Sometimes losing weight can seem impossible.

You may be watching your calories and carbs, eating enough protein, exercising regularly, and doing all of the other things known to support weight loss, yet the scale won’t budge.

This problem is actually fairly common and can be extremely frustrating.

Read on to learn why achieving your weight loss goal can be so difficult — and whether it’s a good idea to keep trying.

This article specifically addresses women, but most of the principles here apply to everyone.

Losing weight is a big business on a global scale.

It’s estimated that weight loss programs and products generate more than $150 billion in annual profits in the US and Europe alone (1Trusted Source).

Programs that require you to purchase special food, supplements, and other products tend to be the costliest.

Though “fat burners” and other diet pills are popular, they often aren’t regulated and may be downright dangerous (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).

Unfortunately, even those who aren’t very overweight appear willing to risk the potentially harmful consequences of taking diet pills.

A study including more than 16,000 adults found that about one-third of those who took weight loss pills weren’t obese before they started taking the pills (3Trusted Source).

Clearly, many people spend a great deal of effort and money trying to lose weight.

And even if you don’t join a weight loss program or buy diet pills or products, you may end up devoting much of your free time and energy to the pursuit of being thin.

SUMMARY:The weight loss industry generates billions of dollars a year by capitalizing on many people’s desire to be thin at any cost.

Many women spend a significant amount of money, time, and effort on trying to lose weight.

Nevertheless, some seem to make little progress.

Several factors influence your ability to lose weight.

Health Conditions

Certain diseases or disorders can make weight loss extremely difficult, including:

• Lipedema: Believed to affect nearly one in nine women worldwide, this condition causes a woman’s hips and legs to accumulate excess fat that is extremely difficult to lose. It often also causes easy bruising and pain (4Trusted Source).
• Hypothyroidism: Low levels of thyroid hormone lead to a slowdown in metabolism that can impede weight loss efforts (5).
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): This condition is characterized by insulin resistance and hormonally driven fat accumulation in the abdomen. It’s believed to affect up to 21% of reproductive-aged women (6Trusted Source).

Dieting and Weight Loss History

If you’ve lost and regained weight several times in the past, or yo-yo dieted, you’ve likely found it more challenging to lose weight with each subsequent attempt.

In fact, a woman with a long history of yo-yo dieting will tend to have greater difficulty losing weight than one whose weight has remained relatively constant.

Research has shown that this is mainly due to changes in fat storage that occur after periods of calorie deprivation.

Essentially, your body stores fatter when you begin eating more after a period of deprivation so that it has a reserve available if calorie intake decreases again (7Trusted Source).

In addition, a recent animal study suggests that yo-yo dieting may cause an immune response in fat tissue that makes fat loss more difficult (8Trusted Source).

Gut bacteria may play a role too. Repeated cycles of losing and regaining weight seem to promote changes in gut bacteria that lead to increased weight gain over the long term (9Trusted Source).

Age

Aging presents many challenges for women, including making it harder than ever to lose weight.

Moreover, women who have never been heavy in the past may struggle to maintain their usual weight as they get older, even if they eat a healthy diet.

Most women gain about 5–15 pounds (2.3–6.8 kg) during the aging process due to a reduction in muscle mass and physical activity, which results in a slower metabolism.

Additionally, weight gain during menopause is extremely common due to the many hormonal changes that occur. Trying to lose weight during and after menopause can be incredibly difficult (10Trusted Source).

Gestational Influences

Unfortunately, your tendency to carry excess weight may be partly due to factors you have no control over.

One of these is genetics, but other, lesser-known factors include the conditions you were exposed to in the womb.

These include your mother’s diet and the amount of weight she gained during pregnancy.

Research has shown that women who gain excessive weight during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to large babies who become overweight or obese during childhood or as adults (11, 12Trusted Source).

What’s more, a pregnant woman’s dietary choices may affect whether her child develops a weight problem in the future.

A recent animal study found that rats that were fed a “Western” diet while pregnant gave birth to babies that had slower metabolisms and that became obese at several points during their lifetimes (13Trusted Source).

SUMMARY:Many factors can affect your ability to lose weight, including certain health conditions, your dieting and weight loss history, age-related changes and your mother’s diet and weight changes during pregnancy.

Although your diet and exercise habits play a role in determining your weight, your basic shape and size are largely determined by your genes.

In fact, research suggests that both how much you weigh and where you tend to store fat are strongly influenced by your unique genetic pattern (14Trusted Source).

Taking steps to reduce belly fat is a healthy and worthwhile goal. On the other hand, if you try to force your body to conform to whatever size is currently in vogue, you’re working against nature, and your efforts may ultimately lead to frustration.

Throughout history, different body types and sizes have been considered “ideal.”

As recently as 100 years ago, being somewhat plump was a desirable, feminine trait in women. Thin women even tried to gain weight to become more appealing.

However, it is just as difficult for a naturally thin person to put on weight as it is for a naturally larger person to lose it.

During the Renaissance, Dutch artist Peter Paul Rubens became well known for his nude paintings of full-figured women, whom he believed were the epitome of beauty.

To this day, the term “Rubenesque” is used to describe a beautiful, full-figured person.

In the 1800s, the French Impressionists, including Monet, Renoir and Cézann, painted women of the day who were considered beautiful.

Looking at these paintings, you can easily see that many of the women were much larger than today’s runway models.

There’s no denying that the “ideal” female body has changed considerably over the past 60 years, becoming slim and toned as opposed to rounded and soft.

However, women of the past weren’t bombarded with often unattainable images on the Internet and TV.

Today’s women are also faced with an overwhelming number of ads for programs and products that promise to help them achieve today’s “ideal” body.

SUMMARY:During many periods in history, larger women were considered feminine and attractive. However, the modern “ideal” body is smaller, thin and toned, which may not be attainable for everyone.