Just because you can lose weight while using meal replacement shakes does not mean that you are guaranteed to. Here are five reasons why you may not be losing weight (even though you want to).
Reason #1 You aren’t measuring properly
This issue is not specific to meal replacement shake diets but affects all diets. Most people start diets with no real idea of what they weigh, what percentage of their body is fat, and what percentage is muscle.
If you don’t know where you are starting from, then how can you judge whether you have been successful or not?
Before embarking on any diet, it is a good idea to know where you are starting. Weigh yourself, take profile and side-on photos of your physique, and if you are able to, take measurements of the circumference of your arms, legs, waist, abdominals, and chest.
Write these measurements down and keep them safe. After 3-4 weeks, retake all measurements (do these first thing in the morning for best results) and log them in your notebook. Retake the measurements again after a further 3-4 weeks.
If by the third set of measurements you still haven’t seen any changes in weight, appearance, or circumference, then your issue is not measurement-based. But the majority of people will see a difference over that time.
If you don’t take measurements, then you will just be guessing, something that we humans are terrible at doing. We tend to underestimate our weight loss, giving the impression that nothing is happening. Or we overestimate our initial weight loss, meaning that our results look less impressive when we finally take measurements.
Reason #2 You haven’t been following the diet long enough
If you are taking measurements correctly, and not seeing changes, then one explanation is that you haven’t been following your diet for long enough. Most studies on diets last 12 weeks for a reason, this is the usual amount of time it takes to see a notable difference.
If you are annoyed at not seeing any weight loss but have only been following your diet for 3 weeks, then please do not despair.
Weight loss is not a linear process. You do not lose 0.5 kg per week, every week like clockwork. You may lose nothing for 3 weeks, then lose 2 kg in the fourth week. You may then (through no fault of your own) gain half a kilogram in week 5, before losing a further 1.5 kg the week afterwards.
There are many reasons for this (inaccurate measurements, body weight fluctuations during the day, hormonal fluctuations etc) and it can be frustrating in the short term.
But stick with your goals for 12 weeks, and provided you are following your diet correctly, you will see results.
Reason #3 You may not be in a calorie deficit
While the first two reasons on this list are more to do with poor measurements or expectations, this reason is based on an actual issue with your diet. At the beginning of the article, we talked about how weight loss is achieved.
You need to be burning more calories than you are consuming. If you are not losing weight, then you may not be burning more calories than you are consuming. Even if you have cut down the number of calories you were eating, and you are moving more.
This may sound crazy but think about it. Before going on the diet, were you gaining weight over time? Probably. Weight gain is fairly common as we age. This means that you were operating in a calorie surplus. You were consuming more calories than you were burning, the excess calories were stored as fat.
For example, let’s say that you burned 2,000 calories per day, but you were consuming 2,400 calories per day. If you started a meal replacement shake diet and started exercising you would change the calories in and the calories out.
Perhaps you now burned 2,200 calories and you managed to lower your calories in by 200, to 2,200 per day. This would not lead to weight loss; it would lead to weight maintenance. You are no longer gaining weight, but you aren’t losing weight either.
All you have to do is lower your calories very slightly (an extra 50 calories per day) and suddenly you are in a calorie deficit. Or you could add more exercise into your lifestyle, perhaps something fun like going on a hike?
Most successful diets are a little more aggressive than that, creating deficits of 200-500 per day, but they are harder to maintain. Create a 200-calorie deficit and you will see good results in the long term.
Reason #4 You are drinking the wrong meal replacement shake
Not all meal replacement shakes are created equal. Shakes such as Rootana are high in protein, high in fibre, and contain just 400 calories. Making them ideal for weight loss. However, there are meal replacement shakes that can be 550 calories or more, and meal replacement shakes that are low in protein/fibre. Take a look at some of the health benefits associated with Rootana here.
Reason #5 You aren’t eating enough
This may sound counterintuitive. But bear with us here. Obviously, if you create a large enough calorie deficit you will lose weight. But that does not mean that eating too little is going to lead to better results. There are a couple of reasons for this:
- Consuming too few calories in your main meals can cause you to overeat snacks after hunger cravings affect your decision-making.
- Not eating enough calories can lead to your body preserving energy. You may unconsciously move less during the day and have less energy to exercise properly in the gym.
This is why it is so important to spend time planning your regular meals. They can’t be too high in calories as this will prevent you from losing weight, but they can’t be too low in calories as this will negatively affect your chances of success. You can also increase the calories in your Rootana shake by trying some of these tips and tricks.
