Why you're not losing weight even though you eat little: 7 things people miss
The scale won't budge and you feel like you barely eat. Usually the problem is one of these seven things, and almost all of them are easy to fix.
Putting in the effort for weeks while the scale won't move is frustrating. The good news is that your metabolism is almost never "broken". In the vast majority of cases there are more calories going in than you think, or the fat loss is hidden behind something else. Here's where it usually gets stuck.
1. Eyeballing portions
Research keeps finding the same thing: people underestimate what they eat by 20 to 40%. Not because they're lying, but because it's hard to judge a spoonful of oil on a salad, a handful of nuts or "a bit" of cheese. A single tablespoon of olive oil has about 120 kcal.
Try weighing everything you eat for one week. Not forever, just to see where you stand.
2. Calories you drink
Coffee with milk and sugar, juice "just with lunch", two glasses of wine on Friday. Liquid calories don't fill you up, so your body doesn't count them, but they add up by the end of the day. Two cappuccinos and a glass of juice can come to 400 kcal.
3. The weekend cancels out the week
Five days at a 400 kcal deficit is 2,000 kcal saved. One Saturday with a barbecue, beer and dessert can easily bring all of it back. You don't have to skip social plans, but it helps to have a plan for the weekend too, not just for weekdays.
4. Snacking between meals
A biscuit with coffee, a bite off your kid's plate, a few mouthfuls while you cook. Each one is tiny, which is why they get forgotten. The easiest fix is to make your meals filling enough, and frequent enough, that hunger never gets the chance to drag you to the cupboard.
5. Not enough sleep
When you sleep less than six hours, the hormones that regulate hunger get thrown off: the next day you're hungrier, sweet and fatty food looks better, and you move less because you're tired. Seven to eight hours of sleep can do more than any "fat burner".
6. Water is hiding fat loss
The number on the scale isn't just fat. A salty meal, a new workout, stress or your cycle can hold on to a kilo or two of water for a few days. That's why you look at the average over two or three weeks, not a single morning. If your waist is getting smaller or your trousers are easier to button, it's working.
7. You move less without noticing
When you eat less, your body saves energy where you don't notice: you walk less, fidget less, take the lift more often. That everyday burn can drop by a few hundred calories. The simplest fix is counting steps: a target of 7,000 to 10,000 a day keeps things in place.
So what do you do
If you recognise yourself in the first four points, the problem is estimation, not willpower. It helps when someone else takes care of the portions. Every meal in our packages has its calories and macros listed exactly, so there's no guessing. The weight-loss package has 1,300 kcal and the women's package 1,600 kcal, split across five meals so you don't go hungry.
If you're not sure how many calories you actually need, start with how to work out your number. And if all of this checks out and there's still no progress after a few months, see a doctor to get your thyroid and hormones checked.