Why You're Not Losing Weight (even though you're trying)
You’re on a diet.
You’re tracking your calories.
You’re weighing yourself religiously.
You’re eating cleaner than ever and pushing yourself harder in the gym.
You're doing the cardio.
But as the weeks roll by, frustration starts creeping in.
You step on the scale… and nothing. The number won’t budge.
"WTF. How is this possible?"
So then you start questioning everything.
Am I broken? Is my metabolism shot?Do I just have bad genetics?..
This time last year, I was doing everything in my power to lose weight.
Grinding in the gym. Eating clean. Tracking my food to the tee.
But my progress had completely stalled, and I couldn’t figure out why.
It was quite stressful because summer was fast approaching..
Ok so the thing is fat loss can be deceptively simple but frustrating.
We all know that in order to lose body fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit.
That’s a fact.
When you consume fewer calories than your body burns, you lose weight.
But if you think you’re in a deficit and you’re still not losing weight?
There’s probably a reason for that.
Now, I’ve been overweight for probably most of my life — through adolescence and adulthood.
And I hated it.
The frustration, the insecurity, the endless cycle of trying and failing.
That feeling of seeing something in the shop and wanting to buy it, trying it on, looking at yourself in the mirror and you’re like i cant wear this.
And that feeling of working your ass off, only for you to step on the scale and see literately no change.
It messes with your head.
It makes you want to quit.
It makes you feel like maybe this just isn’t meant for you.
But it is meant for you. You just need to know where you’re going wrong.
And after years of trial, error, and getting down to single-digit body fat, I’ve learned that weight loss isn’t just about eating less and moving more.
It’s about understanding where you’re going wrong.
So today, let’s talk about three key reasons why you might not be losing weight in a calorie deficit—and how to fix them.
The first reason is that you are not tracking your calories.
Tracking calories is one of the most important things you can do when trying to lose weight because it brings awareness to how much energy you’re actually consuming.
Lots of people think they’re in a calorie deficit, but in reality, they’re either underestimating their intake or overestimating how many calories they burn throughout the day.
Even though calorie-tracking apps aren’t 100% accurate, they’re still useful.
Think of them as a compass rather than a precise GPS system.
They can still show you the way.
They help you stay within a general range rather than being totally in the dark about your intake.
Lots of foods have hidden calories, and portion sizes can be tricky to estimate, which is why tracking, even if it’s not totally perfect - gives you better control over your progress.
Also, just because an app tells you that you should eat 2000 calories per day doesn’t mean that’s exactly what your body needs.
Your actual energy expenditure or calories burned depends on loads of factors including your metabolism, activity levels, and even how well you digest and absorb food.
We’ll get onto this later.
You don’t need to track calories forever, but doing it consistently for a period of time can help you understand your eating habits so you can make adjustments, and ensure you're actually in a calorie deficit.
We tend to eat the same things on repeat.
If you’re not losing weight after the first few weeks, this should be the first thing you check.
Ok the next big reason why you’re not losing weight is that you’re not weighing yourself every day.
Your weight changes every day because of water retention, food intake, whether or not you’ve had a shit or not and even your sleep quality.
If you only weigh yourself occasionally, you might see these ups and downs and think you're not making any progress.
That’s why it’s important to take daily weigh-ins ideally at the same time each day, but focus on the weekly average rather than individual readings.
This smooths out day-to-day variations and gives a better picture of your actual trend.
Another good thing to do is to take progress pictures and body measurements.
The main reason I say this is that sometimes fat loss happens even when the scale isn’t moving, especially if you’re gaining muscle and losing fat or re-comping.
I’ll go into this another time.
Photos and tape measurements (waist, hips, arms, etc.) can show changes that the scale might not show.
Also use an accurate scale with decimal points rather than one of those rogue old school dial scales that you have to calibrate which ensures you’re capturing even small changes.
After 2-3 weeks of consistent tracking, see where you’re.
If you're not losing weight, adjust your calorie intake or exercise levels based on the data.
Small, steady changes over time lead to sustainable results.
Get that in your head.
There’s no quick fix.
That’s really important.
The next key reason you’re not losing weight is because your body adapts to a calorie deficit over time.
Let me explain.
It’s a mechanism that makes sure we have enough energy to perform basic functions.
Last year I went on a calorie deficit to try and lose fat whilst maintaining muscle.
I was doing all the right things like tracking my calories, training regularly, having a high protein diet, weighing myself and I was using a fitness tracker as well.
I did the math and I had planned a weight loss of 500 grams per week over 12 weeks to get me from 90 kilos to 84 kilos.
To lose 500 grams of weight, you need to create a calorie deficit of around 3,500 calories over the course of the week, which translates to a daily deficit of roughly 500 calories.
Several weeks into the cut I felt my progress was slowing down.
I wasn’t losing the same amount of weight as I was at the start of the cut, even though I was tracking everything.
The math wasn’t mathing.
And the rate of weight loss had slowed.
But why was this happening?
What was going on with my body?
My body was undergoing metabolic adaptation it’s basically where your body makes adjustments to its energy expenditure to try and maintain balance.
Even though you might be in a calorie deficit, your body fights back by slowing down things to save energy, which makes weight loss progressively harder as the weight comes off..
At the start, cutting 500 calories per day was leading to half a kilo of weight loss each week as planned.
But as the weeks passed, my body adjusted, and that same deficit wasn’t enough.
This happens for a couple of reasons:
But first, it’s a good idea to know about components of your total daily energy expenditure.
This is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including everything from basic bodily functions to exercise.
It determines how much energy you need to maintain, lose, or gain weight.
There’s online calculators for this.
The major component of your TDEE is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is something you’ve probably heard of – it’s the calories your body burns at rest keep you alive so breathing, pumping the blood around your body, and regulating your temperature.
Your BMR accounts for 60-70% of your total expenditure.
Now when you lose weight, there is physically less of you to maintain, meaning your body burns fewer calories at rest.
A lighter body requires less energy to sustain itself.
Then there’s the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)—calories burned digesting food, about 5-10% of TDEE.
Protein has the highest thermic effect, so eating less food (especially less protein) lowers TEF.
Which is why if you’re planning to cut weight, a high protein diet becomes even more important.
Then there’s exercise Activity (EA) so workouts, sports, and cardio.
This contributes about 10-15%.
The last component is non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis or NEAT – This is the calories burned through daily movement that isn’t intentional exercise, like walking up the stairs at work, fidgeting, and doing the dishes.
NEAT is super variable depending on the person and can range from 15% to 50% of your TDEE.
This is the biggest contributor to metabolic adaptation.
When you’re in a calorie deficit, your body subconsciously reduces these random movements to conserve energy.
It’s not something you even notice—it just happens.
When I was deep into my weight cut, I barely had the energy to do anything.
I got so lazy.
For instance, I’d avoid walking across the room to grab the tv remote.
If I dropped my phone, I’d just stare at it for a second, and I would have an internal debate with myself if it was even worth picking up.
My steps completely plummeted.
If I went to Tesco I’d park as close as I possibly could, at work I would lean on things a lot more, I would even nod my head less when people talked to me.
I’m not even joking. You’re basically in battery saving mode.
Your body becomes ridiculously efficient because it’s not getting enough calories.
You might find yourself sitting more, moving less, and generally feeling more lethargic, all of which reduce your overall calorie burn—without you even realizing it.
It’s like your body is fighting against you, doing everything it can to hold on to that last bit of energy.
And if you don’t adjust for that?
Your weight loss stalls, and you’re left wondering why the scale isn’t moving.
Ok so now that you know how your body fights weight loss, you need to be proactive in managing these changes.
Since NEAT plays a big role in metabolic adaptation, being more mindful of daily movement can help offset the slowdown.
Here’s what helped me:
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift. Makes a difference because all I do is climb steps at work
- Increasing my daily step count. This was huge for me. I noticed my steps dropping as my diet went on, so I made it a habit to walk 15–20 minutes after dinner. It made a massive difference.
- You could also use a standing desk or even a small walking treadmill to stay active without extra effort.
Your body is built for survival, so when you’re in a calorie deficit, it tries to hold on to energy by slowing you down.
That’s why weight loss is never perfectly linear—it requires small tweaks along the way.
The key?
Track your progress, stay mindful of metabolic adaptation, and make gradual changes to your diet and movement.
And don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can just "out-exercise" a bad diet—because you can’t. Your diet will always be the main driver of fat loss.
Focus on sustainability, not just crazy aggressive calorie cuts like I’ve done in the past.
Make movement a natural part of your day, and your metabolism will work with you, not against you.
Hope this was useful.
A quote from a great
Win your day,
Z
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