Why Is It So Hard To Lose Weight?

26 Jul Why Is It So Hard To Lose Weight?

Posted at 07:23h in Weight Loss by

Many clients who come to see us have struggled to lose weight in the past, despite sticking to a healthy diet. If you find yourself constantly asking ‘why is it so hard for me to lose weight?’ we are here to help you get clear on your weight loss blocks.

Weight loss blocks are the factors that are sabotaging your ability to achieve and maintain your happy weight. In this article we’ll take a look at five of the most common weight loss blocks and what you can do to overcome them.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO LOSE WEIGHT?

Losing weight can be a challenging process and many people struggle to achieve long-term weight loss. Research has shown that approximately 50% of weight variance is determined by genetics. However, as the saying goes ‘genes load the gun but environment pulls the trigger’. This means that by optimising your nutrition and lifestyle and understanding your unique challenges, you can achieve long term weight loss success. Here we’ll break down five of the most common weight loss blocks that our clients encounter and how to overcome them.

5 COMMON WEIGHT LOSS BLOCKS

LACK OF CLARITY

You have a good idea of what healthy food looks like. You believe you’re eating a fairly balanced diet. You’re certainly not eating Domino’s pizza five nights a week and wondering why you can’t lose weight! But you’re not completely clear on whether your diet is optimal for you. Are you eating enough protein? Should you be cutting out carbs completely? Is fasting a good idea? Do calories matter?

Being unclear as to the best dietary approach for you can lead to confusion and can sabotage your weight loss. You might find yourself following a diet plan for a period of time, but when your results aren’t consistent you start questioning your approach and it’s hard to stay motivated.

Getting clear on the optimal dietary strategy for you is key for successful weight loss. This not only means finding a nutritionally sound strategy that will enable weight loss. It also means identifying an approach that fits in with your lifestyle and is sustainable long term.

ALL OR NOTHING MENTALITY

You do well for a period of time, then something derails you. Perhaps it’s a holiday, a stressful period at work, or just the weekend. Maybe the week days are a doddle for you but then Friday evening rolls around and your desire for a treat to reward yourself for a hard week’s work takes over and before you know it, you’re tucking into a takeaway and a bottle of wine. You’ve fallen off the wagon and that triggers a spiral. 

If you’re stuck in the all or nothing trap, staying consistent can be a challenge. You might beat yourself up for your inability to stay focussed. This often shows up when we rely on an overly restrictive approach to losing weight.

Consistency is required if you want to achieve your ideal weight and maintain it long term. And in order to stay consistent, your approach to losing weight needs to be sustainable. Identifying an approach that enables some flexibility so that you can enjoy your life and still prioritise your health and weight loss is key.

LACK OF SELF PRIORITISATION

You know that you should get around to addressing your health and wellbeing. To losing the weight you’ve been meaning to. But whether it’s work… family life… or just life in general… you seem to prioritise everything else above yourself. 

Finding the time to get organised and put in place what you need is essential if you want to successfully lose weight. Prioritise ensuring you have access to the healthy food you need and time to exercise, if that’s part of your weight loss plan.

If you’re consistently not prioritising yourself, it’s worth taking a look at why. Perhaps it’s down to your circumstances and you’re juggling too many things. If so, is there a way to lighten the load? To free up a couple of hours of your time each week? If this is a consistent theme that’s run throughout your life, it might be worth considering a deeper dive. Constantly prioritising other people and things above your own needs can be driven by a lack of self worth. If this is the case, consider speaking with a therapist who can work with to overcome this. You are worthy of being a priority in your life!

LACK OF ROUTINE

You eat fairly healthily, but your mealtimes are haphazard. You don’t get to bed at the same time each night. Your exercise routine is a bit hit or miss from one week to the next. This, in turn, sabotages your consistency and prevents you from seeing that results you’d like.

The body thrives on routine. A consistent bedtime routine ensures that we get enough sleep every night (and enough quality sleep is very important when it comes to losing weight). Establishing a mealtime routine ensures we’re in the habit of taking time to eat a proper lunch, instead of grazing on snacks and then over eating in the evening. It can mean setting aside time for your weekly shop so that you always have healthy food to hand.

Creating a healthy routine will help you establish habitual patterns of behaviour that support your health and weight management. What time will you eat meals? Will you incorporate a consistent fasting window? What’s an optimal bedtime for you? When will you work out each week? You might find it helpful to write this down or even schedule it in your diary. Setting alarms in your phone can be helpful too.

AN UNDERLYING HEALTH ISSUE

You’re doing all of the right things, but the weight just isn’t coming off. Perhaps you feel like your body has changed and doesn’t respond to your usual strategies to get your weight down. Maybe you’re experiencing other symptoms that tells you that you aren’t optimally healthy. 

Addressing underlying health issues is vital if you want to not only achieve and maintain your desired weight, but maintain long term health and wellbeing too. Many of the clients we work with struggle with health issues that are preventing them from losing weight. Common examples include an underactive thyroid (which is often not diagnosed), PCOS, or fluctuating hormones around the menopause.

The good news is that these health challenges can be addressed, once you’re aware of them. We work closely with an expert functional medicine doctor who can support with tailored treatment if required.

WORK WITH US

We are a team of qualified nutritionists who specialise in weight loss. We can help you identify and overcome the weight loss blocks that are sabotaging your ability to achieve or maintain your desired weight. Our Intelligent Weight Loss Method is a five pillar, clinically proven approach to healthy, effective and long term weight loss.

If you’d like to speak with us about how we can help you, we invite you to book in for a complimentary call with one of our team today.

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SARAH LAW

Sarah has worked with hundreds of clients over the past decade to help them live in a healthy body that they feel confident in.


Sarah spent a large part of her teens and 20’s as a professional dancer battling with orthorexia and an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. This created a desire to understand the human body more so she could finally cut through the confusion and end the cycle of yoyo dieting. This fuelled her passion to help other women do the same.

 

Sarah specialises in supporting women who are struggling to lose weight due to underlying health issues. She’s helped many women manage their weight during and after the menopause, as well as clients with thyroid disease and immune system dysfunction. Sarah loves food and sharing healthy recipes with her clients. Her aim is to ensure that clients don’t feel deprived and instead, achieve their weight loss and health goals in a positive and sustainable way.

 

To enquire about working with Sarah, please contact us.

AILSA HICHENS

 

Ailsa is one of our most experienced practitioners. She specialises in helping clients to lose weight, develop a healthy relationship with food and finally feel comfortable in their skin. Ailsa’s mission is for everyone she works with to enjoy the journey and that working with a nutritionist should not be a punishment, but your access to a new possibility.

 

Ailsa is not only an experienced weight loss nutritionist, she is also a skilled coach. She helps our clients overcome emotional eating, destructive habits and self-sabotaging behaviours that have prevented successful weight loss in the past. Ailsa has spent years in clinic working with clients who have experienced yo-yo dieting and have discovered that long term weight loss is not just about eating less until you can stand it no longer.

 

Working with Ailsa you will be comprehensively supported, not only in improving your nutrition and lifestyle, but also your eating habits and your relationship with food. When you work on all these elements together, the results can be truly astonishing.

 

To enquire about working with Ailsa, please contact us.

Test Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of the business. Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning. A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

NIKKI ANDRIANI

 

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of th clinic.

 

Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning.

 

A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

STÉPHANIE ACHAR

Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

To enquire about working with Stéphanie, please contact us.

INNA WEARN

Inna is passionate about supporting women on their journey to improved health and wellbeing. She believes that the solution to effective weight loss does not lie in ever more restrictive diets, but a more sophisticated approach that optimises health and vitality, as well as promoting effective weight loss.

 

Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

To enquire about working with Inna, please contact us.

ANIA MASON

 

Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

Ania specialises in autoimmunity and works with clients who have underlying health issues preventing successful weight loss. Her expertise enables her to successfully support our clients with conditions such as hypothyroidsm (underactive thyroid), PCOS and diabetes. 

 

To enquire about working with Ania, please contact us.

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