6 reasons why you are not losing weight

I thought this was an interesting article by fitness magazine.
Diet Mistakes Causing Your Weight-Loss Plateau
Food journal? Check. Regular workouts? Yes, indeed. Enough fiber to keep an entire army regular? You got it. I combed through research and grilled diet gurus to pinpoint little-known reasons that your efforts — and mine — haven't been showing up on the scale.
You Don't Drink Enough Water
We've all heard how important H2O is when it comes to shedding pounds. It helps to suppress appetite, so you're less likely to overeat. But that's not all: When you're dehydrated, your kidneys can't function properly, so the body turns to the liver for additional support. Because the liver is working so hard, more of the fat you consume is stored rather than burned off.
You Skimp on Protein
Several studies show that high-protein diets result in more pounds shed, at least initially. Protein enhances the feeling of satiety and prevents your losing muscle as you lose fat. You also have dietary thermogenesis, which is the energy you burn to process and use the food you eat, on your side. "Your body expends more energy to metabolize protein than carbs or fat," says Cari Coulter, RD, the program director for Wellspring Weight Loss Camp in Kenosha, Wisconsin. "So higher-protein diets make you burn slightly more calories."
So how much protein do I need a day? "It depends on your weight, but most women should get 40 to 80 grams.”
You Sit at a Desk All Day
I log a solid hour of exercise almost every day, but outside of that, my time is mostly spent sitting in front of a computer. Much to my dismay, research finds that dedicated workouts simply can't compensate for being sedentary the rest of the time. According to one University of Missouri-Columbia study, sitting for just a few hours causes your body to stop making a fat-inhibiting enzyme called lipase. Getting up and walking for just two minutes during each of those hours burns an additional 59 calories a day, according to recent research from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Your Numbers Are Off
"The BMR calculator already factors in the calories you burn with your workouts, so you shouldn't add them in again," she explains. Math club membership revoked! All this time I had thought my daily needs were 500 calories higher than they really were. No wonder I'd been maintaining instead of losing.
You Work Out Regularly
I know, I know. How can an exercise routine make you gain? For starters, people tend to eat more when they work out, either because they feel they've earned it or because they're overestimating how much they've burned — or both. "This is especially true in the early stages of a fitness program, when your body is getting used to the decrease in calories consumed and the increase in calories burned," Finger says. (Read: You're freaking hungry.)
But here's the real shocker: Working out can make you retain water. "To ensure that you don't get dehydrated, the plasma in your bloodstream will store an extra two to four pounds of water," explains Michele S. Olson, PhD, a FITNESS advisory board member and professor of exercise science at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. "You'll always carry that extra water unless you become inactive; it's not fat or muscle, but simply superhydration. It's a good thing." It's also a good thing to keep chugging H2O, which can, counterintuitively, help minimize additional water retention. So I'll take Olson's advice and stay active, well-hydrated...and off the scale.