I know you miss the buzz of losing weight like money when you initially started your weight loss plan. You want to go back to the early days of shedding pounds like anything. You must be wondering, what has gone wrong that you are not losing weight like before. Need not worry, everyone reaches a weight loss plateau. It even happens to runners and endurance athletes.
Weight loss plateau is defined as the time when your weighing scale needle refuses to budge. This often happens after an initial period of drastic weight loss. Usually, your dietary requirements change with your changing body. So when you lose weight your calorie requirements change too. And you need to modify your diet and workout plan accordingly.
Reason For a Weight Loss Plateau
During the early days of a weight loss program, a rapid drop is normal. When you reduce your calorie intake, the body releases glycogen, which breaks down into glucose and provides the necessary energy. When glycogen breaks down it releases water. This loss of water accounts for most of the weight loss that happens in the initial days of dieting. This water weight loss is temporary.
However, if you continue to restrict your diet you start to lose some muscle and fat. Muscle helps to keep the metabolism fast, so when you lose muscle your metabolism may slow down, causing you to burn fewer calories than before.
This slower metabolism causes a slow weight loss. Even if you consume the same amount of calories as before, your weight loss won’t be as drastic as before. Now that the calories you burn have equaled the calories you eat, you have reached a weight loss plateau.
To lose weight now, you need to either lower your calorie intake or increase your caloric burn.
Simple Ways To Break Your Weight Loss Plateau
Manage Stress
Getting worried about your weight loss plateau and stressing over it will do no good to you. Taking undue stress will only worsen your situation. Stress can put breaks on weight loss by promoting comfort eating and triggering food cravings.
Stress also increases your production of cortisol. Cortisol is responsible for combating stress but it can increase belly fat as well.
Learning to manage stress can make your weight loss efforts fruitful. Research done on women shows that stress management techniques can help in fast and effective weight loss.
Do Not Skimp On Proteins
Skimping on proteins while on a weight loss plateau will worsen the situation. Proteins are responsible for boosting metabolism more than carbohydrates and fats. Protein due to its thermic effect can boost metabolism by up to 20-30%. This is more than twice as much as fats or carbs.
Protein also produces hormones like peptide YY (PYY), which increases satiety and reduces appetite. Protein also helps maintain muscle mass and lose fat mass, which is essential for healthy weight loss.
When it comes to proteins, not only the total intake is important but the division of it is essential too. Dividing your total protein throughout the day is of undeniable importance. As, the thermic effect of protein is high, taking protein in every major meal will keep your metabolism fast throughout the day. Consuming 20-30 grams of protein in the three major meals of the day helps lose weight and sustain muscles.
Hit The Gym
If you have been successful in losing weight without exercising, consider yourself lucky. As not a lot of people are blessed enough to do so. If you haven’t been working out before you need to hit the gym now.
If you have been exercising before you need to up your game even more, as you have to increase the number of calories you burn than the number of calories you consume.
As weight loss plateau is a result of slowed metabolism, you need to break it by boosting your metabolism. How exercise directly affects weight loss plateau can be proven by a study. The study found that people participating, burned 6.8 fewer calories with every pound they lost.
Once the weight starts to decline, keeping it continuous can be extremely difficult. Exercise can help a bundle in this regard. Resistance training is a major determinant of how many calories you burn. It also helps you burn calories while at rest.
Try Intermitent Fasting
The benefits of fasting are not only backed by science but by religion too. So you can now break through your weight loss plateau while pleasing the Lord. Fasting is defined as avoiding any caloric food for long periods of time. This fast can last from 16 to 48 hours.
Several studies carried on intermittent fasting show that it leads to a 3-7% decrease in hip-waist circumference and 3-8% weight loss in 3-24 weeks. About six different methods of intermittent fasting, each having its own benefits, help tremendously in overcoming a weight loss plateau. Moreover, fasting also helps in protecting against muscle mass loss, leading to a healthy weight loss.
Choose Your Carbs
Cutting back on simple sugars and pumping up the fibers will do miracles for you. A low-carb diet has proven to be extremely beneficial for weight loss. Even if you were not on a low-carb diet before, going on one, will give direction to your weight loss efforts. Very low-carb diets also curb hunger and promote metabolic changes that aid in weight loss. Moreover, if you succeed in limiting your carb intake you don’t have to limit your total calories, much.
Adding soluble fibers to your diet will help you break through your weight loss plateau. Fibers keep you full for longer, making you eat less. Fibers also maintain healthy gut motility, which at times is the reason for weight loss plateau.
If you are going through a weight loss plateau right now, you need not mourn over it. These simple steps can help you overcome the plateau and will put you back on track. Everybody is different and some people might need professional help to overcome the weight loss plateau. Consulting a nutritionist might be the solution to all your weight loss issues.
Book an appointment now, to overcome all the hurdles. You can book an appointment with top nutritionists in Pakistan through Marham by calling at Marham helpline: 0311-1222398 or by online booking facility through the website or Marham mobile app.
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