January 13

5 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight

Losing weight is no easy feat for most people. But, have you ever felt like you are doing all the right things by eating well or exercising regularly, yet, your scales not showing you the results that you expect?

You are not alone. The diet industry has told us for years that to lose weight, you just need to eat less and move more. But unfortunately, it’s often just not that simple.

Your metabolism is a lot more complex than calories in vs. calories out—this oversimplified model that doesn’t take into account the many different variables that affect fat loss. There can be an underlying physiological reason(s) as to why your body is holding on to weight. This is referred to as weight loss resistance.

In this post, I’ll delve into the top causes of weight loss resistance and arm you with practical strategies to overcome them. 

What Is Weight Loss Resistance?

Weight loss resistance could mean doing all the right things— following a dietary plan that puts you in a calorie deficit and provides an optimal macronutrient ratio, cutting out added sugar and ultra processed foods, exercising regularly— yet your body is struggling to breakdown and eliminate excess body fat.

This situation is extremely frustrating. In fact I began nutrition coaching in 2015 because I hated seeing my Pilates clients putting in so much effort and yet the results they’re getting aren’t what they deserve given the effort they’ve put in. I was getting frustrated for them!

Ultimately this led to me studying more and more until I discovered metabolic health coaching, and I loved it! Now, I help women build their metabolic health so they can thrive from the inside out. I work with my clients to develop consistent pro metabolic habits, conquer cravings, make smarter food choices, and achieve and maintain fat loss! If you’d like to find out if  I can help you, click here to send me a coaching interest form.

Weight loss resistance can have various physiological causes. Five of the most common causes I personally see include:

  1. insulin resistance
  2. effects of yo-yo dieting
  3. chronic stress
  4. perimenopause 
  5. hypothyroidism

The solution for weight loss resistance is often considerably more sophisticated than eating less and exercising more.  Let's explore these conditions in more detail below:

1. Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes

If there’s only one thing you learn about in this article, I sincerely hope this is it! I'm passionate about helping women prevent and reverse insulin resistance because I’ve seen firsthand just how it can create fatigue, weight loss resistance, and diminished cardio-metabolic health.

Insulin is a hormone that regulates your blood sugar levels and helps your body store and uses energy. You release insulin in response to any rise in blood sugar, whether it’s due to eating or to stress.

When you’re eating a diet high in sugar and carbs, the more insulin you make, the less responsive your cells become to it, leading to insulin resistance. Advanced insulin resistance can ultimately become prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes (when your pancreas can no longer keep up the demand for insulin).

Insulin is an anabolic hormone. That means it builds–both muscle and fat tissue. High insulin levels tells your liver and muscles to store blood sugar. When they’re full, your liver stores the excess blood sugar as body fat causing weight gain. In particular abdominal obesity.

As you can gather, if your diet and lifestyle is raising your storage hormones, a calorie deficit will have much less of an effect thereby causing weight loss resistance. If you’ve been struggling with sugar cravings, low energy, and gaining weight around your middle, you might be dealing with insulin resistance.

When working with clients, I address blood sugar balance through food, exercise and other lifestyle behaviours. In fact, we begin with this before calorie or macro counting. Focusing on balancing overall blood sugar and insulin response is key to losing weight and improving body composition.

For myself, I personally never count calories. I focus on whole, nutritious foods that support blood sugar optimisation that naturally promotes steady energy and mood, well managed hunger levels and cravings, and improved body composition. I share all of this in my Free Blood Sugar Balance Course below.

Macro Balance: A Customised Macro Count Tailored to your Goals and Lifestyle €9.99

2. Repeated Yo-Yo Dieting

While the goal of dieting might be weight loss and to improve your health, the long-term effects of yo-yo dieting can have a negative impact on your health and well-being. Yo-yo dieting can increase your body fat percentage, slow your metabolism and has also been associated with increased risk of developing diseases including fatty liver, diabetes, and heart disease.

Chronic calorie restriction or weight cycling can also be a cause of weight loss resistance. Your body perceives calorie restriction as a threat, and when you diet over and over again, your metabolism will adapt to protect you from"starving".  And that’s why when you go on a crash diet, you may lose weight quickly for the first few weeks but then progress inevitably stalls as your body adapts to "the famine".

If you have been dieting for as long as you can remember, you will likely need to focus on metabolism repair in order to make progress with weight loss. Eventually, your metabolism will recover. 

You can read more on Why Diets Don't Work here and I have expanded even more in my free course below.

3. Elevated Stress Hormones

Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the body. Your body makes and uses cortisol throughout the day and night. It plays a role in regulating your metabolism, however excess amounts of cortisol can lead to weight gain (especially abdominal weight gain) and contribute to weight loss resistance in a number of different ways.

When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands release a burst of cortisol to help you cope, temporarily increasing your blood sugar for a boost of energy. We have already covered elevated blood sugar/insulin above. Chronically elevated cortisol can decrease the effects of lipolysis, or burning fat, increase the rate at which new fat cells are formed and make you feel hungry.

I often see this in clients who are experiencing heightened stress in their life or clients who are trying hard to lose weight but the way they are going about this is inadvertently driving up their cortisol levels. Exercising excessively whilst dropping your calorie intake too low, or fasting for extended periods when it doesn’t suit your body, can increase stress and prevent weight loss.

The good news is that much can be done to learn stress management and return your body’s cortisol output to normal. In 2022 I qualified as a Sleep, Stress and Recovery coach as I wanted to learn research backed techniques and expand my range as a coach. You can get a little taste of that in my Stress Less for  healthier You mini course below...

4. PeriMenopause

Many women I work with have found that hormonal changes in the lead to, during and after the menopause have made managing their weight increasingly challenging. They often blame their age but our metabolic rate doesn't begin to slow until we reach ~60 years old.

Hormonal changes during the menopause can contribute to weight gain. Low levels of oestrogen have been associated with metabolic dysfunction, increasing the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Changes in hormone levels can also impact where on the body we store fat. Various studies have shown a link between abdominal weight gain and the menopause. 

At perimenopause we can become more insulin resistant (I wonder why that topic was first in this article?). A study of over 1000 women found that post-menopausal women experienced a bigger increase in blood sugar levels after eating a carbohydrate-rich meal.

If you are struggling with weight management in perimenopause, it's important to follow a diet and lifestyle plan tailored to your needs at this time of your life to effectively reduce body fat.

5. Under Active Thyroid (Hypothyroidism)

The thyroid gland is responsible for regulating metabolism and hormone levels in your body and therefore plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight. It is one of the most common causes of weight loss resistance in the clients I see. Hypo means ‘low’, so hypothyroidism relates to reduced thyroid function.

Hypothyroidism can cause a litany of side effects with a slowed metabolism being one which can result in  underactive thyroid weight gainOther symptoms of hypothyroidism may include feeling the cold, low mood, constipation, hair loss and dry skin. However, for some of my clients, an inability to lose weight is their only symptom.

Many people with an underactive thyroid may never get tested and diagnosed – but should be! It's important to treat an underactive thyroid as soon as possibleLow levels of thyroid hormones can change the way your body processes fat. This can cause high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries). This could lead to serious heart-related problems, such as angina and a heart attack.

All you have to do is get tested. If you’re discover you have hypothyroidism, you will work closely with your doctor to determine the most appropriate approach for your individual needs. This is going to make the biggest difference in helping you get and stay better.

Outside of working with your doctor, there are plenty of pro metabolic habits you can implement to nurture your thyroid health. I have put these together in my Free Healing Your Thyroid Course below. I have a personal interest in this as my mother has hypothyroidism and seeing as she has "blessed me" with pernicious anaemia and gallstones already. I was keen to create this for my own preventative thyroid care.

How to Overcome Weight Loss Resistance

Weight loss resistance is a complex issue that is influenced by the various factors above, and also includes poor sleep quality, medications, poor gut health, sex hormone fluctuations, and leptin resistance. You may have underlying conditions that need to be diagnosed and treated under the care of your G.P. so that any lifestyle or diet interventions can have the impact your efforts deserve.

However, by addressing these underlying issues and making lifestyle changes, beyond just diet and exercise you can support your metabolic health and achieve your desired results. 

Work With a Professional

“Where do I start?” I get that question a lot, my clients are frequently women who have dieted for decades and are now finding restriction isn't working like it used to anymore. Feeling stuck is overwhelming and frustrating. But once they begin incorporating a pro metabolic plan, it's only a matter of weeks until they notice improvements.

How do I do this? When I see a new client I will start by taking a detailed case history in my Client Health Questionnaire. This looks at many aspects of your health, diet, lifestyle, medical history, family history and more. I look for the areas which will have the biggest impact.

During your initial consultation, I will go through this in detail and speak with you to further evolve my understanding of your current metabolic health status. There is no one size fits all and I always create personalised plans for you based on your unique circumstances for supporting you in achieving your happy weight and an optimal state of health.

If you’ve been struggling to lose weight, have tried everything, and don’t know where to turn, you are in the right place. If you’d like to find out how I can help you take a deep dive into your health and wellness to become the best version of yourself— fit, strong, energised, and focused!, I look forward to hearing from you.  

5 Reasons You Can\'t Lose Weight
5 Reasons You Can\'t Lose Weight

Meet Emma

Hi, I am Emma McAtasney, a NCEHS Personal Trainer since 2009. I earned my Pilates credentials through BASI Pilates, a highly respected college-level Pilates teacher training programme which aim is to create and maintain professional standards for the teaching of the Pilates Method to the highest calibre.


In addition, I am a prenatal and postnatal exercise specialist, nutritionist and founder of a boutique Pilates studio in Dundalk, Ireland.


I help my clients eat healthier, ditch fad diets and lose weight for good by guiding them to make small manageable changes that long term have a huge impact on their quality of life!

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