So you’ve been running and eating all the ‘right’ foods but still aren’t losing weight? I understand—you’re frustrated, annoyed, and thinking about giving up. There will be a reason you aren’t losing weight, lets run through some things to try and figure out why. We’re going to explore 10 of the top reasons I see for runners not losing weight. Some of them may seem obvious but others are things you won’t have considered.

Weight loss vs fat loss

Before we get into the reasons why you might not be losing weight I just want to address weight loss vs fat loss. The difference between these terms is important even though they are used interchangeably. So first what is weight? The number on the scale is simply the weight of everything in or on our body at that moment. It is a snapshot and only gives us a small part of the picture. Many factors can impact it; including whether you’ve had a bowel movement, your hydration level, undigested food in your digestive system, muscle mass, fat mass, and more. We have to remind ourselves of all these things when weighing ourselves. Weight loss refers to simply lowering the number on the scale, without focusing on how it’s achieved.

What most people mean when referring to weight loss is fat loss, because, we don’t want to lose our lean muscle mass. We want to lower our body fat percentage and have a lower fat mass. So when referring to weight loss know that what we mean is fat loss. But these terms will be used interchangeably here and elsewhere.

Can you lose fat but not weight?

Just one last consideration before we jump into the reasons why you might not be losing weight or should I say fat. Is it possible to lose fat without losing weight? In short, it is possible to lower your body fat percentage without seeing the scale go down. One of the reasons behind this is you can simultaneously be building muscle while dropping fat. You won’t see this on your scales but you might notice it in your clothes or generally how your body looks and feels. 

A quick note: those fancy scales that claim to measure your body fat percentage are often inaccurate and affected by many variables. Instead, grab a reliable tape measure and take your body measurements if you’re interested.

Anyway, we are digressing from the actual point of this post, so let’s jump into the reasons you might not be losing weight while running.

1 – You are eating too much

Bear with me on this because I can already see you rolling your eyes and hear your protests but let’s get this one out of the way. Intentional exercise only accounts for about 5% of our daily calorie burn. Intentional exercise can lead to reduced movement in other activities, resulting in fewer calories burned overall. The other thing I often find with runners, and have experienced myself, is running can make you hungry AF. This makes it easy to overeat or eat back the calories we have burned without actually realising it. Adding to an overall calorie consumption that is equal to or exceeding our calorie burn. Remember that as you lose weight, your body needs fewer calories, so you need to regularly reassess how much you’re consuming.

2 – Not fuelling with the right nutrients

It’s easy to focus on one macronutrient and ignore the others. The focus on protein in recent years has sometimes caused people to overlook carbohydrates and fats. Or intentionally cutting out carbohydrates and fats to aid in weight loss but losing out on the vital function they provide for the body. Eating a balanced diet can be challenging and missing out on one of the macronutrients can add stress to the body and harm performance and recovery.

3 – Relying too much on processed ‘healthy’ foods

More and more we are seeing foods in the shops labelled in such a way that makes them seem healthier than they are. But these foods can contain significant amounts of sugar or calories without so much benefit. But because we perceive them to be healthy it can be easy to overlook some of these things and consume too much of them.

4 – Eating too little

This one can be hard to assess especially because the generic advice you see out there is simply to eat less and move more.  However, our bodies are actually very clever and can start to adapt to eating less over time. It becomes more efficient at certain things to preserve energy and also starts to extract more calories from what we are eating to compensate. All of this can impact metabolism and in turn impact weight loss.

5 – Ignoring recovery nutrition

After a workout, whether that be a run or a strength session our body has been through stress and is likely to have microdamage. It will also have burned through some of our readily accessible fuel. If we fail to replenish at least some of this it can impede recovery not only leaving us sore and fatigued. But it also doesn’t allow our body to continue burning the fat we are trying to lose efficiently.

6 – Consuming too many liquid calories

I know this links back to the first one in terms of consuming too much but when we drink it is easy to consume more calories than we anticipate. The milk in our coffee, the smoothie we had after a gym session or that glass of wine in the evening all contain additional calories. It is easy to overlook these things and often it is easier to consume more calories in liquid form than in food form. All of this can lead to consuming extra calories, which can then affect your weight loss efforts.

7 – Not eating enough fibre

Not only is fibre essential for maintaining good overall health in general, but, especially important in maintaining good gut health. It can play an important role in aiding weight loss as it adds bulk to our meals which helps us to feel full and satiated. Fibre also contains essential vitamins and minerals which when lacking can impact weight management.

8 – Skipping meals or failing to plan ahead

Skipping meals can increase snacking, especially later in the day, leading to more calories consumed than intended. This can cause issues with weight loss. The same goes for failing to plan meals. Buying lunch at work often means eating more higher-calorie, sugar, and fat-heavy foods than if you’d packed lunch. Shopping for food while hungry can lead to more impulse purchases than planned. All of this can result in consuming more food than intended, which stalls weight loss progress.

9 – Not hydrating properly

Now I am not saying every time you are hungry you should reach for a glass of water instead but being thirsty can be mistaken for hunger. Ensuring you are sufficiently hydrated throughout the day can aid in weight loss in general but can also prevent reaching for food instead of a glass of water. Some drinks such as coffee can lead to dehydration due to caffeine having a diuretic effect. So keep this in mind when assessing reasons as to why your weight loss has plateaued.

10 – Underestimating the impact of stress and sleep

Lack of sleep can cause hormone imbalances, making us crave sugary foods and feel hungrier. When the body feels low on energy, it triggers food cravings, especially sugary foods, to compensate. Stress can cause similar hormone imbalances, increasing hunger and the urge to eat. Good sleep and stress management are crucial not only for recovery and running performance but also for weight management.

Summary

The thing with weight loss is that there are so many things that can impact it. What we eat, how rested we are, and overtraining are just a few. So figuring out why your weight loss has stalled or you have gained weight can be challenging.

It can be easy to become complacent with anything we are doing and weight loss is no different from this. So here are a few last tips to help you:

• Do a little reset almost as if you are starting for the first time
• Keep a food diary for a few days to see what you are eating. You need to be honest with yourself here for it to be effective
• Do a well-being check-in. As yourself are you getting 7-8 hours of sleep? Are you training too much? Have you got a lot of stress in your life right now? If these things are not in order then it is going to impact your overall health, well-being and any weight loss goals

If you are balancing fat loss and running then join my Fat Loss for Runners course. A 12-week program designed specifically to help runners lose fat and improve their performance.