Apr
Nothing is quite as frustrating as hitting a weight loss plateau. For awhile everything is going great…the pounds are falling off, your pants are getting looser and then suddenly you stop losing weight even though you are doing everything the same as before.
It’s like your body gets greedy with the extra weight and starts clinging onto it as hard as it can. Bummer.
Why does this happen? Well, it’s actually your body’s way of trying to protect itself. Your body notices that you are losing weight and starts to panic a little. “Gosh, if they keep losing weight like this eventually they are going to starve to death!” So in an attempt at self preservation, your well-meaning body goes into something called “starvation mode”.
Essentially, what this means is that in order to keep you from starving your body slows down the rate at which you burn calories, trying to hold onto as many as it can to keep you alive.
So What Can You Do to Break a Weight Loss Plateau?
The human body is incredibly efficient. It is constantly adapting and adjusting itself to fit with how we live.
For instance, if you do the same exercise routine every single day, eventually your body will become used to it and adjust so that it can do it in the most efficient way possible.
Likewise, if you always eat the same number of calories each day, eventually your body will adjust itself to burn that amount of calories.
What that means is that in order to break a weight loss plateau, you have to mix things up a bit and keep your body guessing. If it doesn’t know what’s coming next it won’t have time to adjust and as a result you will be able to continue to lose weight.
If you’ve hit a weight loss plateau and can’t seem to lose any more weight even though you are still sticking with your diet and exercise plan, here are some things you can try to break through it and start losing again.
Vary Your Calorie Intake
Instead of eating the same number of calories each day, vary it from day to day or week to week. Eat more calories some days and fewer calories other days. Just be sure that all the calories that you are eating are coming from healthy food and not from junk food.
Doing this can help keep your body from slowing down your metabolism. If it doesn’t know how many calories you “normally” eat it won’t be able to adjust itself to burn fewer.
Try a New Exercise Program
If you’ve been doing the same exercise routine for a period of time, try something new. For instance, if you always jog 20 minutes a day, try swimming 20 minutes a day instead. Or, if you always do cardiovascular exercise like running, walking, riding a bike or jumping rope, try adding some strength training.
Mix up your workout from week to week to prevent your body from becoming overly efficient at it so that you can burn the most calories possible during your workout.
Try Adding Intervals to Your Workout
Using intervals is one of the most effective ways to burn a lot of calories while you are working out. Essentially, what it means is that you work out a normal level for a period of time, then kick it up a notch and work out harder for a few minutes, then go back to normal, etc.
So for instance, if you walk for exercise, you could add intervals to your walks. Try using a scale system to rate the effort level of your workout. On a scale of 1-10, level 1 might be laying on the couch watching TV while level 10 would be working out as hard as you possibly can.
For your walk, you might try walking the first 5 minutes at about a level 5 effort, then kick it up to a level 8 for a couple of minutes, then return to a level 5. Keep varying the intensity of your workout. As you do you’ll see a big increase in how many calories you burn.
Eat Small, Frequent Meals
Instead of eating 3 large meals a day, break your meals down into 5-6 smaller, more frequent meals.
Essentially, anything you can do to mix things up a bit and keep your body guessing as to what you might do next will probably help you break through the plateau and start losing weight again.
Just remember to always keep your food intake healthy, and check with a doctor before starting any new exercise routine to make sure you are up for it.
Also, a lot of people find that if they just stick it out on their current weight loss program they will start losing weight again a few weeks after they hit a plateau. The downside to waiting, though, is that it is really easy to lose motivation when you stop seeing results.
However, if you want you can try waiting it out. If not, try a few of the tips above and see if they help you break it more quickly.
