The Hidden Reason Weight Loss Fails and the Proven Solution

You don’t need another diet; you need better habits. The truth about insulin resistance, fat storage, and how to finally lose stubborn belly fat, even while eating burgers.

Reading time: 14 minutes
Last updated: December 11, 2025
Category: Weight Loss Science

Quick Answer

Why am I not losing weight even in a calorie deficit?
High insulin levels keep your body in fat-storage mode, blocking fat burning even when you eat less.

What’s more important: calories or insulin?
Both matter, but you can only burn stored fat when insulin levels are low. Different foods affect insulin differently, 100 calories of carbs spike insulin; 100 calories of protein stabilize it.

How do you lower insulin to lose weight?
Skip breakfast (16-hour fast), reduce meal frequency to 2-3 times daily, eliminate processed carbs, prioritize protein and fiber, and increase muscle mass through strength training.

The key insight: Weight loss isn’t always fat loss, and fat loss doesn’t always show up on the scale immediately.

Key Takeaways

Weight loss is not fat loss. You can lose 15kg and still have stubborn belly fat if insulin remains high.
High insulin = fat storage mode. When insulin spikes (from carbs), your body stores fat and suppresses fat burning.
Low insulin = fat-burning mode. Your body can finally tap into stored fat for energy.
Insulin resistance affects up to 50% of people and is the root cause of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Four proven ways to lower insulin: Reduce processed carbs, practice intermittent fasting (16+ hours), eat 2-3 meals daily (no snacking), and increase muscle mass.
The ¾ Rule works: 3 of 4 meals = whole foods; 1 meal = anything you want (no calorie counting needed).

Why This Matters: My Journey from 210lbs to 170lbs

Throughout history, humans ate more than they needed because food scarcity was real. Our bodies evolved to store energy efficiently. Today, food is everywhere, packed with calories, engineered for overconsumption, making it easy to eat more than necessary.

I lost 15 kilos in 3 months and finally eliminated my stubborn belly fat, not by obsessing over calories, but by focusing on lowering insulin. Yes, a calorie deficit creates the foundation for weight loss, but if insulin constantly spikes, your body won’t burn fat efficiently.

Here’s the truth: To truly lose fat, especially belly fat, lowering insulin matters more than just cutting calories.

Hunger and satiety are classified under motivated behaviours in psychology because the brain mechanisms trigger behaviours that lead to eating. That is why sometimes we eat everything on the table, even when we are full.

This is the key to unlocking healthy, sustainable fat loss, and it’s exactly what I teach in my guide Habits Over Food.

1. How Insulin Turns Excess Carbs Into Body Fat

Think of insulin as the storage manager of the body’s fat. When you wake up in the morning, your insulin levels are low. You have two options: eat or don’t eat. If you eat, especially carbohydrates like oatmeal, toast, or cereal, you spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. Insulin then tells your body’s cells to either:

Absorb glucose for immediate energy
Store it as fat for later use

It also signals your brain about satiety and shuts off fat-burning the moment you eat.

The Daily Insulin Trap

Your insulin levels remain elevated when you continue consuming carbs throughout the day, such as white bread, sugary drinks, processed snacks, and pasta. These foods instruct your body to store fat rather than burn it, even if you’re eating less overall.

That post-lunch energy crash isn’t from eating too much; it’s from the carb-induced sugar spike that floods your body with insulin. When insulin clears sugar from your blood and brain, fatigue hits hard, making you crave a nap.

When Your Body Finally Burns Fat

As blood glucose levels drop and insulin naturally dips at night, your body can finally switch into fat-burning mode. This process involves drawing from your fat stores to produce glucose.

Your body naturally tries to burn fat overnight, between dinner and breakfast. When you fast for 16-20 hours after dinner, your body burns an incredible amount of fat.

When you skip breakfast, you give your body more time to keep burning stored fat instead of immediately switching back to sugar-burning mode.

The Simple Formula:

High insulin = your body burns sugar, not fat
Low insulin = your body burns fat from fat stores

Most people think fat loss is about eating less. The truth? It’s about eating right for your age, fitness level, goals, and lifestyle.

That’s exactly what my guide Habits Over Food teaches you: how to stabilize insulin, crush cravings, and lose fat without extreme diets. Inside, you’ll find a 14-day high-protein meal plan, travel meals for Subway or McDonald’s, quick fat-burning workouts, and the tools to build lasting habits, plus a free 1-year printable habit tracker.

1. High Insulin Triggers Insulin Resistance: The Silent Killer

I was raised believing we should eat “little and often”, three sensible meals with snacks in between, meaning eating six or seven times daily to “keep the metabolism up.” This creates a massive problem.

The Vicious Cycle

As you consume energy-dense foods high in carbohydrates and fat throughout the day, there’s so much energy that your body doesn’t know what to do with it. Insulin keeps pushing glucose into fat cells because muscle and liver cells can’t hold any more.

Eventually, this constant energy overload causes fat cells to stop responding to insulin and begin resisting it; this is Insulin resistance.

However, the body desperately needs to remove extra glucose from the bloodstream (it becomes toxic if it stays there). So the body starts creating more and more insulin to move that glucose out of the bloodstream and into fat cells.

As insulin levels increase, your body fights a war, and your cells become even more insulin-resistant. When your body is insulin-resistant, it has difficulty burning fat for fuel, and you’ll often feel tired and hungry.

Common Symptoms of Insulin Resistance

You’ll start noticing these warning signs:

Cravings for salt and sugar
Difficulty losing weight (especially belly fat)
Migraines or frequent headaches
Skin tags (small growths on skin)
Dark velvety patches of skin (acanthosis nigricans) around the neck or armpits
Tingling in your hands and feet
PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) in women
Constant fatigue and brain fog

If you have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, it’s all because you have too much insulin in your body.

The good news: Once you bring your insulin levels under control, you can reverse these conditions and begin losing body fat and weight.

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms and your weight won’t budge, try the Shapestride AI Plateau Breaker, answer questions about your eating patterns, get a diagnosis, and receive personalized follow-up recommendations.

2. How to Reverse Insulin Resistance and Unlock Weight Loss

Insulin resistance is a silent killer, affecting up to 50% of people. It’s the root cause of every single leading cause of death today, globally.

When it comes to weight loss, focusing on the hormone insulin is more important than calories because your body can only lose body fat when insulin levels are low, not just when in a calorie deficit.

Why Food Type Matters More Than Calories

Different foods affect your blood sugar levels differently, and therefore your insulin levels:

Consuming 100 calories of processed carbohydrates will spike your insulin levels and hinder your ability to lose body fat.

Consuming 100 calories of protein will help keep your blood sugar and insulin levels stable, allowing you to burn body fat.

According to an article in the medicalnewstoday individuals may lose significant weight by consuming only meat and vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This can be done through nutrient fasting or the carnivore diet.

The carnivore diet feeds your body only proteins and fats, zero carbohydrates, and no sugar. Eating meals rich in proteins and fats has little to no effect on insulin levels, so your body continues burning fat.

When you drastically reduce carbohydrate intake, the body enters ketosis, burning fat as its primary energy source. This leads to weight loss, and the overall reduction in calorie intake also helps.

While the carnivore diet has potential downsides (deficiencies in essential nutrients like fiber and vitamins found in plant-based foods), it demonstrates the powerful effect of lowering insulin on fat loss.

For a deeper dive into how the carnivore approach compares to traditional calorie deficits, read: Carnivore vs Calorie Deficit: The Truth About Weight Loss.

The key is to focus on keeping your insulin levels low and steady, and not your calories.

The Four Proven Ways to Keep Insulin Levels Low

Lower your consumption of ultra-processed carbohydrates
Practice intermittent fasting
Reduce meal frequency
Increase muscle mass

Let’s break down each strategy:

1. Lower Your Consumption of Ultra-Processed Carbohydrates

Humans and the body are addicted to food, specifically, the dopamine response from processed carbohydrates. When you consume processed carbs, you get a massive, unnatural insulin spike that overloads your system and triggers a huge spike in dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure.

The Processed Food Trap

When you eat cookies or highly processed foods, your body gives you this pleasurable response, making you crave them even more. If you consistently eat processed foods, your body will always crave more refined carbohydrates, leading to increased snacking and eventual weight gain.

A dopamine surge will always make you hungry and increase your junk-food intake. Sugar is not digested completely, so the body always craves more.

Since the 1970s, companies have been adding high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener to soft drinks and packaged foods. Fructose tastes sweeter than other sugars, so you need fewer calories to achieve the same taste. However, fructose doesn’t stimulate as much insulin release as other sugars, which means it doesn’t trigger a feeling of satiety.

People who average at least one soft drink per day are more likely than average to gain weight.

The Solution: Strategic Carb Reduction

Frequent high-carb meals stall weight loss because your body never gets a break from the insulin signal. Here’s what to do:

Skip that croissant for breakfast and just have lunch and dinner. Replace simple carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. Eliminate sugar and junk food from your diet.

For practical meal planning that works with real life, check out my 7-Day 1,200-Calorie Meal Plan That Keeps You Full. It includes McDonald’s and Subway options that stabilize insulin while keeping you satisfied.

1. Introduce A Diverse Source of Fibre Before Every Meal

Add fiber to your carbohydrates to slow absorption and reduce insulin spikes. Fiber coats the carbs and slows their conversion to sugar in the bloodstream.

The Low-Glycemic Strategy

Eat mainly low-glycemic-index foods like:

Vegetables (especially leafy greens)
Fruits like berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
Whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, oats)
Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans)
Proteins (eggs, fish, chicken, Greek yogurt, tofu)
Healthy fats (avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fatty fish)

These foods are broken down more slowly, leading to a more gradual, lower rise in blood sugar and insulin levels.

Meal Composition That Works

Prioritize protein and healthy fats. Protein helps you feel full and doesn’t cause significant insulin spikes. Healthy fats slow digestion and improve insulin sensitivity.

Include proteins, fats, and vegetables in every meal:

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with berries and nuts
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast with avocado and broccoli
Dinner: Salmon with roasted vegetables and quinoa

Smart Snacking (When Necessary)

Whenever you want to snack, opt for:

Protein-rich foods like Greek yogurt or hard-boiled eggs
Healthy fats like avocados, nuts, and seeds
Low-calorie, high-fiber fruits like berries, green apples, and kiwis

Not all fruits are equal; choose those with low calories but high fiber content.

2. Intermittent Fasting: The Insulin-Lowering Powerhouse

1. Skip Breakfast

Think about the actual word: “break-fast.” That means the meal that breaks your fast. This indicates we acknowledge the importance of a fasting period before the day’s first meal.

When we sleep, our bodies don’t consume food and get a break from the effects of sugar and insulin. This is your natural fasting period, from dinner until the next meal.

When you wake up in the morning, your body is already in a state of low insulin levels. You want to keep your body in the lowest possible insulin state so you can tap into fat stores.

Let’s say you stop eating at 6 p.m. and then eat at 8 a.m. That’s a 14-hour period when your body isn’t eating, it’s fasting.

If you eat constantly, your body stores energy and never has a chance to burn it, leading to weight gain.

The Morning Fat-Burning Window

On average, people are the least hungry at 8 a.m. and the most hungry at 8 p.m.Other studies indicate that the body naturally burns the most fat early in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.

When you wake up, your body experiences a surge of hormones, including growth hormone and cortisol, which release stored glucose from your body fat and sugar stores. People are less hungry in the morning because their bodies are busy consuming stored energy.

2. Extended Fasting for Accelerated Results

Fasting for 14 hours or more lowers insulin levels and increases fat burning. Fasting teaches your body to use its fat for fuel.

According to Healthline, fasting for 16-18 hours can boost weight loss, a finding supported by more than 13 studies. Whether it’s:

16/8 method: Eat within an 8-hour window, fast for 16 hours
18/6 method: Eat within a 6-hour window, fast for 18 hours
OMAD (one meal a day): Eat one large meal, fast for 23 hours

All of these approaches boost blood sugar control and weight loss.

According to Fastic, men and women who fasted for more than 16 hours a day lost an average of 2.9% of their body fat in one month.

How to Create Your Fasting Window

To create a 16-hour fasting window, focus on:

Eating your first meal after 12-1 p.m., OR
Eating dinner early, before 7 p.m.

Remember: Fats and proteins have the lowest impact on insulin, whereas carbs like starches and sugars have the highest impact. If you skip breakfast, make sure your first meal of the day is fat and protein-focused.

3. Reduce Meal Frequency: Stop Snacking

The fewer meals we eat, the less insulin our bodies produce. Excessive insulin in the body is known as hyperinsulinemia. If not controlled, it leads to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes.

Every person with excessive body fat has elevated insulin levels. You can reduce it by:

Reducing meal frequency to 2-3 meals per day
Eliminating snacking between meals
Allowing insulin levels to return to baseline between meals

The Ideal Meal Spacing

Leave 4-6 hours between breakfast and lunch, 4-6 hours between lunch and dinner, and a minimum of 12 hours before breakfast.

The ¾ Rule: Simplicity That Works

Use this simple rule to avoid calorie counting:

3 of 4 meals = Whole foods (unprocessed)
1 meal = Anything you want (your choice/snack)

This approach gives you flexibility while keeping insulin low most of the time. You don’t need to count calories when you follow this pattern.

If you’re struggling to figure out which meals fit your goals, try the Shapestride AI Meal Planner, pick your goal and diet preference (including Carnivore, Keto, or Mediterranean), and get your personalized plan instantly.

4. Increasing Muscle Mass: The Metabolic Advantage

80% of the sugar in our bodies is stored in our muscles. So increasing muscle mass helps you burn through more sugar and improves insulin sensitivity.

The human body burns two types of fuel for energy: food (glucose/glycogen) and stored fat. By increasing your muscle mass, you help your body transition from burning sugar to burning fat more efficiently.

How Exercise Affects Fat Burning

When exercising, your body uses two primary energy sources: carbohydrates and stored fat. The type of energy your body uses depends on your heart rate:

High heart rate (intense exercise) = body uses carbs (glycogen)
Examples: weight lifting, sprinting, HIIT

Low heart rate (steady-state cardio) = body uses stored fat.
Examples: walking, slow jogging, swimming

According to the Polar Journal, even light movement can help regulate insulin levels and maintain steady fat loss if you spend most of your day sitting.

The Best Exercise Strategy for Fat Loss

Body fat is trapped energy stored around the waist or midsection for later use. To unlock this energy, engage in glycolytic activities, exercises that burn glucose stored in muscles and liver as glycogen.

Strength Training (3-4x per week):

Bench press, back squat, deadlift
Any lifts involving heavy barbells or dumbbells
Builds muscle mass and improves insulin sensitivity
Increases your resting metabolic rate

Steady-State Cardio (daily):

Walking, cycling, swimming
30-60 minutes most days
Burns fat directly when done at moderate intensity
Especially effective when fasting

HIIT (2-3x per week):

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) for 15-30 minutes
Keeps your body burning fat for up to 48 hours afterward
Preserves muscle mass and reduces insulin levels
Most effective when done in the morning on an empty stomach, your body taps directly into fat stores instead of burning yesterday’s dinner.

Tools for Busy People

For home workouts:

I love using a walking pad under-desk treadmill. It turns everyday moments, whether at your desk, watching TV, or during your morning routine, into calorie-burning time without needing a dedicated workout session.
On days when you can’t get outside or hit the gym, a Portable Mini Stepper with Bands fits anywhere and keeps you moving while you watch TV, listen to a podcast, or unwind after work.

The Protein-Muscle Connection

According to research, intense cardio without strength training can cause your body to start producing cortisol, a stress hormone that breaks down muscle tissue and promotes fat storage. That’s why sprinters have better body composition than marathon runners.

To build muscle, you need to eat foods high in protein to provide the building blocks your muscles need. Foods like chicken breast or steak (which are animal muscles) provide your body with the necessary ingredients to build muscle by converting the animal’s muscles into your own.

For detailed guidance on protein intake and meal timing, check out Why Your Scale Won’t Move: The Truth About Calorie Deficits.

The Truth About “Bad” Habits vs. Good Systems

The bad habits will keep you stuck, no matter how much you diet or exercise. It’s not about willpower, it’s about systems.

Habits Over Food shows you exactly how to break the cycle so fat loss becomes automatic, not a battle. Inside, you’ll discover:

14-day high-protein meal plan with exact portions and prep instructions
Travel meals for Subway and McDonald’s that keep insulin low
Quick fat-burning workouts you can do at home in 15-30 minutes
The complete Insulin Management System with tracking templates
Free 1-year printable habit tracker to build consistency

Stop fighting your body. Start working with it.

Practical Tips for Fat Loss: Your Action Plan

To lose body fat effectively, you need to keep insulin levels low, build muscle, and increase physical activity. Here’s your complete action plan:

Daily Insulin Management

Maintain low insulin levels:

Skip breakfast (or delay it until 12-1 p.m.)
Leave 4-6 hours between meals.
Fast overnight for a minimum of 12 hours (ideally 16-18 hours)

Prioritize proteins and fats:

Base all meals on protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and fiber
Only snack on protein-rich foods or high-fiber fruits

Don’t label foods as “good” or “bad”:

This creates guilt and often leads to overeating
Aim for a balanced, flexible long-term approach instead

Limit high-carb meals:

When you do eat them, pair them with fiber or protein
This slows digestion and controls blood sugar levels

Follow the ¾ Rule:

3 of 4 meals = whole foods
1 meal = your choice/snack
No calorie counting required

Weekly Exercise Template

Morning (Fasted):

15-minute HIIT workout (push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks)
Or 30-60 minute steady-state cardio (walk, jog, swim)

Strength Training (3-4 days/week):

Focus on compound lifts with dumbbells or barbells
Bench press, squats, deadlifts, rows, overhead press
Add a 15-20 minute incline walk after workouts

Daily Movement:

Use a walking pad, stepper, or stationary bike
Aim for 10,000 steps per day
Even light movement helps regulate insulin

If you consistently do these five things for three months, with a few planned meals where you enjoy whatever you want, you will lose significant body fat and build muscle.

Struggling with Weekend Overeating?

Most people do everything right Monday-Thursday, then undo it all on weekends. If this sounds like you, try the Shapestride AI Weekend Recovery Tool. Describe what you ate over the weekend, and it shows you exactly how much damage was done and your precise recovery plan for the week ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why am I not losing weight even though I’m eating less?

If you’re eating less but not losing weight, high insulin levels are likely keeping your body in fat-storage mode. Even in a calorie deficit, your body won’t burn stored fat efficiently if insulin is constantly elevated from frequent carb-heavy meals. Focus on lowering insulin through intermittent fasting, reducing meal frequency, and prioritizing protein over processed carbs.

2. How long does it take to reverse insulin resistance?

Most people see improvements in insulin sensitivity within 2-4 weeks of implementing intermittent fasting, reducing processed carbs, and increasing protein intake. Full reversal of insulin resistance typically takes 3-6 months of consistent habits, including strength training 3-4x per week and maintaining a 16-hour fasting window.

3. Can I eat carbs and still lose weight?

Yes, but timing and type matter. Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, vegetables) paired with fiber and protein cause slower insulin spikes. Avoid processed carbs and sugary foods that cause rapid insulin surges. The ¾ Rule allows flexibility; 3 of 4 meals should be whole foods, and 1 meal can be anything you want.

4. Is intermittent fasting safe for everyone?

Intermittent fasting is generally safe for most healthy adults, but it is not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women, people with eating disorders, children, or those with certain medical conditions. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any fasting protocol, especially if you have diabetes or take medications.

5. What’s the best time to exercise for fat loss?

Morning fasted workouts (HIIT or steady-state cardio) are most effective because insulin levels are naturally low, forcing your body to tap into fat stores. However, the best time to exercise is whenever you’ll be most consistent. Strength training can be done anytime, and adding a 15-20 minute walk after meals helps lower insulin spikes.

6. How much protein do I need to build muscle while losing fat?

Aim for 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of goal body weight. If your goal weight is 160 lbs, eat 128-160g of protein daily. Distribute this across 2-3 meals (40-50g per meal) to maximize muscle protein synthesis. Protein keeps you full, stabilizes blood sugar, and prevents muscle loss during fat loss.

7. What are the warning signs of insulin resistance?

Common signs include difficulty losing weight (especially belly fat), constant cravings for sugar and salt, post-meal energy crashes, brain fog, skin tags, dark patches on skin (neck/armpits), frequent urination, increased thirst, tingling in hands/feet, and PCOS in women. If you experience multiple symptoms, get your fasting insulin levels tested.

8. Can I drink coffee during intermittent fasting?

Yes, black coffee, unsweetened tea, and water don’t break your fast. They contain zero calories and won’t spike insulin. Avoid adding sugar, milk, cream, or sweeteners, as these will trigger insulin release and break your fasted state. Many people find black coffee helps suppress appetite during the fasting window.

9. How do I stop food cravings when fasting?

Cravings usually peak in the first 1-2 weeks as your body adapts to fat burning. To manage them: drink plenty of water, sip black coffee or green tea, stay busy during typical eating times, increase protein at your first meal, ensure adequate sleep (7-9 hours), and remember that hunger comes in waves; it will pass.

10. What’s the fastest way to lower insulin levels?

The fastest way is combining three strategies: (1) Start a 16-18 hour fast immediately, (2) Eliminate all processed carbs and sugar from your next meal, replacing them with protein and healthy fats, and (3) Take a 30-minute walk after eating. This combination can lower insulin levels within 24-48 hours.

Conclusion: You’re Not Just Overeating, You’re Spiking Insulin

You’re not just overeating; you’re spiking your insulin too often with high-carb meals and constant snacking. Elevated insulin keeps your body in fat-storage mode and blocks fat burning.

To lose body fat effectively, you need to manage your insulin levels by:

Eating balanced meals focused on protein, healthy fats, and fiber
Reducing the frequency of high-carb meals
Adding movement and strength training to your routine
Allowing sufficient time between meals for insulin to drop

By following the ¾ Rule, prioritizing whole foods, and incorporating simple daily movement, you can naturally lower your insulin levels, burn fat, and build lasting health, even with a busy schedule.

The habits you build today become the body you see tomorrow.

Want More Tips You Can Use in Real Life?

Sign up for my email list to receive weekly, realistic strategies tailored to your age, fitness level, goals, and lifestyle.

Or dive straight into my ebook, Habits Over Food, for the complete system to lose fat, stabilize insulin, and build habits that last, without flipping your life upside down.

Inside you’ll get:

14-day high-protein meal plan with exact portions
Travel meals for McDonald’s, Subway, and road trips
Complete insulin management system with templates
Quick 15-30 minute fat-burning workouts
Free 1-year printable habit tracker
Lifetime updates and new chapters

Start today, and your future self will thank you every time you look in the mirror or walk past snacks without a second thought.

About the Author

John Gitaua lost 16kg (94kg → 78kg) by focusing on insulin management and sustainable habits, not extreme dieting. After watching his father battle diabetes complications for years, he built Shapestride to help busy professionals achieve lasting fat loss without sacrificing the foods they love or spending hours in the gym.