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Is It Difficult to Lose Weight?

Losing weight is never easy. Because the most effective weight-loss strategies require both cutting calories and increasing your activity level, it can be hard to find the time you need to exercise and prepare healthy meals. The degree to which losing weight is hard, however, can be affected by personal factors such as your motivation, your access to healthy food, your age and your overall health.

  1. Challenges of Dieting

    • If you're determined to lose weight through dieting alone, weight loss can be especially tough. You'll need to cut 3,500 calories from your diet to shed 1 pound of fat, and this can mean greatly reducing your food intake. A single soda, for example, has between 120 and 190 calories, and an ounce of potato chips usually has about 150 calories. Consequently, eliminating empty calories might not be enough, unless you're a dedicated snacker. If you can't cut 3,500 calories per week, you'll lose less than a pound each week. A healthy weight-loss goal is no more than 2 pounds per week.

    Challenges of Exercise

    • Losing weight with exercise alone can seem like a good choice if you don't want to diet, but that can also be challenging. You'll burn more calories during exercise if you are heavier or have a large amount of muscle, and MayoClinic.com reports that people may need as much as 300 minutes of exercise per week to lose weight. A 155-pound person running 5 miles per hour will burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes. To lose weight with this exercise routine alone, you'd need almost six hours -- or 360 minutes -- of exercise per week. Consequently, weight loss usually goes most quickly when you combine dieting and exercising.

    Keeping Weight Off

    • Even after you lose weight, it can be tough to keep it off. If you meet your weight-loss goals and then begin loading up on your favorite foods or slacking off on your exercise routine, you'll quickly gain weight. Consequently, weight loss can't just be a one-time plan. It has to be a total lifestyle change, and permanently changing your eating and exercise habits is never easy.

    Individual Factors

    • As you age, it can become more difficult to lose weight because muscle may be replaced with fat, and muscle burns more calories than fat. Injuries, aches and pains can also make it hard to get the motivation to exercise. Because women are smaller and tend to have less muscle than men, they also tend to lose weight more slowly. Genetic factors can play a role. Some people have more trouble losing weight and gravitate toward a set weight no matter what they do.

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