We can feel like we’re doing all the right things to lose weight and still not see progress. We’re working out, eating in deficit, and doing all the cardio. Maybe you lost some weight in the beginning, but now it’s stagnated. What happened? There are several factors to consider before you feel like your “hormones turned off” or your metabolism “slowed down.”. Let’s go over what that looks like.

Setting Expectations

Let’s start with expectations. In this Instagram age, it’s easy to see others look like they progress faster than you, or look better than you, but you can’t compare yourself to that. It’s gotta be you against yourself. There are a host of factors that can influence your weight change. If you’re tracking your weight, you can weigh-in daily to better gauge trends. Think of this strictly as data collection. The reason for this is by taking daily measurements, you can take into account factors that influence your weight. If you weigh-in once a week, any host of factors could have influenced THAT particular day (eating too many carbs the day before, hydration, extra sodium, etc). Doing it daily lets you see these trends and make connections to allow you to focus on consistent habits.

Find Your Why

You have to come to terms for your “why” when it comes to weight loss. Are you doing this JUST to look good? Are there root issues that you have with food and an emotional component that doesn't allow you to stay consistent? This is a huge component as it sets the tone for your entire diet. If you are mentally or emotionally in a different space, you have to respect that, and focus on changing those behaviors first. If that is the case, don’t stress about weight loss. There are other factors at play that may be hindering your progress that need your attention for now.

Look Beyond The Scale

Another thing to consider is your overall life. You may have had the goal of losing 20 pounds and are currently stuck at 15. You are bogged down on yourself because you didn’t hit the goal. Let’s approach this a different way. First off, you hit 15 pounds! Congrats! Seriously, take a moment to appreciate that. That is big news! Second, put the weight aside and see how else you are feeling. Has your sleep gotten better? How is your energy throughout the day from before you lost that weight? How is your skin? Mood? Strength? It’s very easy to get so caught up in the weight number that we forget in the grand scheme of things there are WAY bigger metrics to look at that more positively affect your overall longevity. I’ll take only losing 15-20 pounds and having amazing energy and strength ANY day over hitting 20 pounds and feeling miserable all day. After all, you can always bring your calories back up to maintenance and try it again. It’s all about the lens through which you see your circumstances.

Revise Your Program

Let’s revisit your goals. If your goal is weight loss, but wanting to look good, that involves strength training. Is that what your current program looks like? Maybe you started adding way more cardio than you anticipated and got away from the resistance training side of it. If you do TOO much cardio, it may not provide an optimal foundation for maintaining muscle and losing fat. We want to keep as much muscle as possible so that when we lose the weight, it’s fat not muscle. Try focusing on just strength in the gym going up for a while and take a break from doing as much cardio.

Enjoy Your Workouts

Maybe you have been doing a bodybuilding style workout for weeks on end. That’s great, but maybe it's time for a novel stimulus. Let’s work on some imbalances, or perhaps start a program geared towards more performance-based training. Far too often we get caught up in doing the same program over and over again, and our body gets desensitized to the stimulus being placed. Incorporating new movements allows stabilizer muscles to be hit differently, and the muscles to be challenged in a range of motion that allows you to move the weight up significantly in a way you haven’t for a really long time.