Overcome Your Weight Loss Plateau

Overcome Your Weight Loss Plateau

There is nothing that more disheartening than following a weight loss and exercise regime for weeks, seeing results and then reaching a point where suddenly, nothing seems to work, the pounds stop dropping and exercise seems to have little effect.

Known as a weight loss plateau, many dieters experience a pause in results. Many find this predicament difficult to explain and many more will abandon their weight loss efforts due to this lack of results.




Signs that you are experiencing a plateau include:

• You weight stops decreasing

• You don’t find your exercise regime challenging anymore

• You find yourself being hungry




Fortunately, there is a real reason behind this phenomenon and by understanding the reasons for why your body halts the weight loss process, you can then progress beyond weight loss plateau, to continue with healthy eating and exercising and eventually you will reach your target weight.

What causes a weight loss plateau?

Your body may stop losing weight after a period of dieting and exercising because your body has learned to adapt to your higher activity levels and lower calorie consumption. The human body has evolved to try to keep weight, not lose it and is constantly trying to keep your calorie input and energy output in balance.

How can I beat the weight loss plateau?

Firstly, don’t give up, however tempting it may be to think that it just isn’t working and reach for the snacks, do persist. Remember that a plateau is completely normal, and don’t beat yourself up about it. If you can get past this stage you are more likely to keep the weight off for good.




Next, be aware that your metabolism is probably slowing down for many reasons. Your new slimmer body doesn’t need as many calories to make it work, so your metabolism simply isn’t burning as many as before. This can be improved by weight training. Weight training builds muscle mass and the more muscle mass you have, the greater you metabolic rate will be.




Don’t starve yourself. If you’re consuming less than 1200 calories a day, your body will enter starvation mode. This will slow your metabolism right down as it tries to hang onto fat rather than burn it for energy.




Lastly, try to shake things up a little. If you’ve been doing the same old workout for weeks, your body has probably gotten used to it and no longer finds it a challenge, and doesn’t need to use as much energy to complete it. If you normally do an hour long aerobics work out, switch to an hour of kickboxing or swimming to give your body a new challenge.