*Disclaimer: results may vary.

Have you hit a plateau in your weight loss journey?  You’re doing all the right things, but you’re not seeing the results you expect?  You are not alone! You could be affected by one of the top 3 reasons my clients aren’t losing weight.

Now, let’s be clear.  When I say “lose weight” I really mean “burn fat” because that’s the ultimate goal.  Weight loss isn’t a good indicator of health, but it’s common terminology, so just know that when we say weight loss here, we’re really talking fat loss.

These are the three most common problems we observe with stalled results, but we’re not here to diagnose.  If you suspect you have a medical condition, talk to your doctor!

 

Top 3 Reasons My Clients Aren’t Losing Weight  

1. Suboptimal Thyroid Function

Suboptimal thyroid function is affecting millions of people, and most of them don’t even know it.  Of the 200 million people worldwide who have it, 25 million of those are American, and 60% are undiagnosed!  So if you have it, there’s a good chance you don’t know.

We are seeing epidemic levels of hypothyroidism—even for women in their 30s—and although women are more likely to experience thyroid problems, men have them as well!  This is a huge challenge, especially in light of how much stress we are under on a daily basis.  If you consider a typical woman, she’s having babies, raising kids, doing insane workouts and undereating long term (which causes the body to think it’s in starvation mode).

This isn’t your fault.  We’ve been taught by the wellness industry that we should do 6–7 intense workouts every week, eat with a calorie deficit, and eat mini meals (so you’re never truly satiated).

When you eat mini meals every 2 hours and do insane workouts every day, something is going to break, and it’s your thyroid.  

When the thyroid isn’t working properly, it stops producing T3 (the hormone that controls growth, metabolism, body temp, heart rate, etc.), or starts converting T4 to T3, which tells the body that you’re either starving or running from danger.  This is a good thing if you’re truly starving or actually running from danger! But the body isn’t meant to be in this state all the time, only for short periods, and it takes a huge toll on us when we can’t get those levels to normalize.

If you’re feeling anxious, overwhelmed, stressed, having a hard time losing weight, getting sick all the time, run down or burned out, talk to your doctor.  You could be experiencing suboptimal thyroid function or adrenal fatigue.

If you suspect your thyroid is functioning suboptimally, ask your doctor to do a full thyroid panel. Just a TSH doesn’t diagnose Hashimoto’s or an overabundance of Reverse T3, which are becoming more and more common.  A lot of my clients will get their thyroid checked and assume they’re fine because their results came back “normal,” so they think it can’t be the reason they’re not losing weight.  What they may not realize is that they aren’t seeing the whole story without that full panel, and things may not be functioning optimally.

2. Leaky Gut

You hear me talk about probiotics all the time.  This is why! Leaky Gut is a major issue, but it’s an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people to talk about, so it often gets ignored.

Leaky gut occurs when the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged (and therefore permeable), causing undigested food particles, toxins, and bacteria to “leak” through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream.

This causes chronic inflammation in the body, which in turn causes A LOT of problems.  We won’t get into all the details here (it’s a HUGE topic!), but when you’re living with chronic inflammation, the body simply can’t lose weight.

“There’s a relationship between obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and Type 2 diabetes, and I believe that inflammation and leaky gut are the key players in this metabolic epidemic.”  

 

Having healthy gut bacteria is crucial to maintaining a normal weight and functional metabolism. A clean diet is key to a healthy gut, but you also need to add probiotics into your diet on a daily basis.  

Great sources of probiotics include:

  • Fermented veggies (sauerkraut, kimchi, etc)

  • Kefir (milk or water)

  • Kombucha

  • Tempeh

  • Yogurt

  • Raw cheese

 

If it’s tough to eat enough probiotic-rich foods everyday, then consider a supplement.  My clients ask me all the time what I recommend, and if you’re looking for a great probiotic supplement as well, check out Just Thrive Probiotics.  I’ve taken it for years and I love it for its quality and effectiveness!

 

3. You’re Not Eating the Right Macros

Eating the right macros is an important part of your fat loss journey. The average person needs to consume a ratio of 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein, but if you hit a plateau in your progress, you may need to increase your protein consumption.

Diets higher in protein burn the most fat, so if you want to change your body composition, you have to eat enough protein, lift weights, and do sprints.

The FASTer Way To Fat Loss incorporates all of these strategies, in addition to intermittent fasting and carb cycling. In fact, the main reason we utilize low-carb days is to focus on protein!

One of the biggest challenges of eating the right ratio of macros is getting the correct amount of carbs every day!  We tend to over-consume carbs, and that’s a problem because your body is going to store them as fat.

If you’re eating the correct proportions of macros, your body will have the fuel it needs to burn fat and lose weight.  Too much of the wrong fuel will stall your results.

Track your macros daily so you know what you should be eating!  I like to use the free version of MyFitnessPal because it’s simple and fast.
 

Addressing these issues is key to solving your stalled progress.  I know you work hard and eat clean, so make sure your thyroid, gut, and protein are all in check so you can crush your goals!