4 Things to Try When You Can’t Lose Weight

If your weight won’t budge no matter what you try, you’re not alone—and you’re not doing anything wrong.

Weight loss over 50 can feel like a mystery, but it’s often just your body asking for a new approach. After maintaining my weight successfully for a decade, I found myself gaining again; so I got curious, not panicked.

Here’s what I tried that worked, and what might help you too.

This post addresses the frustrating plateau many women experience when they’re trying to lose weight but nothing seems to work, especially after 50.

Rather than promoting dieting or rigid rules, I emphasize listening to your body, eating in a way that supports your energy and well-being, and experimenting with sustainable habits that feel good to you.

1. Adjust carbohydrate intake, particularly by reducing sugar and processed carbs.
2. Increase fiber and water for satiety and improved digestion.
3. Tweak meal timing and reduce snacking to support hunger hormone regulation.
4. Change up your exercise routine to increase intensity and challenge your body in new ways.
5. Shift more eating to earlier in the day, reducing late-night meals to support metabolism.

Are You Feeling Stuck?

It is so frustrating when you find yourself wanting to lose weight but it just won’t budge! Here are five things to try when you can’t lose weight.

Long-term weight loss isn’t just once and done. As probably all of you know, even the most successful dieting experience ends in weight coming back.

So, I gave up dieting a long time ago! Instead I have focused on nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight for me.

To be clear, if you are already at a healthy weight, this isn’t designed to get you to a skinny weight. 

If you have health problems or an eating disorder, of course work with your health provider. However, these things to try are mostly all just adding more of some kinds of food and cutting back on others.

It’s important to take into account your lifestyle and you own likes and dislikes. There is not one approach that fits all. However, you may find something here that will help you reverse your weight gain.

I don’t advocate for arbitrary portion sizes or fewer calories. For my clients, I teach them to pay attention to their hunger and eat in a way that makes their hunger hormones more effective. 

Why I Am Writing About This

What works for a time may not work for all time. What I wrote about weight loss in my foundation posts, 10 Tips to Lose Weight and 7 Powerful Tips to Lose Weight has worked for almost 10 years for me.

For 10 years from 53 to almost 63, I have been really happy with my body and my relationship with food. Then it wasn’t working as well. So while I didn’t go up to my original weight, I did gain about 10 pounds and a new size in clothing.

When I first wrote this, I had four things I was trying. I am adding one more. You don’t have to try all of these. But you may feel inspired to give one a try and see if it helps.

Adjust Your Carbohydrate Consumption

Carbohydrates are absolutely necessary in your diet. But when you gain some weight quickly, or it’s creeping up, or it just stubbornly sits there; this is the first place I look.

The reason I start with carbohydrates is because you can not be overeating and still gain weight if you are eating too many carbohydrates or the kind that tend to make us gain weight easily.

I recommend writing down everything you eat for a week or so, to see what and when you are eating. Then you can look at your daily foods and see what is happening.

You don’t have to go without carbohydrates!

But you can try some adjustments and see how that works.

Eliminate sweets

I love a nice chocolate or other sweet treat after lunch or dinner. But having a small piece of dark chocolate is not the same as having a cookie or piece of cake.

When I was looking at what had changed for me, I realized that I was eating more sweets and larger portions. My one or two pieces of candy after one meal, had become full-size candy or a piece of cake daily.

You can eliminate all sugar treats safely–we get plenty of sugar without them. 

Some of you will deal with sugar cravings. Here is something to keep in mind. Having cravings is not a terminal state. They will go down if you stick with it.

The fact that you have cravings is a signal that you are eating too many anyway or that they have an emotional function in your life.

The answer is not to give up! The answer is to not eat sugar-based treats and bulk up your meals with healthier and filling foods.

I have a great post on how to handle sugar cravings and that can help too.

If you aren’t ready to get rid of all the sugar, try having just a little something along with or after your meals.

Don’t have it as a snack. Having it with your meals usually means you eat less of it since you should be full and satisfied.

This alone may help your weight budge. As an added bonus, most of my clients are also thrilled because they feel better and have less pain. Yes, too much sugar can cause pain.

Eliminate sugary beverages

I was working with a client whose weight was being stubborn. When we went over her food intake I noticed a couple of times a day, she was having tea.

When I asked her to check the can, she was shocked to see how much extra sugar she was adding to her daily intake.

There’s nothing wrong with tea, but when it’s adding 50 grams a sugar to your day, it can cause weight gain. 

So the usual culprits are fancy coffee drinks, sweet tea, sodas, cocktails, and even so-called healthy carbonated drinks. 

Watch your bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, and chips 

I grew up eating all these kinds of food with each and every meal. It wasn’t a problem for an active child and we stuck to only eating at meals.

However, once I was in my fifties, I intentionally began eating less of these foods. All through my forties and early fifties I weighed more and wore much bigger clothes.

Because of digestive problems, I totally eliminated wheat products which at that time, included all breads and pastas.

A few months ago, I began eating more bread. I had discovered sour dough bread and I loved it! In addition, I was baking and tasting more sweet treats.

The result was that my body gained weight quickly. It was fun putting it on, but once on it ws difficult to budge, which is how this article came about.

At the moment I am limiting my eating of bread or pasta to once or twice a week. 

Carbs you can enjoy

There are so many delicious sources of carbohydrates!

​All vegetables and fruits have carbs. You don’t have to stick to only low carb vegetables and fruits. 

I try to include a variety including higher carb vegetables and fruits daily. These help fill me up, satisfy me, and give me energy.

While some people swear by extremely low carb, I am not one of those people. I need a little higher carb food every day.

So, I get these by eating potatoes, winter squash, carrots, and beets, as well as different fruits.

If you want to track carbs by grams, most of my clients find that keeping total daily carbohydrates to under 100 grams is helpful. 

This is not medical advice, but by keeping your carbs lower, ideally you are also keeping your blood sugar levels lower.

Weight gain does come from higher blood sugar levels, so keeping them lower by not eating super high carb processed food can really help in the long run. 

Of all your eating habits, I think making the switch from centering meals around high carb processed foods such as pasta and bread to a more vegetable-based diet can make a big difference.

How to feel satisfied when eating lower carb

The simple answer is to eat more of other things such as vegetables, healthy fats such as olive oil and by adding higher fat foods such as avocados.

Increasing fiber as you’ll read below also helps. Also make sure you are eating enough protein with each meal.

Eating enough to feel full and satisfied is a huge help in not being vulnerable to cravings.

Add Fiber and Water to Your Diet

One of the things I decided to try was making sure I was getting enough fiber and water. Estimates for optimum fiber intake is 25 to 32 grams of fiber per day for women.

I wanted to get my fiber intake up there through food and without supplements. 

When adding fiber to your diet, you also want to make sure you are drinking enough water. I consider myself someone who drinks plenty of water, but I also wanted to make sure I was getting enough.

There are many opinions on this and it can be confusing. 

In general, women require about 12 cups of water a day total. This takes into account your other liquids and even the water in your food.

So, how much plain water do you need and why?

According to NIH, they recommend about eight cups and except for medical reasons such as a kidney stone, that should be adequate.

Eight cups is 4 pints/2 quarts. The best way to make sure you are getting that amount of water is to fill up your container in the morning and make sure you drink it all.

It is possible to drink too much water but if you drink a few extra cups per day, it shouldn’t be a problem. So, two quarts NOT two gallons. 

For me, increasing my fiber and water resulted in me naturally getting more fruits and vegetables and I lost three pounds without effort over the first two weeks.

I have a post called How to Increase Your Fiber Naturally that details what I did to increase my fiber every single day. 

Play With the Timing of Your Meals and Food Intake

When I begin working with a new client, the thing I see the most often is that these women are eating too little at their meals and snacking too much throughout the day and in the evenings.

I always recommend eating enough at a meal so you can go easily for about five hours until the next one. (unless you have a reason not too)

Along side that I also recommend eliminating snacking. 

I know, we’ve been on this portion control thing at meals. But that leaves most women hungry and susceptible to cravings between meals and at night.

It’s estimated that snacking can easily double your daily calories. So, by eliminating snacking, you can effortlessly reduce your calories. 

Another thing to try is to not eat after dinner. This is an easy way to have a 12-hour break in eating.

My sweet spot for maintaining my weight is 12-14 hours from dinner to my first meal of the day. I’ll still have milk in my coffess. I’m not hungry when I wake up but around 10 or so, I like to break my fast. 

However, if I’ve been gaining then I extend my morning fast and I’m a little stricter. I’ll drink my coffee black and go for 15-17 hours without eating.

It’s really not as bad as it sounds since I am used to not eating in the evening and I sleep through much of the fast.

This is a really easy way to nudge your body to lose weight, since you are sleeping for most of it. Sometimes this change alone will help you lose weight.

In the beginning, it will take some trial and error to eat enough at meals. If you find yourself getting hungry between times, definitely eat something.

If you have to eat a snack, then make it like a mini meal. Don’t eat sugar or foods high in carbs. Have some protein, vegetables, and healthy fat. Think of it like a mini meal rather than a snack. 

Think peanut butter and celery. Or an apple with almond butter. Or a hard boiled egg or two with some veggies. Another option would be to have a small portion of a left over meal.

Here’s how to get started with intermittent fasting if you want more information about this.

Change up Your Exercise

I love to exercise and do so most days as I’ve been doing for over forty years. The reason I love exercise and stick to it is that I have always chosen activities that I enjoy (for the most part).

The change I made recently was to increase the intensity of some of my workouts.

If you don’t exercise at all–then the thing to try is get moving. Take walks or do some at-home workouts. Commit to at least 15-minutes a day to get started. 

If you are already working out, change it up a bit.

For me, I do a variety of fusion exercises such as barre, ballet, pilates, and yoga plus walking outside or in my home.

This has helped me maintain my weight my entire adult life. 

However, I decided to change it up recently. To get more intensity I added a couple of step workouts to my week. I loved step workouts back in the day.

I still love them and they push me to work my muscles in a different way and the intensity is naturally higher with the step. I am also adding some more weight bearing exercise.

If you are an outdoor walker, here are ways to increase the intensity of your walks. An easy way if it’s available is to add hills to your walks.

In general, you can increase intensity by working out longer, using more weight, or working harder during a workout.

You don’t have to go crazy but it’s something to play with. In the long run, you want to workout consistently. So find ways that feel good but push you a little.

Eat More Earlier in Day and Stop Eating Earlier

This is another timing hint and the newest thing I want to try.

When I first lost my weight I wrote about it in an early post called Can You Lose Weight After 50? This was my very first post about weight loss, eating, and food.

What I had discovered was that one of the significant reasons I was able to lose weight was that I was eating lighter in the evenings.

This has continued to be a core foundation.

However, life happens and as the years went by, I began eating less in mornings and eating heavier and later at night.

The idea is to eat breakfast. Intermittent fasting has been so helpful over the years. I’ll still have that break in eating but it will begin earlier in the evening and finish earlier the next day.

Four Things to Try When You Can’t Lose Weight

I never look at weight loss as the only goal when eating and moving. It’s important to focus on nutrients and your metabolism when making decisions about your diet.

While I am not a doctor, most of my clients find that eating this way improves their markers. By not focusing on calorie intake or portion sizes, you instead focus on how food makes you feel and how it affects your body.

So, while you may not love the idea of eliminating sugar at first, I can almost guarantee, you will love how you feel when you do.

Because this is not just about eliminating food, it’s about eating more food and more satisfying food. A big part of my work is helping women eliminate problem eating, so they can focus on other things. 

Maybe that is the best part of all of this. When food isn’t controlling your life, you can actually focus on your life.