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18 Reasons You May Not Be Losing Weight

By Ethan Boldt

February 18, 2025

Weight loss can be one of the most common but also frustrating goals for many of us, and it often doesn’t get easier to achieve as one ages because of energy levels, available time, finances, etc.

Perhaps you’re eating healthy and exercising regularly but are still not losing any weight. Or perhaps you’ve had success for a while but have recently completely plateaued.

Just like when your favorite team is having a losing season, some changes probably need to be made. In other words, there are likely certain reasons you are not losing weight.

Of course, weight loss and healthy weight management are complex topics. They involve a healthy diet (possibly even a reduced-calorie diet) and lifestyle, including regular exercise, genetics, environment and much more, so there is not a single answer for everyone.

You should always consult your healthcare professional prior to beginning any new dietary or lifestyle regimen aimed at healthy weight management.

Also please recognize that sustainable weight loss typically means losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week. Unrealistic expectations can also set you up for failure, including sabotaging your motivation.

Below are 18 common reasons for why you’re not losing weight, along with some action steps you can take to help boost your weight loss efforts.

1. You’re not eating clean

It’s never been easier to eat “dirty” than in today’s food landscape. Ultra-processed foods, including most packaged foods, now make up roughly 70 percent of the American diet.

It’s a startling statistic, for ultra-processed foods can cause many negative health impacts, such as weight gain, slowing the metabolism, unhealthy levels of blood pressure and even one’s mindset.

Ultra-processed foods include sugary drinks, frozen meals, packaged snacks, breakfast cereals, canned soups and processed meats. They’re loaded in calories, sugar and fat while usually low in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Even worse, highly processed foods can be addictive. Meanwhile, many of their ingredients can even trick the body from not recognizing how many calories are being ingested.

Consideration: Embrace clean eating, which is a way of eating that emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods. This means opting for fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats while avoiding ultra-processed foods, added sugars and artificial ingredients.

For example, remove those calorie-dense foods and replace them with healthy swaps for processed foods, such as overnight oats instead of cereal and grilled chicken breast instead of deli meat.

2. You’re simply eating too many calories

Often people who struggle to lose weight are simply consuming too many calories each day, sometimes while also not burning enough calories through exercise — a double-whammy for weight gain.

This can occur for many reasons, such as eating too many high-calorie processed foods (see above), not tracking your calories, binge eating (eating much more food and therefore calories than your body needs at one sitting, including even so-called healthy foods like nuts), and eating quickly and mindlessly.

Meanwhile, reducing calories can support steady weight loss and healthy weight management. While more studies need to be conducted, for example, in a group of overweight individuals, a recent two-year study conducted at the National Institutes of Health revealed that even a modest reduction — 12 percent in this case — of calories helped each participant lose 20 pounds of weight on average during the first year and maintained that weight loss in the second year.

When you diet, you generally take in fewer calories than your body needs. This “calorie deficit” forces your body to use fat reserves for energy.

Consideration: While “eat less” is the shortest way to overcome this challenge, it’s not so easy for most of us. Instead, choose a few of these suggestions to follow:

• First, figure out how many calories you should eat per day.

• Track your calories, as studies indicate that those who follow this practice consistently lose more weight than those who don’t.

• Eat mindfully, which means eating more slowly in order to help you feel fuller sooner. Studies show it helps promote proper weight loss and management of a healthy weight.

• Practice portion control.

• Meal prep, including for your lunches out and your on-the-go snacks. The food you make at home will usually be much better for you than the convenience foods or meals you buy when out.

3. You’re consuming too much sugar

Most of us consume too much sugar, in part because we’re not even aware of it because so many processed foods include added sugar. Overall, the average American adult has about 22 teaspoons of sugar per day.

The health results are not positive, as too much sugar can lead to extra body weight, elevated blood sugar levels, mood swings and more.

Consideration: Learn how to reduce your sugar intake by removing sugary drinks, most packaged foods and choosing fruit over sweet desserts. Overall, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that adult women should consume no more than six teaspoons/24 grams of added sugar per day. For men, the AHA recommends no more than nine teaspoons/36 grams.

4. You’re not getting enough protein into your daily diet

If you’re looking to improve your body composition and manage a healthy weight, then increasing your protein is a good step to take.

Protein only makes up about 10 percent of the total diet for many people, which may prove inadequate for proper protein synthesis, satiety, exercise support, muscle gain, weight management and even promoting healthy blood sugar levels already in the normal range. Instead, you want your protein intake to get to 20 percent to 30 percent of your daily calories.

Protein even assists in the preservation of lean mass during weight loss, in addition to a healthy reduced-calorie diet and lifestyle, including regular exercise. (Whey protein is particularly helpful in this regard.)

Protein helps build muscle and keeps you feeling satisfied. It also helps preserve lean muscle mass and support a healthy metabolism, making it essential for breaking through plateaus.

Consideration: Your body doesn't store protein, so it's important to get protein throughout the day rather than one big protein meal. Try to include lean protein sources in every meal, such as eggs, Greek yogurt, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, beans, legumes and more.

5. You’re not eating enough fiber

The average person only gets 15–20 grams of fiber each day when you should be getting almost double that daily from a variety of high-fiber foods.

Why? Besides assisting with helping you stay regular, fiber-rich foods help you feel fuller longer and help reduce sugar cravings. Fiber even has been proven to support healthy blood sugar levels (already in the normal range) and cholesterol levels.

Consideration: Get more high-fiber foods into your daily diet, like oats, seeds, legumes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, apples, pears and bananas.

Also check out Ancient Nutrition's Organic Fiber powder (available in pineapple mango and raspberry lemonade flavors). It's a gentle-acting, easy-to-mix fiber powder that features acacia fiber and konjac root.

6. You’re eating too many simple carbohydrates

While some people opt to go on a low-carb diet in order to lose weight, it’s often a short-term effect and difficult to stay on such a plan.

In other words, carbohydrates are in our life. We just have to do better in how we choose them. In some ways, it’s very “simple”: You want to mostly go with complex carbohydrates over simple ones.

Simple carbs are rapidly digested and turn to sugar in the bloodstream quickly, which can negatively impact levels of blood sugar and makes it more likely you’ll store this sugar as fat. Complex carbs are high in fiber and take longer to digest, making them also more filling.

Consideration: Choose complex carbohydrates like oats, whole-grain bread, beans, berries and brown rice. Avoid simple carbohydrates like soda, white bread, packaged cookies and breakfast cereal.

7. You’re snacking too often

Are you a snacker? For many of us, the time between breakfast and lunch and certainly lunch and dinner is a ripe opportunity for snacking. You’re at your job, relaxing at home, etc. and the food cravings hit. Before you know it, you’ve had a bowl of chips, some nuts and maybe even some chocolate.

Such snack attacks can add up. While they may help keep your hunger at bay and prevent you from gorging at dinnertime, many snacks also are often calorie-dense and nutrient-poor — a vicious double-whammy for your waistline.

Wait, doesn’t frequent meals help boost the metabolism and weight loss efforts? Nope. This is largely a myth.

Consideration: Opt for just one snack time per day, not several. Then choose a balanced macronutrient snack that has healthy carbs, fat and protein. For example, a sliced apple with peanut butter or hummus and cut-up veggies. Try to make it low-sugar, too, for a sugary snack will only increase your appetite.

8. You’re not using goal-related supplements

What type of supplements? Those that can help you lose weight or manage a healthy weight (in addition to a reduced-calorie, healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise).

Many of us take multiple supplements for our general health, but is protein powder one of them? Protein powders help us hit our protein goals, increase thermogenesis (energy expenditure from digesting foods that supports a healthy metabolism), help keep us full and even assist in preservation of lean mass during weight loss (in addition to a healthy reduced-calorie diet and lifestyle, including regular exercise).

Whey protein is particularly effective in this regard (and it’s also considered one of the best protein powders for women).

Consideration: A protein powder with a fat loss component.

Ancient Nutrition has two options:

• Multi Collagen Advanced Lean powder (cinnamon flavor) — This collagen powder from 10 food-based sources is a healthy weight management supplement designed to help you burn calories and boost your metabolism.

• Whey Protein + Fat Loss†* powder (vanilla cinnamon flavored) — This whey protein powder is formulated with 23 grams of grass-fed whey protein and has added organic regenerative A2/A2 milk protein. Claims include less body fat†*, more strength†* and increasing your metabolism†*, but also recovering more quickly†, feeling less stressed, more energized† and on top of your cravings.

Both feature a proprietary and clinically studied superfood Fat Loss Blend that includes organic ashwagandha root extract and organic ceylon cinnamon. This unique combination simultaneously promotes fat loss†*, burns calories†* and increases your metabolism†*, making it an ideal choice for those aiming to achieve and maintain a lean body composition†*.

Use either protein powder in these four protein shake recipes, which include vanilla, chocolate, banana and coffee varieties.

Not into protein powders and want a capsule instead? Consider Multi Collagen Advanced Lean Capsules, which is a weight loss†*** supplement that helps you burn calories†* and boost your metabolism†**. It can burn up to 15 percent more calories at rest†** and helps block, break down and burn fat†***.

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

*In addition to a healthy, reduced-calorie diet and healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise.

**Due to key ingredient. Results achieved by day 7 in a 7-day human clinical trial with healthy normal weight and overweight individuals — at rest with no changes to diet or exercise.

***Due to key ingredient. Results achieved in a 16-week human clinical trial with healthy overweight individuals who used this ingredient and followed a reduced-calorie diet and regular exercise — compared to diet and exercise alone.

9. You may need to check your healthy gut bacteria balance

While more studies need to be conducted, some recent research indicates that your gut microbiome plays a role in healthy weight management and that there are ways to harness its potential for a leaner you. Surprisingly, your gut bacteria can impact how different foods are digested and produce chemicals that help make you feel full.

In addition to a healthy reduced-calorie diet and healthy lifestyle, an increase in one's gut microbiome diversity may promote healthy weight management. In a January 2022 study published in Gut Microbes, healthy weight management was positively associated with increases in gut bacterial diversity and a healthy intestinal lining.

Consideration: Probiotics like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the good bacteria you want in your gut microbiome and that can help balance out other bacteria. They also help to maintain the integrity of the gut lining. They are found in probiotics foods like sauerkraut, kefir, tempeh and yogurt.

Meanwhile, probiotic supplements serve as a convenient way to obtain helpful strains of microbes for promoting gut health and microbial balance.

Ancient Nutrition’s SBO Probiotics provide not only special types of soil-based organism (SBO) probiotics, but also prebiotics and postbiotics for even more positive effects on your microbiome. Together, these three support your digestive system and help keep gut function on track.

10. You’re not hydrating enough

Do you sometimes mistake thirst for hunger? For one, being thirsty in the first place means that you’re lacking hydration. And second, yes, not having enough water and other hydrating liquids can make you feel hungrier.

Instead, drinking enough water can help you feel full and even help boost your metabolism.

Consideration: Drink calorie-free or low-calorie beverages like filtered water, sparkling or mineral water, and green or herbal teas.

Also consider an electrolyte drink, as it can help regulate fluid balance, support healthy muscle and nerve function, and aid in healthy digestion. Try Ancient Nutrition’s Multi Collagen Advanced Hydrate (mixed berry or lemon lime), a real food source of balanced electrolytes. Rapid Hydration powder — available in stick packs — delivers essential electrolytes for fast-acting hydration.

11. You may be drinking too much alcohol

Let’s say you aim to have a fat loss day. Well, alcohol should be off the menu, as it can ramp up your appetite, add many calories, and some mixed drinks come with plenty of sugar, too.

Consideration: Go with sparkling water, make up low-sugar mocktails or try nonalcoholic, low-calorie beer.

12. You’re not doing enough real cardio

Walking is good for you. So is that 20-minute HIIT workout. But doing cardio that is either simply too easy and doesn’t raise your heart rate very high, or doing workouts that are simply too short means you’re not getting the calorie burn that you probably want in order to help lose weight or manage a healthy weight.

When you exercise, you burn through stored glycogen in the muscles for energy. It’s only after about 20 or 30 minutes that your body goes into fat-loss mode. To achieve genuine fat loss during a workout, 30 to 60 minutes of lower- to moderate-intensity exercise is required.

Consideration: Three to four times a week, try to get in a cardio workout that lasts at least 30 minutes. Maybe it’s using a cardio machine at the gym, taking a spin class or going for a vigorous hike. Wear a watch that tracks your heart rate and try to get above 60 percent of your maximum heart rate to burn more calories.

13. You’re not strength training

If you feel like you’re exercising regularly but not seeing results, you might not be doing the right kind of exercise. So while you might be doing enough cardio, it’s important to strength train, too.

Strength training will help you put on lean muscle, which in turn increases your metabolism. It’s also a great way to stop or slow normal age-related muscle loss that can begin as early as age 30.

Consideration: The amount and specific type of strength training you should do depends on your goals, but a general recommendation (such as from the American College of Sports Medicine) is to do at least 2–3 sessions of strength training per week.

Target most of your major muscle groups, in particular your chest, back, shoulders, arms (biceps and triceps), core (upper abs, lower abs, obliques, lower back), and legs (quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves).

At a gym, you can use machines to target most of these muscles. At home, you can only reasonably target some of these muscles but still get a great workout by using “compound” (working multiple muscles at once) exercises like lunges, rows, push-ups, dumbbell shoulder presses, etc.

14. You’re too sedentary during the day

Americans spend more than 70 percent of their awake hours sitting, usually using a computer, a smartphone, watching TV or talking with others.

Sitting this much puts your general health at risk, including slowing your circulation to your legs for example, but also affects your bone mass and lean muscle mass negatively. A sedentary lifestyle is also associated with weight gain.

Consideration: Even if you do work a desk job, know that one hour of physical activity per day can make a big difference. Also know that you can try a stand-up desk, get up and move every hour at least, and take breaks that aren’t connected to your phone.

15. You’re emotional eating

Life is stressful. When we take a break during the day or try to unwind at night, we may be extra tempted to eat that donut, have that pint of cream, down two glasses of wine, etc. because we’re so stressed out.

Unfortunately, when we’re not happy or feeling positive, we often gravitate towards comfort foods rather than healthy ones. Think of a bag of chips over some raw veggies. That can mean many more calories and thus weight gain over time.

Consideration: Starting mindful eating. Think about what you’re about to eat. Are you really hungry or just stress eating? Portion out the food and even if it's not the healthiest, simply try to limit the amount and couple it with something healthy. E.g. a small bowl of chips and an apple. This will help fill you and still satisfy that craving.

Meanwhile, sometimes you truly aren’t hungry. Instead, call a friend. Go for a walk. Read a book.

16. Your cortisol levels are too high

Speaking of stress, when you deal with excessive amounts of it, your body can produce the hormone cortisol. While producing cortisol is a normal biological process and helps keep us motivated, awake, alert and responsive to our environment, when it’s not in balance, you and your body can feel it.

Cortisol can signal your body to store fat, ramp up your appetite, and cause cravings for salty, sweet or fatty foods.

The truth is that life sometimes throws us off course, but it’s important to get back on course as soon as possible so that cortisol can remain in check.

Consideration: Following a diet low in processed foods and high in antioxidants, fiber and essential nutrients is key to balancing hormones, controlling your cravings and keeping you on the right track. These same strategies can also help you sleep better at night.

17. Mismanagement of your hunger hormones

Speaking of hormones, have you heard about your “hunger hormones”? These hormones include ghrelin, leptin, insulin as well as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP). They collectively play a key role in controlling your hunger and overall appetite.

When your stomach is empty, ghrelin gets released and increases your appetite. You start to eat and then leptin, insulin, GLP-1 and GIP get released. As you start to fill up on a complete meal (rather than a low-nutrient snack), these hunger hormones finish their job and tell your body you’re full.

Continually high ghrelin levels or low leptin levels can contribute to excessive hunger and eventual weight gain, while the opposite can lower your appetite and help you manage a healthy weight or even lose some weight.

Consideration: To better manage your hunger hormones, it’s first imperative that you get enough sleep, for poor sleep negatively affects both ghrelin and leptin.

Next, eat a balanced diet that includes protein, fiber and healthy fats. Protein lowers ghrelin levels and helps you feel full. Fiber slows your digestion and also increases your feeling of fullness. Healthy fats assist in hormone production as well as balance.

Otherwise, exercise regularly, eat at regular times (don’t skip meals) and manage your stress to keep a check on ghrelin (and cortisol). Also avoid eating too many foods with added sugar, for that elevates your blood sugar levels and causes excessive insulin release as well as too much ghrelin production.

18. You’re dealing with lack of sleep

Last but not least, it’s very hard to lose weight if you don’t get enough sleep. As you just read, not getting enough sleep even affects your hunger hormones and drives up your appetite. Additionally, not sleeping enough can raise your stress levels, including cortisol.

As a result, poor sleep is associated with weight gain and the inability to maintain a healthy weight. Although more studies need to be conducted, one study found that people who slept between three and a half and five and a half hours a night ate around 385 more calories the following day when compared to those who slept between seven and 10 hours.

Consideration: Try to get seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night in order to help manage your hormones, help your body recover from exercise and stress, and even help regulate your circadian rhythm (which also plays a role in your hunger levels). Also try to get some sunlight exposure each day to help with your circadian rhythm.

Try to go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time each day, as it’ll become a habit that your body gets used to. Try to steer clear of disturbing news or entertainment before bed, and in general remove all blue light emitting devices an hour or two before bed.

Conclusion

Remember, sustainable weight loss is considered as only about one to two pounds per week. So be patient with yourself and your body, which may try to fight progress on occasion and plateau.

Stick with the positive changes you’ve made to your routine, and you will surely see progress over time. Also please know that muscle weighs more than fat, so don’t let the scale be the judge. Instead, measure your waist, upper arms and thighs, for example. As you get fitter, you’ll most likely notice more lean muscle and less fat.