Have you ever felt that no matter how little you eat, your belly fat refuses to budge even an inch? Weight loss plateau can happen due to many reasons but the major cause is that your body goes into “starvation mode,” slowing down your metabolism and refusing to burn your fat stores to give you greater chance of survival during times of famine.
Although weight loss can be very frustrating, it can be resolved by a few simple lifestyle changes:
Adjusting Your Calorie Intake
You should know that in the first few days of a diet plan, you will experience a sudden drop in weight. That is you water weight that causes bloating. After that though, you will experience slower loss in fat. To counter it, you should adjust your calorie intake after every 10 pounds you lose. However, don’t fall below 1,200 calories per day as that may not be sufficient to carry you through the day.
Cutting Back on Carbs
Carbs are the worst enemies of weight loss goals. Reducing your carbohydrate intake can lead to metabolic advantage that causes you to burn more calories in the day. Additionally, low carb diet puts you in a state of ketosis, which reduces your appetite and prevents hunger pangs.
Increasing Protein Intake
Proteins cause a thermic effect of food (TEF) which burns more calories while your food is being digested. They also contain an amino acid leucine which facilities in burning body fat.
Protein also promote the release of hormones that help in reducing cravings and hunger pangs and make you feel satiated for a longer time.
Additionally, consuming proteins prevent the loss of muscle mass and reduction of metabolic rate, both of which happen during weight loss programs.
Changing Your Workout Routine
Have you been running the treadmill for the past three months but see not much change in your weight? Perhaps you need to switch it with more high-intensive training like weight lifting.
Your muscles will become familiar to the same old exercising, making your old workout ineffective. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to not just burn your body fat more effectively, but also help you get back your muscles.
Counting Calories
Research shows that people who believed they were eating only 1,200 calories per day were actually eating almost twice as much. When it comes to weight loss goals, every nibble counts.
To make sure you understand how many calories you consume in a day, use a weight loss and metabolic rate calculator, and never exceed your daily calories requirement.
Sleeping Well
A sleep of 7 to 8 hours is essential for losing fat. Insufficient sleep can lead to elevated levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. This hormone makes you feel stressed and many people go on eating binges to alleviate your stress.
This can lead to body fat accumulation.
Drinking Water
Your body often confuses your need for water as your need for food. That’s why it is essential that you keep yourself well hydrated. You should aim to drink about 100 fluid ounces every day at least if you want to lose weight. If you are prone to perspiration, it is a good idea to drink even more glasses of water to replace the lost fluid.
Bottom Line
Weight loss plateaus can be very demoralizing. However, you need to remember they are a normal part of a weight loss process and that almost everyone suffers from it at one point or another during their journey towards weight loss.
Fortunately, though, the above strategies can help you get rid of the plateau and achieve your new weight in a safe and healthy way.