Why Can’t I Lose Weight?
We all find ourselves asking the question, “Why can’t I lose weight?” at different points in our life. Logically most of us realize that no fad or gimmick will give us the results we need. We know this because we have tried them all or seen someone close try them. We’ve fallen victim to the empty promises and unrealistic standards of health and beauty.
Taking the step to turn what we already know into a successful weight loss and health plan is another story. It is a journey that requires hard work and determination. It requires a shift in your mind—a shift that causes you to stop seeing every weight loss attempt as a diet and more of a lifestyle change. It can be hard to make this shift when you’re discouraged and unhappy with your body. One step at a time, though, you can find your inner health and create confidence and vitality you have never seen before.
Losing weight is a simple mathematical equation. Your calories in must be less than your calories out. This means that throughout the day you must create a caloric deficit. How you create that deficit is key. Many fads and gimmicks focus on calories in or calories out but fail to combine them. The problem with this is that it is near impossible to maintain these drastic measures when quality fitness and nutrition are not used in conjunction with one another.
It is not healthy or realistic in the long term to drastically cut your calories. Some diet plans have people consuming calories at levels that don’t even meet the daily minimum for humans. Our bodies require a certain number of calories every day to function at a healthy level. When you go below this level you may lose weight but will be unable to keep it off due to your inability to maintain the extreme calorie cut.
So the answer to the question “Why can’t I lose weight?” is healthy eating habits paired with a regular exercise routine. Because many of us have not been taught what exactly this means or how to go about combining the two, we turn to tools created to teach us how to treat our bodies in a way that will result in optimal health, physical fitness, and ultimately weight loss.
When you make a decision to change how you treat your body it is important to have a coach, a motivator, and a plan. Not all fitness plans are created equally. In order to maintain success you should select one that pushes your body and provides tools to create a healthy nutrition plan as well. Also important and maybe even more so in the effort to stick with a plan, is that it is enjoyable.
Exercise programs that combine hard work and fun will keep you motivated and keep you coming back even when the motivation isn’t there. Programs like Hip Hop Abs and Turbo Jam get you pumped through modern music you’re used to hearing at dance clubs. Making your workouts fun is vital in continued success.
By fueling your body with high quality nutrition and keeping it youthful and fit through a fun and effective exercise plan, you are well on your way to a lifetime of health and fitness and the dreaded question of “Why can’t I lose weight?” will be a thing of the past.






I have been doing the p90x workout for 7 weeks and I am gaining inches pretty much everywhere on my body. Please someone explain cuz I don’t want to gain weight and inches!!!
Hi Ker,
We’d definitely like to help if we can. So, you say you’ve actually gained inches. Are we talking fat or muscle? Alot of times we hear back from people reporting that they have actually gained weight but they are not sure how or why. In most of these cases in particular, they’ve gained weight because they’ve gained muscle mass. Muscle weighs more than fat, as you might know, and that was the explanation for them/
Somehow it seem like this may not be the case in your situation? How is overall your appearance now compared to the day you started P90X?
I’m having a similar problem. I am on week 10 of p90x lean routine and yet I am seeing small muscle results and I am feeling better, I haven’t lost 1 inch of fat from my waist, 1 percent of body fat, or a pound on the scale. Now I pretty sure I am doing everything right. I’ve talked to my coach and he couldn’t help me, so I don’t know what to do. I went to beachbody.com and seen a few people who have the same body type as me and lost good weight, but I don’t think they did p90x. I was woundering if after this 12 weeks, should I do Turbo Jam or ChalenChallange or something like that. Or just do the Classic p90x routine. Please help cause theres never anyone on the beachbody chatrooms.
Staff Reply:
July 14th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Hi James,
I am sorry you are having a tough time, finding answers and getting results. Since you are gaining muscle and feeling better, you are doing the workouts as you should, but are you following the Nutrition Plan? This is actually very important especially if your goal is to get your body fat percentage down. It could be that you are eating too many carbs. Carbs are what your body uses for energy. When you have used up all the carbs you have eaten, your body turns to your fat reserves. The key is to eat a small amount of carbs per day so when you are working out, your body can take from those fat reserves for energy. Also, protein is very important for muscle recovery. As you start to build muscle, your metabolism will increase allowing your body to burn fat more efficiently. So all in all, your diet is very important when it comes to body fat percentage. Stick to the P90X Lean program. Giving up now my just result in you giving up on the next program you try.
I hope I was able to be more helpful!
-Mike
In my earlier statement I mentioned that I am doing EVERYTHING right, so yes I am following a diet. Now I will admit that I was eating the amount of carbs that the diet says to, which is 50%, but I am a little confused about that, but I assume it means anywhere between 200 and 300 carbs a day. If I am wrong, let me know, but I talk to my coach on the phone and told him in detail exactly what I was eating, and he said that I was eating good. That was before I started the program. It’s now week 12 and my before and after photos look the same.
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