We’ve all been there. You’re committed to your meal plans and your exercise program. You’re doing everything right. But somehow, you’re not losing any more weight. When stepping on the scale, the number doesn’t move. You might even gain weight despite all your efforts and don’t know why you no longer see results.

The cold hard facts are that as we age, our metabolism slows down, and we’re losing muscle mass. So that’s a double whammy. Loss of muscle mass (Sarcopenia) occurs as a result of aging. As early as the age of 35, you will lose between 0.5 to 1% of your muscle mass – annually. That’s only one of the 5 Reasons Why You No Longer see Results.

My Struggle

Last year, during my triathlon training, I gained 10 pounds!

I trained hard, exercised correctly, ate small meals every three hours, and still gained weight. All my previous strategies didn’t work any longer. Was it the fact that menopause held me back?

So I started intermittent fasting for 60 days and slowly started losing weight. I did stretches of fasting and then stretches of food intake with higher percentages of fat and proteins. That helped me lose 10 pounds in 60 days. Nothing dramatic, little changes in my nutrition, tiny changes in how often I ate, and reducing the intensity of my exercise (due to injury.) I started walking instead of running. I still biked and swam.

After helping so many others to lose weight sensibly and getting myself off the hump of a plateau, I have figured out some great solutions for you!

5 Reasons Why You No Longer See Results

1) Not Eating Enough Protein

Many women don’t eat enough lean protein like fish, chicken, lean meats, or beans with EVERY meal. Protein is essential for building lean muscles and stabilizes blood sugar levels, which in turn helps to maintain consistent energy levels, control appetite, and reduce the potential for body fat storage. 30 – 40 % of your recommended daily allowance (RDA) comes from protein, that’s 0.36 grams per pound. This amounts to 46 grams per day for the average sedentary woman.

2) Not Tracking What You Eat and Portion Sizes

If you are not writing down what you are taking in, you are doing yourself a disservice! It has been proven time and time again that keeping a record is one way of holding us accountable.

We often underestimate just how much we eat when we “eyeball” servings. The calories can quickly add up without us noticing and sabotage all the hard work that we put in to eat the correct foods in the first place.

Here’s a cool tip – tracking your food the easy way with an app like myfitnesspal can be an eye-opening experience and show you exactly where you may accidentally be going wrong!

3) You’re Not Drinking Enough Water

Many of us are not hydrated enough and frequently feel hungry. But actually, our bodies are thirsty. To avoid fake hunger, I encourage you to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water a day or more. Being dehydrated can cause you to keep weight on, as your body is not performing at an optimum level.

If you feel that you no longer see results and you’re not losing weight, you may be dehydrated. I’ve written a great blog post on how to get more water in by eating your water!

4) You’re Not Strength Training.

Strength training will not only transform the way your body looks but will help you from losing muscle mass, which helps to burn more calories, even at rest! The current recommendation to train is two times per week and sometimes up to five times per week, with some form of resistance training focusing on all major muscle groups.

Keep in mind that if you’re doing the same routine, day after day, your body will adapt to the load, and nothing will happen anymore. In the beginning, you may have seen the first changes leaning out feeling stronger, but the body stops changing through adaptation, and nothing will happen.

So what can you do to change it up and challenge your body?

• You can increase the weight or the resistance of any given load. If you use a five-pound dumbbell, go up to eight the next time to make it more challenging.

• Add volume by doing more reps. Again, you may be stagnant if you stop seeing results. Change up the amount by doing more repetitions. If you always stay between 8 and 10 repetitions, I recommend 10 to 12 or 15 repetitions.

• Cut down on rest during each set. For example chest presses, you do 15 repetitions of chest presses, and then you rest for one minute. Reduce this to 30 seconds, and it will increase not only your metabolism but also the intensity of your training.

• Increase the number of days you are training. If you always do two days a week, bump it up to three days a week. Your muscles will have to adapt to the additional day.

• Make it harder by doing a circuit. Follow a different order to change up how you strength train.

• If you do Pilates, change the spring configuration on the reformer to a lighter spring, which will be more challenging.

5) You’re Not Sleeping Well

Sleep is such an essential factor in our lives, but it is also an overlooked factor in how it affects the body. And this could be a reason why you’re no longer seeing results and losing weight. Not sleeping well may not make you GAIN weight, but it can have serious detrimental effects on trying to better your fitness.

Many factors influence weight gain, such as genetics, stress, habits, and even hormones that can affect appetite and how you feel. One sleep-related hormone is Ghrelin. Ghrelin triggers feelings of hunger, and when you lack sleep, your Ghrelin goes up, causing you more “fake hunger.” The other one is Leptin, which suppresses appetite, stops unnecessary eating and encourages the body to expend energy. However, sleep deprivation reduces leptin.

Research has shown this sleep deprivation can alter Ghrelin and Leptin levels negatively, so it’s super important that you get enough sleep!

So here are five reasons why you are no longer seeing results and you’ve stalled losing weight. Take a closer look at those five reasons and determine which one might be holding you back from losing weight so that you can get back on track!

Check out the 8-week Pursue Your Spark Blueprint. A combination of nutrition strategies, Pilates, strength training, and strategies to help you stay consistent.