Are you working like a beast — hitting the gym and tracking calories — but only to find out that you don’t get your expected results? Find out the four surprising reasons why you’re not losing weight even while giving your all in your workouts.

There’s no easy way to lose weight. In fact, the whole process can be tricky and changing your diet plus regularly exercising might give different outcomes for everyone.

There can be a whole lot of reasons why you’re not losing weight. Here are some of them:

You’re all about the cardio.

Yes, cardio is necessary. You know that it’s good for your heart and metabolism, however, doing too much of it can make it difficult for you to lose weight. Longer sessions like staying on the elliptical for can eat away your lean muscle mass, which is important for boosting your metabolism to burn more calories.

Doing too much cardio can make your body more endurance-focused, which stores energy as fat to ensure it has reserve fuel to keep you running. Also, it can increase your appetite, which can lead to binge eating.

You’re not giving weightlifting a chance.

If your biggest goal is to lose fat, there are other exercises that offer a better bang for your buck. Did you know that the most effective way to lose weight is by doing strength training? You can build lean muscle by adding strength training to your cardio. The fact is: more muscles mean more fat will burn.

Not entirely ready for this? Well, it’s best to go for some interval training with short bursts of all-out effort added into your session. These exercises are more effective at targeting stubborn fat. For beginners, start adding resistance training to your routine. Body weight exercises such as push-ups, squats, and lunges are a great place to start that won’t also be much of a shocker. From there, you can build your way up for a more hardcore workout such as weightlifting.

You’re not giving it all.

Losing weight is more of a trial-and-error process – you gotta find out what works the best for your body as it’s different for everyone else.

Quality over quantity… Always. Workouts should be intensity-dependent, not reliant on time. Keep this in mind: the harder you work, the shorter time you need to do it. Maximize your time in a personal fitness training class to achieve an ‘afterburn’ effect which means your metabolism is revved up for 24-48 hours afterward.

You’re not resting at all.

Achieving that afterburn makes you all pumped up for another workout, but there are days when you should just give it a break. You can do this by focusing on different muscle groups every other day.

Recovery is often more essential than the exercise itself. It’s when your body does most of the actual fat burning. So, always take your time to fully recover so you’re ready for a more hardcore workout. The biggest advice: listen to your body. And get a personal fitness trainer who can push you to your limits, but give it some lovin’, too.