8 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight

So, you’re eating healthily, exercising regularly, and you’ve stopped snacking at night, but the pounds are stubbornly refusing to come off. Getting on the scale and seeing the same number each time is frustrating, and ultimately the reason a lot of us just give up and go buy some ice cream.

There may be some reasons why the weight isn’t going, though, and here are 8 of the most common ones.

1. Not Counting Calories

Just because some foods are good for you, it doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you like and still lose weight.

A meal of salmon, salad and whole-grain rice or pasta is healthy, but you still need to check on the calorie count. A 6 oz salmon fillet and two cups of whole-grain pasta comes to around 700 calories, and a salad of lettuce and tomatoes with a tablespoon of olive oil and vinegar brings that total up to over 800 calories.

Keep a record of just how many calories each meal or snack costs you – and don’t forget to include drinks in this too.

2. Rewarding Yourself for Exercise

It’s easy to overestimate how many calories you burn on your workouts, and many of us think we can eat more because we’re burning more. However, just because the treadmill says you’ve burned 500 calories, it isn’t necessarily so, as everyone is different.

For the most accurate calorie info, wear an activity monitor that tracks calorie burn.

3. Not Counting Condiments and Dressings

1 tablespoon of ketchup on your eggs or burgers adds an extra 20 calories, and you will probably use more than one tablespoon. A tablespoon of mayo adds around 90 calories and 10 grams of fat, so even if you’re being careful, these little extras add up.

4. Eating Out

Eating out is great, but you don’t know the calorie content of your dish. Even if the restaurant gives nutrition information, they are just estimates. The staff don’t have time to weigh and measure every ingredient, so you’re not going to get an accurate calorie count.

Eating out every once in a while is fine, but if you can’t lose weight and you often eat out, you may need to think about cutting back.

5. Foods That Seem To Good To Be True

80 calories for a fudge brownie? 150 calories for a huge bag of crisps? Often the labels on these wonder snacks aren’t always accurate, and if something seems to good to be true, then it probably is!

6. Portion Creep

Watching portion sizes is so important when losing weight – check how much you are really putting on your plate, and avoid the temptation to add another spoonful or so.

Packaged snacks that look like single servings are sometimes 2 or 3 servings instead, so do check the labels.

7. Zero Calorie Foods

As long as a product contains less than 5 calories per serving, manufacturers are able to round it down to zero calories per serving – and these serving sizes are often tiny.

Watch out for zero calorie salad dressings, cooking sprays and sweetener packets – they may contain more calories than you think.

8. Drinking Calories

A small glass of fruit juice may seem healthy, but a 12 oz glass of orange juice has 165 calories. If you had a medium orange and a dozen almonds instead, you’d have had 140 calories and would probably feel a whole lot more satisfied.