Why You're Not Losing Weight

Practical Applications for Hitting Your Weight Goals

Today we’ll be discussing the reasons for why you may not be losing weight, given that is your intended goal. Additionally, we’ll go into methods to identify what is causing the issue and continue on your fat loss journey. 

Factors that control weight

In a previous series we discussed total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. Although not perfect, a TDEE calculator will give you a daily number of calories you may be expending on average. Over time through trial and error we make corrections to this figure based on weight fluctuations, performance, and physical appearance. Today we’ll break down the factors that go into TDEE. 

The components of your TDEE include Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), and Physical Activity (PA). BMR accounts for about 60% of your TDEE, and is the amount of calories your body burns at a complete rest. 

TEF: Responsible for about 10% of your TDEE, and includes chewing food, digestion, and absorption.

The remaining 30% of your TDEE is PA, which is broken down into Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT), and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). EAT accounts for about 5% of TDEE, and NEAT can contribute up to 15%

While EAT is often thought of as the primary factor in weight loss / gain, you only exercise for 1-2 hours a day. However, NEAT represents all physical movement and action completed throughout the day. Living a completely sedentary lifestyle takes away from the massive benefit of being an active person, even if that is choosing to take the stairs and regular daily walks. 

Calculating your TDEE: There are numerous calculators online that take into account height, weight, and activity level. However here we’ll break down the actual math behind it. 

TDEE = BMR + TEF + NEAT + EAT

First, we’ll calculate your BMR using the Harris-Benedict equation: 

Women BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in yrs)

Men BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in yrs)

We’ll then use Katch-McArdle multipliers to calculate your TDEE: 

Sedentary (little to no exercise + work a desk job) = 1.2

Lightly Active (light exercise 1-3 days / week) = 1.375

Moderately Active (moderate exercise 3-5 days / week) = 1.55

Very Active (heavy exercise 6-7 days / week) = 1.725

Extremely Active (very heavy exercise, hard labor job, training 2x / day) = 1.9

To test the math, we’ll use an example of a 30 y/o 90kg male that is 180cm tall that’s very active. 66 + 13.7x90 + 5x180 - 6.8x30 = 1995 * 1.725 = ~3450 Cal per day maintenance calories.

Today we’re going to define the weight loss plateau before going into steps to resolve the issue. 

If you are intentionally working to lose weight, we will then evaluate your progress in the direction you’re seeking prior to diagnosing the plateau. Oftentimes, those who are untrained and begin to train consistently experience body recomposition, where they drop body fat and develop lean muscle mass, which may have an impact on your perception of your progress.

If you are in this category, using multiple metrics is critical to understand what progress is occurring, as the scale may not be the only thing affected. Rather, continuing to measure your weight periodically at the same time of day is recommended for continually tracking. For our purposes, we’ll define a weight loss plateau as no change in weight for greater than 1-2 weeks. 

One note on this, however. If you are newer to training, there is the possibility of “body recomposition”, or developing muscle mass while cutting fat. As a result, there may be no change in the scale, but there are physical changes that can be noted – do you look better in a mirror, is your waist-line shrinking, etc.

Mitigating the plateau

There are a number of factors by which we can mitigate a plateau. Oftentimes, the issue is not ADDING something into our daily routine but SUBTRACTING.

The first question will be - are you already in a deficit of at least 500 Cal per day from your TDEE? This will be a major factor, and if so how accurately are you measuring the food you consume daily? Just these two questions can solve a significant amount of issues. But, if both are in accordance with a proper cut, we’ll look at either: increasing your energy output, or decreasing your caloric intake. 

We prefer to increase energy output rather than caloric intake to start. A simple stimulus to implement is a simple 15-20 minute walk 1-2x per day. This alone can make a difference, however we can also increase the total volume of specific cardio we do weekly as well. 

As for SUBTRACTING, we always go in increments of 250 Cal per day. The last thing we want to do is tank our calories, which can also lead to stalling out and poorer energy levels throughout the day.

Practical Applications

In terms of nutrition, there are many ways to approach your diet. A simple macro breakdown including at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is crucial. The carbs and fats are largely irrelevant for our purposes.

Obviously we utilize both for specific purposes for training, day to day activities, and general life processes, however we are not touching on macros here. Additionally, ensuring a water intake of AT LEAST 4L/day is crucial to facilitate weight loss. If you are performing significant cardiovascular work, anywhere from 4-6L is recommended. Now let’s look at an example in the most simple terms.

Let’s say Joe is working to lose weight. He first calculates his macros and finds maintenance is at 2500 Cal. He is aiming to lose 10 pounds, and in a deficit of 500 Cal per day, that would take approximately 10 weeks if his progress is perfectly linear (it isn’t). So Joe will drop into a deficit of 500 Cal, aiming for 2000 Cal per day. After two weeks, Joe has lost 2 pounds, and after 4 has made no change. He weighs himself at the same time every day in the same clothes. Now Joe is faced with two options: drop further into a deficit, or increase caloric expenditure. We’ll start simple, and Joe will add in a 15 min walk in the morning and at night, continuing to consume the same amount of calories. At 7 weeks, Joe is down 5 pounds, and continues to track his progress using the following metrics: daily caloric intake, measuring weight, and tracking training sessions to include both strength and cardiovascular work.

This is extremely simplified, but sometimes we need to stop overcomplicating the process of weight loss. It takes time, we are all different and as a result must treat each journey as its own mini-experiment by tracking progress and recording results. We begin to understand what works and what doesn’t, and add the skills to our lives. Over time, the goal is not to continually track for the rest of our lives, but understand how our bodies respond to specific stimuli so we can auto-regulate without worrying about how much we train or what we eat, as being a healthy, in-shape, and good-looking individual becomes a lifestyle.

Consistency

The last topic on weight loss plateaus we’ll discuss is consistency. This is arguably the most important. It is extremely easy to drop into a deficit or start a new training regimen for a couple weeks. But those that succeed are able to instill the discipline that leads to lifestyle change for long-term success.

As mentioned in the past, we aim to make this a lifestyle, rather than a “diet”. Because of this, I hold a general disdain for fad diets or special workout programs (even 70 hard!) because of the lack of sustainability. Instead, I aim to instill the values that align with being a healthy individual for long term health + happiness. 

This lifestyle begins with understanding how your body responds to different foods and training stimuli. In the beginning, it is somewhat necessary to track a lot of what you eat and do to understand your body’s progress. But over time, we understand more of how we respond to eating and train intuitively to maintain an impressive physique and high performance in our careers and lives.