you know it or not, it took a lot of time and effort on your part to get your body in an overweight and underactive state.

The harsh reality of fat loss is it’s going to take some time.  As long as it took you to put the weight on, you can expect that same amount of time to get the weight off. 

There are no quick fixes here. No magic powders or elixers. No amount of detox smoothies or liquid diets will get you lean in a matter of weeks.

The best method that works is continually working to improve your eating and exercise.

For a lot of people, I always recommend a Flexible Dieting approach to make fat loss plans sustainable for a lifetime. 

Oh, and accepting the fact that it’s going to take some fucking hard work. 

4.     You’re Eating too much “Good Fat” Since we’re talking about trendy diets…

Some people really buy into the no carb/low carb/carbs are the devil/gluten in carbs will burn a whole in your soul fad. 

Carbs aren’t the enemy. Fat isn’t the enemy. Neither one is inherently bad.  It’s a matter of quanity of each of those macros that affects your body composition.

Folks reduce their carbs, or cut them out completely and assume they don’t have to worry about anything else.  For a lot of people this will initially work on the basis that they are EATING LESS THAT THEY WERE with carbs.  But body adaptations happen or they carried away eating cheese covered bacon and unknowingly consume more calories than they need. Refer back to point #1. 

You can’t just eat pounds of bacon and mayonnaise with reckless abandon and think that you’ll magically end up ripped.

Fat contains 9 calories per gram.  Calories will always still matter at the end of the day, and if you’re consuming more calories from dietary fat than you burn, you’re never going to shed body fat. 

I’m not trying to say low fat diets are better, what I’m saying is there needs to be a structured value and balanace of both dietary fats and carbs in your diet. 

And as always, you need to keep a handle on total calories. 

5.  You’re drinking too many protein Shakes
For a host of reasons, it’s always better to chew as many of your calories and you possibly can.  


The sole act of chewing and digestion burns more calories than drinking a shake through through the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).  


There’s also the fact that 25 grams of protein in a chicken breast will leave you more full and satisfied a than slamming a scoop of whey protein.  This can be crucial when reducing calories so make note of this.  

6.  You’re going Nuts eating Nuts
Nuts are one of those healthy foods in disguised.  They get a lot of play in the media as a healthy snack.  They can be, but the caveat is they contain a lot of calories due to their high fat content and they add up extremely quickly.  It’s terribly easy to mindlessly dip into a bag of nuts and go through half the bag without even looking away from your Instagram feed.

I typically don’t recommend nuts to my clients.  I like to suggest more voluminous foods such as green vegetable and meat proteins that are nutritionally dense that will fill you up and not pack on a lot of calories. 

7.  You’re Not Training Heavy Enough
The first inclination people have when trying to lose body fat is to jack up the reps they’re doing and lower the weight to “burn some fat”.  This couldn’t be worse advice for a fat loss phase. 

Your muscle didn’t get bigger and stronger doing 30 reps with pink dumbells, so why should you expect your hard earned muscle to stick around in a stressful time such as a diet phase if you’re not giving them the same intensity of training you use to get them big and strong?

When you diet, the primary role of strength training is to maintain, and in some instances even build lean muscle mass. 

That’s the most important thing.  If your nutrition is in check the fat loss with happen.  Just make sure you’re maintaining that hard earned lean muscle. 

8.  You’re Overdoing the Cardio
I’ve said it many times before, and god knows I’ll continue to say it for the rest of my life. 

Traditional forms of cardio are useless for fat loss.

But you know what, useless can be okay; it’s when the cardio starts to become counterproductive is when there’s a real problem. 

Excessive amounts of cardio can lead to an overproduction of cortisol that can lead to water retention and increase the size and growth rate of certain fat cells. 

One of the best and most useful forms of cardio is taking a long walk.  If you start walking a half mile to a mile a day, you’ll be surprised at how your recovery will improve and the changes in your body composition that will occur.  

9.   You’re Not Managing Stress Properly
I saved the best and most important point for last. 

Stress is important. It’s a vital part of life.  It’s what gets you up in the morning and keeps you tentative and alive.  It’s when you’re in an unnecessarily overly stressed state that causes issues.

When in a state of stress, the body produces a hormone known as cortisol.  Cortisol has gotten a bad rep over the last few decades, but it’s a vital hormone that has many benefits in keeping you healthy and alive.  Like stated above, it’s the hormone that gets you up in the morning.