Hit A Weight Loss Plateau? Here's How To Push Through With These Tips
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Kaelin Tuell Poulin
As you shed pounds and get closer to your ideal weight, you might experience a common event - the weight loss plateau. A plateau occurs when your body reaches an equalising point and the number of calories it burns each day is the same as the number taken in as you eat.
Getting over this plateau can be difficult, but it is possible to break through with a few changes to your daily and exercise routine. So how do you break a weight loss plateau?
#1. Track Your Intake
Maybe you are doing really well in maintaining your lower-calorie diet, or maybe you cheated a few times for a birthday party or special dinner.
Whatever the case, when you reach a weight loss plateau and your body does not want to let go of more pounds, it is a good practice to track what you eat with a food journal and calorie calculator apps. Writing what you eat, and when you eat, it helps you understand how you are nourishing your body.
The practice will alert you to any times where you have not been faithful to your diet or when you have not eaten enough calories to energise your body so that you can adjust your eating habits and keep losing weight.
#2. Keep Decreasing Calories, Or Not
As you lose weight, your metabolism actually decreases. With less body mass, you need to burn fewer calories in order to energise your body.
This can lead to a weight loss plateau because you are still eating the same number of calories as before, but your body is not using them because it does not necessarily need them. Re-evaluate how many calories you are consuming each day and, if possible, reduce this number by 200, but never go below 1,200 calories.
On another note, it is possible that you are not getting enough calories and your body has gone into starvation mode. You can find this out by checking your food intake and, if this is the case, you can then add more calories back into your diet to get your metabolism going and help you lose more weight.
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BETSY MorrisON
It's not about dieting or pushing to extremes; it's about sustainable health and loving your body.
#3. Increase Your Exercise
Increasing your exercise in duration or intensity is another effective way to break through a weight loss plateau, since it burns more calories and speeds up your metabolism. Some ways that you can boost your exercise include:
- Increasing your exercise period by 15 to 30 minutes.
- Increase intensity: Exercising in intervals, with spurts of high intensity interspersed with strength training.
If you have been following the same exercise routine, mix it up and try doing different exercises. Changing your exercise routine will keep your weight-loss going and help you bust through that plateau.
#4. Move Around More
Burning calories does not have to happen only during a sweaty workout; moving around more frequently at work can help you continue burning unwanted fat weight. Find ways you can get going during the day:
- Get up and stretch every half an hour.
- Stand and walk around your office while on the phone.
- Walk to work, if you live close enough, take stairs, etc.
Anytime you move, you are burning calories, so finding ways you can be more active throughout the day can help you continue burning off the pounds. So be as active as possible to influence the number of calories you burn each day.
The Bottom Line
Overcoming a weight loss plateau is a difficult, frustrating and discouraging task, but you are not alone; weight loss plateau happens to everyone who tries to lose weight.
Keep following your diet and exercise routine to maintain the weight loss you have already achieved, but review and see if there is anything you can improve to help you break through to your ideal size! Whatever happens, be grateful for the weight you have lost so far.
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FAQ
A weight loss plateau occurs when you no longer lose weight despite continuing with your diet and exercise routine. It happens because your metabolism adapts to your lower weight and decreased calorie intake, burning fewer calories. Changes in metabolic rate, along with adjustments in muscle mass and dietary adherence, contribute to this phenomenon.
To break through a weight loss plateau, try mixing up your exercise routine by increasing intensity or trying new activities to challenge your body. Reassess your calorie intake and eating habits, ensuring you're not consuming more calories than you realize. Consider increasing your protein intake to aid muscle synthesis and metabolic rate.
Yes, increasing exercise intensity can help overcome a plateau by boosting your metabolic rate and increasing calorie burn. Incorporating strength training into your routine can be particularly effective, as it builds muscle mass, which burns more calories at rest compared to fat mass.
Absolutely. As you lose weight, your body requires fewer calories to function than it did at a higher weight. Use a calorie calculator to estimate your current calorie needs based on your new weight, and adjust your calorie intake accordingly to create a deficit conducive to continued weight loss.
Yes, stress and sleep significantly impact weight loss. High stress levels can increase the production of cortisol, a hormone that can promote fat storage, especially in the abdominal area. Poor sleep can disrupt hormones that regulate appetite, leading to increased hunger and potential overeating. Managing stress and ensuring adequate sleep can help overcome a weight loss plateau.
Water intake is crucial in breaking a weight loss plateau. Drinking sufficient water can boost your metabolism, suppress appetite, and help your body burn fat more efficiently. Sometimes, thirst is mistaken for hunger, so staying hydrated can prevent unnecessary snacking that might be hindering your weight loss progress.
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