The reason you fail at losing weight

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor (yet). Anything I may state in here is merely suggestion, and should be discussed with your personal doctor.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let's talk about why you are failing at losing weight.

I bring this up because I've seen posts on here saying, "I'm doing this and that, but I'm not losing weight!" and such similar things. The first reason you're failing at losing weight is because you're expecting immediate results. You cannot join one week and expect a 10 lb loss the second week. It just doesn't work that way. You're not on "The Biggest Loser", you're simply following a guideline to assist you in losing weight.

It's why diets tend to fail. It seems people tend to expect some sort of miracle when it comes to dieting. In part, the diet's to blame, with claims of, "Lose 30 lbs in 30 days!" and other such nonsense. No one reads the fine print where it says, "Your results may be different due to weight loss variations." In other words, they're saying, "We're going to show you the best case scenario because we want you to buy our product, but truth is, you'll probably lose 10 lbs in 30 days. But our lawyers tell us to put this here so you can't claim false advertising."

So yeah, you're being misled into thinking you're going to lose all this weight in an almost instant rate, and with that belief, you're going to fail, and fail miserably. Take a look at the success stories around here. Not a single one of them is going to say, "I reached my goal weight in just 30 days! AWESOME!" unless they were only losing 10 lbs. Instead, you'll see, "32 months and I lost 301 lbs" (an actual post that inspires me!) or "18 months, 100 lbs lost!". Those are realistic time frames, and that's what you should expect.

Another reason you're failing at losing weight is the belief that weight matters. Truth is, it doesn't. All the hype about weight is just that - hype. Yes, you should be at a healthy weight range for your height. What truly matters is how physically fit you are. Weight tends to be cosmetic. Look at football players. You have guys weighing in at 300 lbs that can play 3 hours of football without dying. Why? Because they are physically fit. When you exercise, you're not so much as losing weight as you are toning your muscles. You're turning fat into muscle, which is an awesome thing. The more strength you have, the more you can endure. Endurance is what allows you to run 10 miles instead of 1/10th of a mile. Your heart is a muscle, too, and by doing cardiovascular activities, you're strengthening it to regulate your blood more easily. So, just because you aren't losing weight doesn't mean you aren't getting healthy.

For those reasons, people should concentrate less on weight loss and more on measurements. The weight loss will come naturally, but the measurements will be the determining factor. So measure your waist, your hips, your bust, neck, etc. And don't do it every few days, expecting to see a change. Do it once every two weeks, or even better, once a month. Understand that minimal weight loss doesn't mean you're not accomplishing anything. Make sure you log everything you do, exercise-wise. Look back and see, "The first day, I was only able to walk/jog for a quarter mile before I got too tired. Today, I'm able to jog two miles without stopping." That there is a huge accomplishment, even if you've only dropped 5 lbs in 2 months.

One last thing to realize, and I'm guilty of this myself: don't under eat just to stay below your calorie level. You achieve nothing aside from the urge to go on a binge when you're eating only a quarter of what you should eat. Try for at least half your calorie goal, keeping in mind the burn from exercising. And remember, you're part of the MyFitnessPal family now, and you have tons of support from people going through the exact same thing you are.

I support you 100% in your efforts to lose weight, and together, we will beat this excess fat!

OP, good job, you have motivated a lot of people. You make some very good points.Too many view this whole "Journey" as somewhere to go, with a definite endpoint. It really isn't about the destination at all. Life is for living, The destination or end point is the grave. Personally, I would like to delay that for awhile longer. One has to make the determination to make it a good quality life. Starving oneself or using gimmicks to achieve a number on a scale is really not healthy. It has to be about living a healthy lifestyle. Eating right and exercising are a big part of that. There are stumbles and obstacles to overcome. There will always be a Superior Dairy S.O.S. waiting on the corner. You may occasionally have one. I will be jealous, but I will have a chocolate chip milkshake occasionally too. Life happens. The trick is to keep moving forward. Good luck to everyone here.


Sorry, I had to put Journey in quotes, I consider Journey to be a band that was big in the '80s, and not my favorite descriptor of my life.

I feel at a dead end in all of this...since April 21 I have been working out HARD with only 10 lbs. lost as of today. I fluctuate between 10-15 lbs. and it's driving me nuts. Also, I have no inches lost and I can't figure what is going wrong. All I know is it's severely depressing to exercise 2.5 hours a day and barely see any results. I'm afraid something is wrong with my body/hormones. I eat clean and stay at about 1500-1800 calories a day, sometimes a little more, and sometimes a little less. I understand this takes awhile but there is something wrong. I've lost weight in the past and it has NEVER been like this for me. I could average 10 lbs. a month and this really blows.

I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling discouraged and frustrated This sounds like something you should bring up to your doctor...may need to have your thyroid checked out. I hope you find a solution soon. Don't give up!

Also, many, many thanks to OP, I needed to read this post.