Key Takeaways
- A calorie deficit is a weight loss strategy that involves consuming fewer calories than you burn each day.
- Though popular, calorie deficits have drawbacks, such as possible negative impacts on the metabolism and increased appetite.
- If you’re not losing weight in a calorie deficit, you and your healthcare team may want to examine a few factors, like your food choices, underlying medical conditions, and exercise level.
It can be incredibly frustrating to put in the effort of eating fewer calories only to find the scale won’t budge.
A calorie deficit is when you consume less calories than you burn.
A typical calorie deficit for weight management is 500 calories, which, in theory, should result in a one pound weight loss per week.
However, losing weight isn’t always as simple as calories in versus calories out.
Several factors can impact your weight management journey, such as underlying health conditions, stress, and food choices.
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Calorie Deficit Explained
A calorie deficit is a weight management strategy many experts recommend.
It’s based on the “calories-in, calories-out” theory, which is the idea that you can achieve weight loss if you burn more calories than you consume.
The number of calories you burn is based on a few factors—how much your body burns at rest (resting energy expenditure) and how many calories you burn through exercise and daily activities.
The most commonly recommended calorie deficits are between 500 and 750 calories per day, typically achieved through limiting carbohydrate or fat intake and increasing exercise.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight in a Calorie Deficit?
Though a calorie deficit is a popular weight management intervention, it may not always be effective.
Your body has mechanisms in place to protect you against starvation, and when you are in a calorie deficit, these mechanisms can be activated.
Hormonal changes occur that lower your metabolic rate, meaning that you burn fewer calories doing the same activities as before.
This can make it challenging for weight loss to continue long-term because, over time, you must lower calorie intake even further.
In addition, metabolic changes can increase your appetite and cravings for high-calorie foods, making it difficult to adhere to the calorie deficit and your eating plan.
These mechanisms can be especially strong if your calorie intake is too low, so it’s important to ensure your calorie goal is at a healthy level.
9 Reasons for Not Losing Weight
Besides metabolic adaptations, other factors may make it difficult to lose weight on a calorie deficit.
1. Not Tracking Calories Accurately
When trying to lose weight, many people monitor their calorie intake using a calorie-tracking app to guide their food choices and portion sizes.
However, estimating the calorie content of meals you prepare from scratch or from a local restaurant can be difficult.
It’s also common for people to underestimate their portion sizes.
In addition, calorie-tracking apps often have inaccurate information in their food databases entered by users.
While calorie tracking can be a helpful self-monitoring tool, research shows it does not improve diet quality.
It’s important to focus on your food choices and overall calorie intake rather than relying on data from calorie-tracking apps.
2. Eating Too Many Processed Carbs
An important dietary factor to consider when losing weight is the types of carbohydrates you eat.
Processed carbs, made from refined sugar and white flour, can increase the risk of weight gain as well as heart disease and diabetes.
On average, adults in the United States eat 15% of their calories from added sugars (the World Health Organization recommends less than 5% of total calories from added sugars).
A big part of this is sugar-sweetened beverages like soda.
Experts recommend focusing on minimally processed high-fiber carbohydrates like whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables while limiting the intake of added sugars and refined grains like white bread, soda, and fast food.
3. Eating Too Much at Once
Your meal timing could also impact your weight management progress.
Skipping meals can result in overcompensation later in the day, making it easy to eat too much at once.
Research shows that people who don’t eat breakfast are at a higher risk of experiencing overweight and obesity.
Further, eating more food at night can disrupt your circadian rhythm, negatively impacting your metabolism.
Meal timing recommendations from the American Heart Association to prevent obesity include focusing on a balanced breakfast meal and eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day.
4. Not Exercising Enough
Exercise is beneficial for overall health and can also help weight management efforts.
Building muscle through resistance exercises can increase your metabolic rate, while aerobic activity can help burn abdominal fat.
Experts recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with at least two days per week of resistance exercises.
While increasing your exercise can help you lose weight, too much exercise may hinder your progress.
Mainly, excessive amounts of cardiovascular exercise can sometimes result in weight gain.
Talk to your doctor for a personalized exercise recommendation that’s safe for you.
5. Overestimating the Number of Calories Burned During Exercise
With the rise of wearable fitness trackers, many people are getting data about how many calories they burn during exercise.
However, research shows that fitness trackers can be wildly inaccurate when it comes to measuring energy expenditure.
One study compared the energy expenditure estimated by popular wearable devices to actual energy expenditure measured in a lab setting for different exercises.
The researchers found that none of the devices met the acceptable error range of 5%, with even the most accurate device being off by 27%.
While fitness trackers can be a useful motivating tool, relying on the data to calculate your calorie deficit may cause you to overestimate (or underestimate) the calories you burn during exercise.
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6. You Have an Underlying Health Condition
Certain medical conditions and medications can make it difficult to lose weight.
These conditions may impact your metabolism or increase your appetite.
Examples include hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and sleep apnea.
If you’re not losing weight even though you’re in a calorie deficit, talk to your doctor.
For some of these health conditions, you may need medical treatment in addition to specific dietary interventions.
7. Stress Eating or Binge Eating
Overeating in response to negative emotions, like stress, can hinder your weight management efforts by adding extra calories and increasing cortisol levels (which negatively impact metabolism).
Working with a therapist and a registered dietitian to learn how to regulate your emotions and build a healthy relationship with food can be helpful.
In some cases, frequent stress eating can be a sign of an underlying eating disorder, like binge eating disorder (BED).
If you routinely overeat when not physically hungry and have difficulty stopping once you start eating, talk to your healthcare team for support and resources.
8. Not Eating Enough Protein
You may want to look at your total protein intake if you aren’t losing weight in a calorie deficit.
Research shows that a high-protein diet can aid in weight management while minimizing weight regain.
This is because protein is satiating and can help you eat less for the rest of the day.
Adequate protein intake can also help maintain your muscle mass while you lose weight, which helps metabolism.
In addition, your body burns more energy when digesting protein than other macronutrients.
Focus on lean proteins for the most health benefits, and include plant proteins in your diet when possible.
9. Not Drinking Enough Water
Drinking a lot of water is commonly recommended as a weight management strategy, and there are a few reasons behind this.
First, prioritizing water intake over caloric beverages like juice and soda can improve weight loss results.
In addition, drinking water before meals may help with weight loss.
This may be due to the thermogenic effect of water, which means that drinking water can temporarily increase the metabolic rate.
Overall, experts recommend at least 64 ounces of water per day for weight management, though individual goals may vary based on your medical history and activity level.
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Takeaway
A calorie deficit is when a person aims to burn more calories than they eat in order to lose weight.
There are many factors that can impact the effectiveness of this approach, from the body’s built-in mechanisms to protect against starvation to inaccuracies of calorie-tracking apps and wearable fitness devices.
If you’re having trouble losing weight in a calorie deficit, talk to your healthcare team.
You may be consuming too many or too few calories or have an underlying medical condition impacting your metabolism.
Managing Weight Loss with a Dietitian
The dietitians at Nourish focus on treating the root cause of your concerns and use a non-diet approach to help you set sustainable goals while understanding the factors that may be getting in the way of weight loss.
Find a dietitian who accepts insurance and start following a personalized nutiriton plan that will bring you closer to your health goals.
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Frequently Asked Questions
There are many factors that can impact weight loss results, but a common issue is eating too few calories and over-exercising.
This can activate the body’s starvation response, which slows your metabolism, increases appetite, and causes you to crave high-calorie foods.
You may also want to talk with a registered dietitian about your specific food choices.
Even if you’re in a calorie deficit, things like not eating enough protein and eating too many refined carbohydrates can hinder your weight management efforts.
Though you may notice rapid weight loss on an 800-calorie diet, experts don’t recommend diets under 800 calories except for certain situations when medically supervised.
A very low-calorie diet can harm your metabolism and make it harder to manage your weight in the long term.
Talk to your healthcare provider for an individualized conversation about calorie needs.
Depending on your height, weight, and activity level, 1200 calories may be too low for your body to maintain a healthy metabolism.
You may also be experiencing a weight loss plateau, especially if you previously lost weight at 1200 calories.
Plateaus occur when your body adjusts to a certain calorie intake, reducing your metabolic rate to be more efficient and protect you against starvation.
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