If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you probably noticed something frustrating.
The first 10 pounds come off fairly quickly…but the last 10 pounds seems impossible to lose.
At Kinetics NJ, we hear this a lot. You’re eating better, exercising regularly, and staying consistent — but the scale stops moving.
The reason has a lot to do with how the body works.
When you lose weight, your body naturally starts using less energy (calories) than it did before. In simple terms, a smaller body needs less fuel. Your body also tries to protect its energy stores, which can slow fat loss over time.
This is normal biology — not a lack of discipline.
At this stage, many people think the answer is more cardio or eating much less food.
Unfortunately, that can sometimes make things harder. Eating too little or doing too much cardio can cause the body to lose muscle, which slows your metabolism even more.
This is where strength training becomes extremely important.
Strength training helps build and maintain muscle. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, even when your body is at rest. The more muscle you maintain, the more efficiently your body uses energy throughout the day.
For adults, this matters even more. As we get older, we naturally lose small amounts of muscle each year if we don’t train. Losing muscle can make it easier to gain fat and harder to lose weight.
Regular strength training helps by:
- Keeping your metabolism stronger
• Helping your body burn more calories
• Improving strength and energy
• Supporting healthy bones and joints
• Making long-term weight control easier
Nutrition also plays a big role. A healthy diet that includes enough protein, vegetables, healthy fats, and quality carbohydrates helps your body recover from workouts and keeps your energy steady.
The goal is not extreme dieting — it’s consistency.
When you combine healthy eating with regular strength training, you give your body the best chance to burn fat while staying strong.
If the last 10 pounds are taking longer than expected, don’t get discouraged. Often your body is still improving in important ways — building muscle, increasing strength, and becoming healthier overall. Your best course of action is to stay consistent, keep lifting, and fuel your body well. Progress is still happening, even if the scale doesn’t show it.
Now it’s your turn
If weight loss is your goal and the scale isn’t moving, keeping a progress journal could be the game changer that you need.
This week record your workouts and determine if you are meeting your training targets. You can use an app like my fitness pal or going old school and just writing it down.
At the very bare minimum you should be accumulating 150-180 minutes of intermediate to challenging exercise weekly.
For nutrition, log your food and identify if you are eating enough, varied, quality, wholesome foods. Record your water intake; are you getting at least half your body weight in ounces?
If after two weeks the scale hasn’t moved and you are not sure what to do, don’t get too upset, instead reach out to us here at Kinetics NJ.
We will have you come in for one of our free consultations. During your consultation we will talk through your next best steps to get the scale to move in a healthy way.
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To schedule your free consultation do email us here or text us at 732-314-3086. We would be happy to support you in learning how to move the scale once and for all.