Low-carb diets are very effective. That is a scientific fact.
However, as with any diet, people sometimes stop losing before they reach their desired weight.
Here are the top 15 reasons why you’re not losing weight on a low-carb diet.
1. You Are Losing Fat, You Just Don’t Realize it
Weight loss isn’t linear and there’s a lot more to weight than just body fat. Be patient and use other ways of measuring than just the scale.
2. You’re Not Cutting Back on Carbohydrates Enough
Some people are more carb sensitive than others. If you’re eating low-carb and your weight starts to plateau, then you may want to cut back on carbs even further. If you are carb sensitive, then you may want to temporarily eliminate fruits and eat less than 50 grams of carbs per day.3. You’re Stressed All The Time
Unfortunately, it isn’t always enough to just eat healthy and exercise. We need to make sure that our bodies are functioning optimally and that our hormonal environment is favorable.
Being stressed all the time keeps the body in a constant state of “fight or flight” – with elevated levels of stress hormones like cortisol.
Having chronically elevated cortisol levels can increase your hunger and cravings for unhealthy foods.
If you want to cut back on stress, try meditation and deep breathing exercises. Cut back on distractions like Facebook and news media, read more books instead.
4. You’re Not Eating Real Food
A low-carb diet is about more than just lowering your intake of carbs.
You have to replace those carbohydrates with real, nutritious foods.
Throw away all processed low-carb products like Atkins bars, they are not real food and they are NOT good for your health.
You need to replace the carbs with real, nutritious foods. To lose weight, stick to meats, fish, eggs, healthy fats and vegetables.
5. You’re Eating Too Many Nuts
Nuts are real foods, no doubt about that. They are also very high in fat, almonds for example having about 70% of calories as fat. However, nuts are very easy to overeat on. Their crunchiness and high energy density give us the ability to eat large amounts of them without feeling full. You made need to eliminate them or at least cut way back.6. You’re Not Sleeping Enough
Sleep is incredibly important for overall health and studies show that a lack of sleep correlates with weight gain and obesity.
A lack of sleep can make us feel hungrier. It will also make us tired and less motivated to exercise and eat healthy.
Some tips to improve sleep:
- Avoid caffeine after 2pm.
- Sleep in complete darkness.
- Avoid alcohol and physical exercise in the last few hours before sleep.
- Do something relaxing before sleep, like reading.
- Try to go to bed at a similar time each night.
7. You’re Eating Too Much Dairy
Another low-carb food that can cause problems for some people is dairy.
The amino acid composition in dairy protein makes it very potent at spiking insulin. In fact, dairy proteins can spike insulin as much as white bread. Try eliminating all dairy except butter.
8. You’re Not Exercising Right (or at all)
You should NOT exercise with the goal of burning calories. The calories burned during exercise are usually insignificant, they can easily be negated by eating a few extra bites of food at the next meal.
However, exercise is critical for both physical and mental health.
Exercise, in the long run, can help you lose weight by improving your metabolic health, increasing your muscle mass and making you feel awesome.
But it’s important to do the right kind of exercise. Nothing but cardio on the treadmill is unlikely to give you good results and doing too much may even be detrimental.
Weight lifting – this will greatly improve your hormonal environment and increase your muscle mass, which will help you lose weight over the long term.
Interval training – doing high intensity intervals is an excellent form of cardio that improves your metabolism and raises your levels of human growth hormone.
Low intensity – being active and doing some low-intensity work like walking is a great idea. The human body was designed to move around, not sit in a chair all day.
9. You’re Eating Too Many Sweeteners
Despite being calorie free, artificial sweeteners can affect our appetite, in some cases leading to a net increase in overall calories.
10. You Have a Medical Condition Getting in Your Way
There are certain medications that are known to stimulate weight gain. Certain medical issues and medications can cause weight problems. See a doctor to discuss your options.11. You’re Always Eating
It is a persistent myth in health and fitness circles that everyone should be eating many, small meals throughout the day.
There is no proven benefit to eating many small meals throughout the day. Try eating fewer meals and consider giving intermittent fasting a shot.
12. You’re Cheating Too Often
Some people can eat junk food from time to time without ruining their progress, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. For others, cheat meals will do more harm than good.
13. You’re Eating Too Many Calories
It is possible to eat so many calories that you stop losing weight. Try counting calories and aim for a 500 cal/day deficit for a while.
14. You Don’t Have Realistic Expectations
It is important to have realistic expectations. Weight loss takes a long time and not everyone can look like a fitness model.
15. You’ve Been “Cutting” For Too Long
It's not a good idea to be in a calorie deficit for too long at a time.
The leanest people on earth (bodybuilders and fitness models) never do this. They do cycles of “bulking” and “cutting.”
If you eat at a calorie deficit for many months (or years) then eventually your metabolic rate may slow down.
If you’ve been dieting for a long time, then a two month period where you aim to “maintain” and gain a bit of muscle may be what you need to get things started again.
Of course, this doesn’t mean eating bad foods, just more of the good stuff.
Source: http://authoritynutrition.com/15-reasons-not-losing-weight-on-a-low-carb-diet/
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