Why You’re Not Seeing Results with Your Training

Well we all want instant gratification from our training; we want results now, which will fuel your motivation to keep training. But that’s not how it works, it’s about being consistent and making small changes every day that compound over time to get you where you want to be.

Sure, you can starve yourself and train 3 times a day to lose 10 kg for an 8-week challenge, but can you maintain it for the rest of your life? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people drop a lot of weight from eating less than 1,000 calories a day and training 3 times a day, 7 days a week, then once the 8-week challenge is over, I never see them again until the next one. At that point, they’re back to where they started.

If you’ve been training for a while now and aren’t seeing the results you want, here are some of the most common reasons why:

1. You’re eating too much

If your goal is to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit – eating fewer calories than what you burn in a day. This will create a calorie deficit, which leads to fat loss.

Overeating (eating more than what you burn in a day), creates a calorie surplus and you will gain weight. This is helpful for people who want to build muscle and gain weight.

2. Lack of protein in your diet

Protein is the most important macronutrient to eat. It is the building block of lean muscle mass and when you’re trying to lose weight, you want to make sure you have enough protein to maintain as much of your muscle mass as possible and just lose the fat.

If you’re training and lifting weights, then protein will help your muscles recover after a hard training session.

Research suggests that you should eat 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. Some good sources of protein are:

lean meats – beef, lamb, veal, pork, kangaroo
poultry – chicken, turkey, duck, emu, goose, bush birds
fish and seafood – fish, prawns, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, clams
eggs
dairy products – milk, yoghurt (especially Greek yoghurt), cheese (especially cottage cheese)
nuts (including nut pastes) and seeds – almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
legumes and beans – all beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, tofu.

3. You’re not moving enough

Most of us probably don’t move enough because if you’re working an office job, you’re usually sitting at your desk all day.

The Australian Physical Activity and Exercise Guidelines recommend that adults between 18 – 64 years old should:

Be active on most (preferably all) days, to a weekly total of: 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous exercise activity or an equivalent combination of both.
Strength train at least 2 days a week.

I also recommend that my clients do a minimum of 7,000 to 10,000 steps daily. Walking is the most underrated form of exercise for weight loss and overall health.

4. You eat well Monday to Friday then binge on the weekend

Have you ever eaten so well during the week, and then decided to ‘treat’ yourself to a “cheat weekend”? I sure have, but that cheat weekend could be the reason why you’re not seeing results in your training or losing weight.

If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit (refer to #1 above), and if you’re in a deficit Mon-Fri then decide to eat 500-1000 calories more on the weekend, your weekly calorie intake could still be in maintenance or a surplus (eating more calories than you burn), which leads to weight gain.

Instead, think about the overall weekly average when it comes to calories.

5. You’re not sleeping enough

Sleep is the cheapest form of recovery you can give your body. Even better, it’s FREE. It would be best to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but nearly 1 in 4 Australian adults said their usual routine means they don’t get enough sleep.

Getting enough sleep is vitally important for your health and well-being, especially if you’re exercising. After training, your body needs to recover and when you sleep at night, your body releases growth hormones for muscle growth and repair, bone building and fat burning. So if you’re getting enough sleep, you can perform, recover and grow.