I would be a rich woman if I had a euro for every time I was told "...but I eat clean!" when a client says they still aren't losing weight. It's a common problem so here are my top 4 possible reasons why!
1) Watch that portion size.
Your portions are too big. At the end of the day weight & fat loss requires you to be in a calorie deficit, so even though your eating healthy you can still be going over your daily calorie expenditure for your body. For example, although chicken is super lean if you eat 3 breasts you're still consuming nearly 500 calories. That's calories your body needs to burn. Simply solution: reduce your portions.
2) Slow up on the booze...
Try cut out the vino! if you're consuming even one bottle of wine every weekend with your meals you're roughly taking in the equivalent of 3 Mars bars. My clients often forget that alcohol still contains a lot calories and can easily set you back if your consuming it regularly. Solution - limit drinking to once or twice a month instead of weekly. You'll also enjoy it more the less you have it!
3) Get moving!
Get your body moving! For example, if you work in a job at a desk all day then coming home to sit on the couch for the evening with no other exercise or activities the amount of calories your body burns will be a lot less then that of someone that exercises daily. Solution - try get out for walk on lunch breaks! Or try add in some weight training/class at least a couple of times a week.
4) Stay balanced...
You may not be eating enough! Now this might go against what I said in point 1 but bare with me. When you are not consuming enough calories some days you can feel deprived. This in turn might lead you to binge eating every few days, so some days you are under-eating, other days you're over-eating. This will lead to no weight loss. The solution is to calculate roughly how many calories a day your body needs to function; the easiest way of doing this is multiply your weight in pounds by 10, for example 150 pounds ×10=1500 calories. This is what your body needs just to function, you then need to multiply this number by your activity level:
Sedentary: 1.2
Light activity: 1.3
Moderate activity: 1.4
Heavy activity: 1.5
So I'll pick light activity as an example and multiply 1500 ×1.3 = 1950 calories a day.
So 1950 calories is what you eat to remain the same weight. If you want to lose weight (roughly 1 lb per week) you need to reduce that number by 500 calories a day. I suggest to eat 250 calories less per day in food, and burn 250 calories more in exercise.
If you are a beginner this is a simple way to start. Make sure the calories you are eating are from good sources of food such as vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and eggs; you'll be good to go!
Aoife is a Foods For Fitness Ambassador and founder of Pixie Fitness. She is a fitness and well-being consultant who loves exercising, nutrition and her family! Follow her journey at www.pixiefitnessdublin.ie or on Instagram here. 
