What to do if there is nothing on the scale?

You exercise and eat according to the plan, but your efforts are accompanied by a lack of results? What to do when, despite your consistency and persistence, no results are visible in the measurements? In today’s article we will look at the most important aspects, we invite you to read!

There’s no need to panic, break down, quit your diet, allowing yourself frivolous deviations, that’s not the way to go. It is worth thinking about why this is happening and counteracting it. I have prepared a list of mistakes that may be the reason why you are not losing weight.

You eat too little

For the first period you were doing fantastic, losing 6 kg in a month is a satisfactory result and you don’t understand why after that time your magic recipe, that is a 1000 kcal diet, doesn’t work. Well, probably metabolic adaptation occurred here. It is a phenomenon that assumes that by consuming too little energy and initially having a decrease effect, the body gets so used (“adapts”) to the low calorie content that our total caloric demand decreases.

As a result, you are left with frustration, an enormous appetite for unhealthy snacks, and hormonal problems, which sooner or later will affect you after the aforementioned crazes such as the 1000 kcal diet, miracle diet, or other dietary models that are not adapted to you but trendy. Then any calorie surplus (or even a return to the total demand value) causes a yoyo effect in you.

ADVICE:
Estimate your calories wisely, don’t go below your basic needs.

You eat too much

This assumption can be divided into aspects. The first assumption is that you have overestimated your expenses – in other words: you are less active than you thought you would be: you cycle to work once instead of every day, your daughter walks the dog and you simply don’t have enough time for the 5 planned workouts at the gym. It’s quite natural nowadays, the daily schedule verifies and often dampens motivation.

ADVICE:

Think about how many workouts you can find time for, do it carefully, include time for recovery, rest. Remember that at the beginning your motivation is strong, you will want to shoulder much more than you manage. It’s better to stop at this point and in the long run consider whether it’s better for you to decide on 2-3 workouts a week but do them all the time, or to exercise 5x a week and stop after a month. Think about it 🙂

Secondly, make an honest examination of conscience:

• Do you weigh products accurately? Counting by eye can seriously affect your progress, especially if you weigh products such as oil, butter or nuts by eye. They are high in energy and believe me – it makes a difference to your body if you eat 2 tablespoons of oil instead of one, 10 grams of sunflower seeds or a handful weighing 23.
  
  
• Do you include all consumed products in the balance? Remember – milk, sugar added to coffee, juice – 100%, alcohol, sugar sweetened compote – provide energy.
  
  
• Are you eating everything according to plan? If you know that there have been deviations in addition to your diet then don’t explain to yourself that it was a minor thing and won’t affect your progress. It will. Of course extremes aren’t right, but eating two fudge sundaes every day and having a grande latte from Starbucks or a cakewalk with a friend at break time will disrupt your results. And don’t make excuses for eating half an apple less the day before – it doesn’t balance out.

ADVICE:

It’s not about looking perfect and knowing the ‘rules of weight loss’ in theory, it’s about honestly thinking about whether you’ve indulged in a cake, doughnut or anything else a few times too many. And learn from it – if you have a good relationship with food and you’re craving a bar of chocolate then there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself once. But be aware of the frequency of such deviations.

You exercise too little

It links to the point above and refers to the overestimated calorie requirement you should be making. The solution is to introduce additional exercise. Naturally, you can lose weight by dieting alone, but then muscle tissue will shrink along with fat tissue, and you don’t want that. Remember that muscle tissue consumes energy, which means that it affects calorie consumption (a person with the same parameters but more muscle tissue will need more energy than a person with more fat tissue -> conclusion, you can eat a little more).

ADVICE:
Try to introduce at least some exercise, 10-15 minutes of exercise to start is better than nothing. Look for activity wherever you can, even on your way home – always take the longer route and take the stairs instead of the lift.

You exercise too much

As a result, the body does not regenerate. And if the body does not rest, it cannot do its best, and there is an increased risk of injury or loss of motivation for further training. An unregenerated body is also accompanied by inflammation, which results in the accumulation of water.

ADVICE:
Take care of recovery – don’t exercise every day. Take care of your sleep – its quality and length. Do not step on the scale when you did a super strong workout the day before. You have probably “accumulated” some water and this will affect the measurement. Before weighing yourself, take a two-day break from training.

You weigh yourself wrong

This is especially true for women. The differences in hormone levels from one month to the next, and even from one day to the next, are considerable, which is why you can see the difference in your body weight from one day to the next. Which of us is not familiar with the sensation of accumulating water, usually between ovulation and the luteal phase? 🙂 This is a natural state and the magnitude of the “symptoms” is individual.

ADVICE:
Do not weigh yourself from day to day. It is optimal to compare your results from month to month (from the same day of the cycle). However, for people who are losing weight and want to check the trend to see if the progress is going in the right direction, it is advisable to weigh yourself every week or every fortnight.

Over the last few days you have been consuming more sodium

It’s no secret that salt promotes water retention in the body. The result can be a higher measurement on the scale.

ADVICE:
Make sure that your diet includes an adequate supply of sodium. Don’t add extra salt to your food; remember that salt is already present in regular foods such as bread, cheese and ham and usually already covers your sodium requirements. Make sure that the mineral water you drink does not have too much sodium added.

You had a heavy dinner the day before the measurement or drank half a bottle of water the night before

It is known that you should weigh yourself after the morning toilet, on an empty stomach, but if you have taken in more volume than usual into your stomach the previous day, the measurement may be higher.

ADVICE:
Wait a day before weighing 🙂

You build muscle mass

Professionally it is called body recomposition. This phenomenon is based on building muscle mass in people who are at a deficit and who previously did not exercise, but with the introduction of a diet began. Such a conversion is beneficial for you. As I wrote above, muscle tissue is active tissue, which increases your overall demand. To clarify – you need to consume a little more energy – if you have muscle tissue instead of fat tissue. As you can see, there is no need to worry.

ADVICE:
The quickest way to notice progress is to assess your body by measuring your girth or trying on older clothes. It is also a good idea to monitor your body composition using specialised analysers (available in most gyms).

You are struggling with hormonal problems

Body weight can be affected by elevated cortisol, for example as a result of excessive mental stress or too much vigorous exercise. Suboptimal levels of this hormone promote water retention, all thanks to the fact that cortisol has the ability to affect the body’s sodium-storing hormone (aldosterone).

As another example, hypothyroidism – as a hormone-dependent disease it affects your basal requirements, so if your hormones are not yet regulated count on the fact that this may affect slower progress.

ADVICE:
If you feel that your body is not necessarily working properly consult your doctor. Describe your symptoms, if he or she notices an abnormality he or she will certainly address it appropriately.

As you can see, there are many reasons for the lack of decline. They are not always wrong. Remember not to go to extremes, but to think calmly about which of the causes might apply to you. Sometimes you will need some time to establish the right calorie content. Give it to yourself, higher body weight didn’t take overnight. And achieving your goal in a healthy way will help you avoid the yo-yo effect.

You can calculate your caloric requirement and control your diet, water intake, body weight and your physical activity using the Fitatu application. More information about Fitatu can be found at: https://www.fitatu.com