You will lose weight if you don't eat as many calories as your body burns on a daily basis. With this line of thinking, you might believe that the simple act of eliminating some calories will help you lose weight. This is true for the most part. However, you will have trouble losing weight on a diet if you don't know how many calories you're eating or burning in the first place.
Not Eating Enough
Fasting or going on a very-low-calorie diet causes you to lose fat and water weight, but it also causes you to lose a lot of muscle tissue. Because having lean tissue keeps your metabolism running at a smooth and steady pace, cutting too many calories could actually cause you to have trouble losing weight, according to the University of Iowa Health Care website. Your body also does what it can to survive and will slow down its metabolism if it feels robbed of too many calories. Your calorie needs will depend on your sex, age and size, but the general rule of thumb is that men shouldn't dip below about 1,500 calories a day, and women shouldn't dip below 1,200 a day.
Too Many Calories
Even if you try to calculate how many calories you eat each day, you might end up eating more than you think. Little things such as adding a bit of extra dressing to your salad or rewarding yourself with a few extra weekend treats might not seem like a big deal, but a few hundred calories can make a big difference because you need to cut about 500 calories from your daily diet to lose 1 lb. each week.
Stalled
If you lost some weight at the beginning of your diet, then stopped losing it despite continuing the same diet, you might have hit a weight loss plateau. This happens because you inevitably lose some muscle tissue in the process of losing weight, which means your metabolism reaches a new balance with your calorie intake, according to MayoClinic.com. To continue losing weight, you will need to find new ways to burn more calories than you eat. One way to do this -- if you haven't dipped below your daily minimum calorie needs -- is to cut another 200 calories out of your daily diet. Another option is to increase your activity level by 15 minutes a day or take your exercise intensity up a notch. Ideally, combine all of these options.
Health Problem
Something else within your body might be preventing you from losing weight. For instance, health problems such as too-low thyroid function can cause you to gain weight or at least have trouble losing it. Additionally, you might be taking a medication that leaves you in a constant battle with your weight. Medications that commonly cause weight problems include birth control, hormone therapy for menopause symptoms, oral steroids, diabetes medications and certain antidepressants.
References
- MedlinePlus: Tips for Losing Weight
- "PsychologyToday" Magazine; "Can't Lose Weight? It's Probably Your Metabolism"; Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum; 2008
- WomenFitness.net: Top 10 Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight
- University of Iowa Health Care: Fasting and Liquid Diets
- MayoClinic.com: Getting Past a Weight-Loss Plateau
- Waldo County General Hospital: How to Understand the Risks of Eating Too Few Calories
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