7 REASONS YOUR DIET ISN'T WORKING

Not getting the results you're looking for? Here's why

- Amber Bramble

Regardless of your own reason for wanting to shed a few kilos, losing weight can be hard. It can be frustrating not to see solid results when you've been trying to do all the right things, especially if those particular methods have worked for you in the past.

Dietitian Susie Burrell says that this can be an especially common scenario as women reach their 40s and 50s. "We've often become less active, we're busy, we're in our prime mum years, in our prime work years, we're sitting more and we're commuting a lot," she explains.

"So there's a lot of pressure in terms of being able to maintain a calorie balance, while your metabolism is not as crunchy as it once was in your 20s and 30s." By gaining a better idea of what's happening to your body, you'll be in a better position to get results. Here are a couple of reasons why your efforts might not be working.

YOU'VE LOST MUSCLE

Our muscles require energy, so the more we have, the more calories we burn. After 30, our muscle mass declines, which sometimes makes it harder to lose weight.

Luckily, resistance training could help build some of that lost muscle. It could mean joining a gym, or if you prefer to exercise at home, logging into an app or free YouTube class.

YOU NEED MORE PROTEIN

Protein is important at any age and there's now evidence that we need more as we get older.