3 Simple Ways to Break Through Weight Loss Plateau

You have made some impressive progress in your weight loss journey: in the first week, you might have lost over 5 pounds and maintained an average of 2lb loss every week…. But now, NOTHING! After months of dieting and/or exercising, it seems like you’ve hit a plateau and can’t lose any more weight.

Why does weight loss just stop?

The reason weight loss slows down or stalls is multifactorial. It could be caused by a mix of

low-intensity exercise routineoverestimating your caloric expenditure during workoutsrepeatedly cheating on your dietincreased stress levelssleep deprivation

Regardless of the underlying mechanism, there are ways to combat these factors that will help get you out of this plateau and set you up for further weight loss.

Harder Workouts
The body has amazing adaptive properties that allow it to undergo anatomical + physiological modifications to handle new challenges. For this reason, you might witness massive weight loss during the first few weeks of cardio or strength training. As your body adapts to these consistent workouts, losing weight will gradually slow down because your body learns to adapt to that stress from your workout routines. To avoid this pitfall, you need to constantly challenge your body during workout sessions to keep the muscles and cellular machinery under sufficient stress, which eventually leads to more weight loss!

Diet Adjustments
Sticking to one diet after hitting the plateau is another mistake made by beginners, even if they’re doing everything else correct. If the diet you are on doesn’t seem to cause any further weight loss after an extended period of time, it’s time to switch to another eating habit, or even adding something new to the mix, like intermittent fasting.

Metabolism Boost
The body’s metabolism gradually slows down as we age, which may hinder your weight loss journey. This process also occurs when you switch to a sudden caloric deficit status since the body interprets it as a state of starvation. To counter this phenomenon, you need to maintain an active lifestyle and consume foods that boost metabolism (e.g., green tea, coffee).The Bottom LineWeight loss plateaus can be frustrating and discouraging.

However, it’s a normal part of the weight loss process. Just remember that maintaining weight loss is more challenging than the process of burning fat itself. Hopefully, these tips will help you lose more weight and reach your fitness goals.