7 REASONS YOUR DIET ISN'T WORKING

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

- Amber Bramble.

Regardless of reasons for wanting to shed a few kilos, losing weight can be hard. It's particularly frustrating not seeing 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 a common scenario as women reach their forties and fifties. "We've often become less active, we're busy, we're in our prime mum years and work years, we're sitting more and we're commuting a lot," she explains. "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 twenties and thirties." 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 can help rebuild some of that lost muscle. That could mean joining a gym or, if you prefer to exercise at home, logging into an app or a free class on YouTube.

YOU NEED MORE PROTEIN

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