Why You Can't Lose Weight

There are a lot of reasons why you can't lose weight, and they may not have anything to do with fast food or holiday sweets. Even when you're at your most diligent it's hard to see results. Even when you work hard it's hard to drop those pounds. But there are many factors that go into why you can't lose weight.

It starts out the same way every year. New Year's approaches, and you resolve that you're going to drop some extra weight. Maybe you're going to lose twenty pounds, maybe you've decided to shrink your waist by three inches. You clean the house to rid it of junk food, you buy hand weights, you set up a schedule and you resolve to stay committed to a diet. So...why can't you lose weight?

Body Fat

The amount of body fat you gain (or lose) each day is determined by two factors. First, how many calories you ingest in a single day. Two, how much activity you experience in a single day. If you eat more calories than what you burn off, you're going to gain weight. If you burn off more than what you eat, it stands to reason that you'll begin to lose weight.

But there's a way to lose weight healthily, helping you keep off those pounds so that next time New Year's rolls around, you can start to focus on a different resolution. Want to know why you can't lose weight? Because you aren't doing enough to start burning off that body fat.

It all comes down to metabolism...but thankfully, this is something you can learn to control.

Burning Fat

Even when our bodies are completely at rest, we're burning calories. We're burning calories all the time, every second of every day. But you're also ingesting calories, too, and sometimes you may be packing in more than you're actually burning off. Can't lose weight? It's time to take control of what you eat, and what you burn.

If you are mostly sedentary throughout your days and find that you're having trouble losing weight, you're taking in too many calories. You can start to burn some of that fat away by cutting out the calories (but not necessarily your food intake). Many people confuse dieting with starving themselves. You don't want to eat less to lose more weight, as this can be unhealthy. The less food you eat, the less energy you have. Your body will start to conserve its own energy, making weight loss even more difficult. Chose low-fat and non-fat alternatives, but don't start taking in less food in an effort to lose weight, as this can often have the opposite effect.

If burning fat and losing weight is your goal, there is another way to achieve your aim: get active. Staying sedentary throughout the day? The problem may not be in your diet at all, but in your level of activity. Spend ten to fifteen minutes walking around on your lunch break, before you go to work and when you get home in the afternoon. Without half-trying, you'll have thirty minutes of activity on the day to help you start burning those calories.