Are you dieting but not losing weight?  Are you frustrated with not seeing progress after limiting calories or changing the way you eat?  You could be doing these 7 things that are sabotaging your weight loss progress. 

After talking to and watching so many people’s eating habits, I’ve noticed some common themes around what might be inhibiting weight loss progress. 

And by the way, don’t forget to grab the 5 Day Clean Eating Challenge you can do TODAY to kickstart your weight loss at the bottom of this post!

People come to me with all kinds of questions around nutrition and how to eat.  They wonder if what they are eating is healthy or what a particular food (like hummus) is made of.  But even the healthiest of eaters can fall into these common eating pitfalls.

Without further ado, here are the pitfalls that might be holding you back if you are dieting but not losing weight. 

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #1: Snacking throughout the day

Why do we snack?  Boredom, hunger, just wanting something crunchy?  The most concerning one here is hunger. If you’re hungry that might mean you aren’t consuming enough calories from whole, real foods at regular intervals throughout the day.  

Hunger comes and goes.  It’s common for us to think if we wait to eat when hunger strikes, those hunger pangs will only get worse.  So we snack. But in reality, hunger cues register in waves. You’ll be hungry, then you won’t, then you kind of will, then you won’t be, until you’re very hungry again later on.  The cycle continues. 

Most people are surprised by this but it’s why fasting is a thing.  During a fasted state, usually 3-4 hours after a meal, our bodies have digested all the food and have made the switch to use stored energy to fuel our bodily functions.  

This is actually ideal if you’re looking to lose weight because that means your body is using your own stored fat to fuel itself.   (More on fasting below).

So if you snack, you cut this process off at the knees.  Your body will always use food as fuel, instead of stored fat, and therefore you won’t lose weight.  

My recommendation is that you plan to eat every 3-4 hours, depending on your needs and what your schedule allows. Listen to your body.  If it’s giving you full on hunger signals and you know it’s been 3 hours since you’ve last eaten, it’s time for your next meal.  

This leads me to my next topic… 

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #2: Eating past feeling full

You buy a pizza, you know you’ve already had three slices but it’s just so good!  You decide to have one more, even though you know you are full.

We’ve all been there.  

Eating whole, real food vs. processed or take out food makes all the difference.  Once you make the switch to eating real food, portion control becomes much easier.  

If you are eating whole, real food, you are giving your body the nutrients it needs, and thereby it should correctly signal when you are satiated.

However, if you are eating junk or processed foods, or anything high in sugar (ahem, soda) listening to hunger cues most likely won’t work. Junk food is developed to trick your hunger signals to want more, and therefore, mindful eating can’t be trusted. 

When it comes to portion control another pro tip is portioning out your meals ahead of time.

The truth is we humans aren’t the best at estimating portion sizes or guessing how much food our bodies actually require.  Planning ahead can circumvent any overeating tendencies.  

If you’re dieting but not losing weight, the best thing you can do is PLAN AHEAD, the second best thing is mindfully listen to your hunger and fullness cues so you don’t eat past feeling full.  

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #3: Eating too fast

Did you know you could be eating too fast?  Eating quickly doesn’t give our bodies time to flip the hunger control switch to full. You could be satisfied but not realize it yet. It’s some of the most fundamental, easy to do advice on how to eat to lose weight, yet hardly ever practiced. 

I remember as recent as 5 years ago, I used to scarf food down very quickly.  When I think back to that time it’s rather unsettling. I’d eat so much that I’d be in agony with how full I was.  Painfully full. 

Why not slow down, chew, and enjoy your food?  If you like to eat, slow down, savor the process.    

Try this: 

• Drink 8 oz of water before you eat
• Put your fork down between each bite
• Chew slowly
• Limit distractions (focus on the yummy food)
• Drink water as necessary
• Then finish your meal off with another 8 oz of water

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #4: Eating too close to bedtime = missing out on a perfect fasting time period

If you’re eating right up to bedtime, not only are you disrupting your sleep because your body is busy breaking down food, but you are inhibiting weight loss through a shortened fasting window. 

As mentioned above, after 4 hours of not eating food your body has entered into a fasted state. 

During a fasted state we use our stored energy (fat) as fuel.  This is ideal for people who want to lean out. The longer your body is in the fasted state, the longer you reap the benefits of using your own stored fat as fuel.  

This of course has its limits. As you need to eat to survive, hunger will come a knockin.  The idea is to maximize your sleep time as fasting time, so you don’t feel the hunger, which will make the fasting process easier.

A great way to ensure you are getting the most out of this fasted state is to stop eating 3 hours before bed.   Then, don’t eat until at least 12 hours later. This is a big help if you’ve been dieting but not losing weight.  

Here’s an example:  Stop eating by 7PM, go to sleep, wake up, then eat breakfast around 8AM.  Some days it’s not possible and that’s ok. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but the more you can do this, the better.  

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #5: Consuming packaged foods

Packaged foods are processed with low nutritional value.  These foods send signals to your brain that you need MORE MORE MORE!  They are loaded with sugar, fat, and calories that don’t provide you with essential nutrients your body needs.  

Related: Clean eating rules to follow

If you have a hard time saying no to packaged food over real food, I’d like you to stop for a moment and ask yourself why?  Are you too lazy to cook? Too lazy to grocery shop? Is this food around you too often? Are you addicted to sugar? All of that is ‘figureoutable’.  

There are solutions to all of those problems.  Use Instacart, Amazon Fresh, or a local grocery service for groceries if you just can’t stand the grocery store.  

If you don’t like to cook that means you probably eat most of your meals out anyway, right?  If you had freshly prepared food in your fridge would you eat them?

There are meal prep services in most cities now.  If you can’t find one on Google or Yelp, try calling a local CrossFit gym. They usually know people who cook for a living that can prepare fresh meals for you.  

If you know you have a particular weakness (maybe it’s chips like me), don’t keep them in your house. Get rid of any “trigger foods” that you’d normally reach for.

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #6: Drinking calories 

Soda, creamer, juice, kombucha, and of course alcohol.  Sneaky calories that you don’t always remember you consumed.  The amount of sugar in soda and juice would astound you. A good limit on sugar consumed per day is no more than 25 grams. 

Take a look at a soda can – 40 grams of sugar! Not only that but it’s a highly processed food with no nutritional value.  

Drinking your calories should always be factored in to your overall caloric intake for the day.  If you’re working out and trying to lose weight, a little can of soda can actually derail your progress and spike your insulin levels, as well as, lead to more cravings for processed foods and sugar.  

As an alternative if you just need something other than water, try coconut water or the occasional kombucha. These are more natural options vs the sugary sodas you might typically reach for.

Dieting but not losing weight pitfall #7: ‘Treat’ meals that bust your caloric budget

Say you’ve done the thing and planned some healthy food.  You eat freshly prepared, pre-portioned whole real foods all week.  You know what you are eating and have a caloric deficit by Friday.

Then comes the weekend. You’re tired of eating the same old same old.  You decide on pizza for dinner and while you’re at it a beer sounds fantastic. 

No big deal right?

Well, I hate to break it to you, but one “treat meal” can be a big deal.  If gone too far overboard, one meal can ruin your calorie deficit for the week.  Meaning, you ate healthy all week and the one meal you treated yourself to, ruins everything.

Here’s an example:

Say you’re a person who requires 2000 calories a day to maintain your size.  You eat 1800 calories a day, which helps you stay in a caloric deficit each day of about 200 calories.  If you maintain course for 5 days, that’s a 1000 calorie deficit. But Saturday you decide to go out for pizza and beer.  

You have no idea how the pizza is made or how many calories are in the pale ales you downed so you skip tracking food.  You figure one meal doesn’t hurt. But that meal might be well over 1000 calories.  

Restaurants are notorious for adding fat for flavor.  That fat translates to more calories consumed. You may end up eating 3000 calories on that Saturday with other meals factored in.  Now you’ve just lost your caloric deficit you worked so hard for all week.  

Don’t let one “treat meal” derail your progress you worked so hard for.

In Summary

When you’re dieting but not losing weight you have to look at what eating pitfalls you might be falling into. 

Here’s a recap of what you need to do so that when you diet (eat well), you can lose weight.  

1. Eat at regular intervals, don’t snack all day
2. Only eat until satisfied, not full (hint: drink water)
3. Slow down and savor each bite
4. Stop eating 3 hours before bedtime whenever possible
5. Eat whole foods instead of packaged foods whenever possible, this requires some planning
6. Get your calories from solid food instead of liquids like soda 
7. Don’t go overboard on treat/cheat meals

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