Is There Something Wrong With Your Diet, Or Are You Just Not Trying Hard Enough?

Eat less. Move more. A phrase you’ve undoubtedly heard before. And it might make you feel like you’re not trying hard enough when it comes to losing weight.

It sounds so simple and obvious.

Yet you keep falling short. Overshooting your calorie target, not training consistently, and frequently swapping step count for lounging on the couch.

So it makes sense that you need to pull your finger out, right.

Maybe you’re not trying hard enough?

Or is there something else at play that trumps willpower every single time?

If you want the answer to that question, you’re in the right place. Because in this article you’ll discover why the idea that your lack of progress is down to “not trying hard enough” is perhaps fundamentally flawed.

And if you’d prefer to listen to the audio version of “Are You Just Not Trying Hard Enough To Lose Weight?”, click the play button below.

Don’t Listen To The Uninitiated And Ill-Informed.

To the uninitiated and ill-informed, the answer to your problem is obvious.

“Sort your life out and get it done.”

“Just try harder.”

“You just don’t want it enough!”

These are quite possibly the most unhelpful and misguided statements anyone could use in this scenario. The truth is, I’ve never come across someone who didn’t “want it.” In most cases, desire is not what’s lacking. And expecting willpower and belligerence to see you through is rarely going to work.

So telling yourself that you’re not trying hard enough and to try harder is far from ideal. After all, what does it even mean? There’s no practical solution for you to follow.

The Alternatives To “Just Try Harder”

The secret to successful weight loss and calorie adherence is multifaceted. Often, the approach needs to be individualised to your specific circumstances. For example, the challenges in sticking to a calorie deficit are very different for an overweight, sedentary office worker, compared to a busy single Mum of two children.

You can’t expect the solutions to be the same.

So instead of “try harder”, try these…

1. Reflect And Assess

Start by determining what’s not working for you and why.

Are your calories too low, making calorie adherence an impossible task?

Are you restricting the foods you love? This might be resulting in uncontrollable cravings that you inevitably can’t resist.

Are you following a diet that doesn’t suit you? Just because your friend Karen had success with Keto, doesn’t mean you HAVE to follow in her footsteps. Always come back to the principle of a calorie deficit and choose the dieting method that works best for you.

By identifying the specific problem, you can determine the specific solution.

2. Create Input Goals And Form Good Habits

Weak goals are typically the common denominator in failed attempts at weight loss.

With most people opting for some variation of, “I want to lose weight and build muscle.”

But real change happens when you set input goals based on the actions required to achieve the bigger goal. Over time, this builds into positive behaviour change and the establishment of good habits.

Eventually, you realise that a focus on habits means you don’t have to try as hard. Everything becomes automatic.

3. Start Small And Build

When you start trying to lose weight, it’s common to think that you need to change everything all at once. But this is rarely (if ever) the case.

Trapped in the thought that if you’re not doing everything, you’re not trying hard enough.

Of course, many things matter when it comes to training and nutrition. It’s not only about a calorie deficit and throwing some weights around. But they don’t ALL have to matter from Day one.

You see, it might be better to start small and build gradually. Start with the basics of calories (you can use my free calorie calculator to help with that). Adapt and change your approach to nutrition, so you start to see progress. Then, when this becomes more comfortable and second-nature, think about some of the more complex aspects of your diet.

So, Are You Not Trying Hard Enough To Lose Weight? The Bottom Line On The Debate

Don’t think that you have to always try harder. Try to be smarter instead.

If you keep faltering and failing with your efforts to lose weight, it might be a sign that you haven’t got things quite right, rather than you’re not trying hard enough.

There will naturally be times when things get tough. Hunger and cravings will become a factor and make adherence a challenge. In these cases, it’s not willpower and effort that will pull you through, but the right tools, strategies, and techniques to adapt and change.

Brute force and ignorance is not the answer.

Are you someone who feels they’re not trying hard enough? Has this article changed your views? Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s The Next Step In Achieving Your Fitness Goals

After reading this article, you might be excited at the prospect of transforming your physique and fulfilling your genetic potential. And to do that, you need training, nutrition, and mindset to be aligned.

Through my online education platform, The Lean Life Uni, I’ll help you lose fat, build muscle, and build the body you’ve been striving for. Ultimately, taking the guesswork out of training and nutrition so you can live a leaner, healthier life for good. 

​With The Lean Life Uni, you’ll learn a simple, stress-free way to lose fat, build muscle, and feel more confident and healthy than ever before, without torturing yourself in the gym, avoiding wine and pizza, or killing your social life in the process.

And I understand the fact you’re unsure about parting with your hard-earned cash. After all, you’ve spent thousands on pills, powders, and programmes that delivered nothing. So what’s different about me?

The simple truth is this… I get results, and I’ll teach you everything you need to know so you can maintain those results.  So answer me this.

• How much precious time are you spending trying to figure out what’s right, instead of making progress?
• Are you sick and tired are you of never seeing the results your hard effort deserves?
• How much stress and frustration is your lack of progress, adding to your life?

A lack of clarity might be holding you back from living the leaner, healthier life you deserve.

Find Out More

Click here find out more about the Lean Life Uni. And if you feel like the courses and my personal support and coaching could bridge the gap between where you are now and what you’re trying to achieve, start your membership, today.

So, if you’re even the slightest bit interested, click here for more information.

But for now, all I’ll say is, keep living the Lean Life. And I’ll see you soon.