Weightloss: Dealing With A Plateau

The biggest hurdle in any weightloss journey is the dreaded plateau. We all hit it at some point but it’s so important not to become discouraged by it. Having a period where your weight loss slows to nothing is a natural phenomenon. When you consume fewer calories than your body is used to, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. It’s a survival method your body employs and was much more suited to the days when humans had to go days without food! However, as long as you stay consistent with your workouts and healthy eating, you’ll typically start losing weight again after about three weeks. Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that if you are doing strength training, you’ll be gradually gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat and therefore you’re bound to see a slight increase in your overall weight at some point.

If you’re working out regularly and eating healthily 80-90% of the time, you should be experiencing positive changes to your body like a smaller waist, a more toned physique overall, stronger arms and legs. If you simply can’t wait for those 3 weeks to end and want to jump start your healthy weightloss, there are a few things you need to think about.

The smaller you become, the harder it will be to lose weight. That’s a given. If you’re body fat percentage is in the normal range then your body is already healthy, which makes it tougher to lose weight. Don’t make the mistake of trying to cut even more calories from your diet because that simply will not work. That will just slow your metabolism down and send your body into starvation mode. What you need to do is feed your body a little more (mostly healthy) food in order to make it feel more ‘secure’. By varying your calorie intake, in other words by having 1 or 2 days a week where you have ‘cheat meals’, you can prevent your body from plateauing. For example, for the next three days, try varying your calorie intake between 1,800 and 2,400 calories. It sounds illogical but trust me, it works. After those three days, revert back to your normal healthy calorie allowance. It’s imperative that you never allow your daily calorie allowance to fall below 1,200 if you are a woman (and 1,500 if you are a man) because on a longterm basis that can cause damage to your metabolism and will ultimately result in excessive loss of lean muscle tissue.

These are some other things to think about:

Keep a Food Diary

Keep a note of all the things you eat and drink over a week and it will be much easier to see where you’re making mistakes. Sometimes we eat unconsciously without thinking about how many calories we’re consuming, especially in the case of liquid calories! My Fitness Pal is a fantastic app for your phone that can help you track your food intake, with a existing database of thousands of food types, giving accurate nutritional data. I’ve been very surprised by how much fat or sugar can be in so-called ‘healthy’ food. .

Practice Good Portion Control

This one is important because you can be eating the right healthy foods but your portions might just be slightly on the large side. You can have too much of a good thing! I measure out all of my pasta, rice and meat portions so I know I’m not going overboard. It sounds a little OCD but over time, it just trains your brain to be able to spot the correct portion size. It becomes second nature. I also have my main meal in the evening on a side plate instead of a large dinner plate. By filling a smaller plate you can trick your brain into thinking you’re really treating yourself. Often we keep eating from large plates long after we’ve satisfied our hunger! Remember that weightloss is 80% about what you eat and 10% exercise and 10% genetic.

Introduce Good Fats

Try introducing more oily fish with healthy omega 3 fats – they actually help you to burn fat by allowing the body to release it. Fats do not make you fat – carbs and sugar do! Great sources of healthy fat include avocado, olive oil, or flaxseed oil.

Look at your Exercise Routine

Don’t over-exercise! Often doing a good 30 mins of cardio followed by some strength training 3-4 times a week is enough to make a remarkable difference. Exercising too much can elevate cortisol levels and elevate insulin, which is not good for weight loss. I actually found that when I reduced my workout sessions from 6 days a week to 4 times a week, I saw increased results. Allow your body to rest and recover because that is when the lean muscle and fat burning occurs. On the other end of the scale, if you’ve been a bit lazy and not working out as much as you should then try switching up your workouts to something you enjoy. You’re more likely to exercise if you enjoy it!

Drink more water

I know it’s boring but drinking the correct amount of water on a daily basis will definitely help with weightloss. We all need H20 for the body to perform all of it’s most basic functions. It flushes out toxins, hydrates and assists in cell function. Drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day and try to keep caffeine at a minimum. If you find drinking plain water too boring then try adding the juice of half a lemon. The lemon juice will further detoxify your body and help to keep your metabolism ticking over.

Sleep & Rest

These two factors are so important to weightloss because it’s those precious hours of deep sleep we get that helps to keep our bodies and our minds healthy. It keeps energy levels high, prepares the body for optimum fat burning and it’ll keep your mind in a much more positive state. Stress, over exercising and worrying about your weight loss will all negatively impact your progress. Take time out to relax, mentally as well as physically.