You’ve been crushing your workouts, eating clean, and tracking your macros… but the scale won’t budge. We’ve all been there. It’s frustrating, discouraging, and can make you want to throw in the towel.

But before you give up, let’s look at three often-overlooked factors that might be stalling your progress.

1. NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

Your workout lasts maybe an hour. What are you doing the other 23 hours? NEAT accounts for all the calories you burn outside of formal exercise—walking to the car, fidgeting, carrying groceries. If you crush a workout but then sit on the couch all day, your total daily energy expenditure might be lower than you think. Tip: Aim for 8k-10k steps daily.

2. Sleep Quality

The Sleep Foundation states that lack of sleep spikes cortisol (the stress hormone) and ghrelin (the hunger hormone). This double whammy makes your body store fat around the midsection and increases cravings for high-calorie comfort foods. Tip: Prioritize 7-8 hours of quality sleep.

3. “Hidden” Calories

Research shows that even when tracking potential, people underestimate their intake. That splash of heavy cream in your coffee? The handful of almonds you grabbed walking past the pantry? The sauce on your salad? These add up. You might be consuming an extra 200–500 calories a day than you realize. Tip: Track EVERYTHING for a few days to get a baseline.

Break through that plateau by focusing on these unseen factors!