Breaking Through Weight Loss Plateaus: Strategies for Resuming Progress

Feb 12

I'm sure many people have asked themselves, “why does my weight stall or plateau when I’m trying to lose weight?” As frustrating as it can be, hitting a plateau is normal and expected at some point during a weight loss journey. Fortunately, there are various strategies that you can employ in order to break through the plateau and continue your progress. In this blog post, I’ll discuss what causes weight loss plateaus, as well as provide several tips for breaking through them.

Plateaus & Causes

A weight loss plateau is when an individual's ability to lose weight stumbles or comes to an abrupt stop despite consistently following a healthy diet and exercise routine. This can be caused by numerous factors, and often requires making some adjustments or revising one’s plan in order to resume progress. Here are some of the most common reasons for hitting a plateau:

First, the body adapts to changes in diet and exercise over time. As the body grows accustomed to regular activity levels or caloric intake, fewer calories will be burned during physical activity or while at rest—which means that it's possible you may not be burning as many calories as you initially were even if your workout routine has remained unchanged.
Secondly, overeating on weekends or holidays could cause someone to hit a plateau if they don't adjust their calorie intake back down after splurge days. Taking too large of an energy deficit can also lead to a lack of progress due to decreased metabolic rate which is why daily calorie deficits should not exceed 500-1000 calories total per day.
Lastly, water retention can result in temporary weight gain that could appear like stalled progress on the scale. Water retention is caused by salt intake which makes cells swell and retain more water than usual; this temporarily increases bodyweight without changing actual fat mass—so don’t let one bad day (or few) throw off your entire program!

Breaking Through Plateaus

Now that you understand some of the most common causes of plateaus, here are our top tips for getting past them:

Reassess: Take a close look at your current diet and/or fitness plan; Ask yourself if anything needs altering in order for progress to resume? Is your calorie deficit too high? Have you been getting enough sleep? Are your workouts challenging enough? Reassessing these areas could help identify where changes need to occur so that momentum resumes once again .
Eat Enough Protein: Keeping protein intake high is important because it helps preserve lean muscle mass while helping with feelings of fullness while lowering hunger levels - allowing someone to stick with their nutrition plan easier over time since they're not feeling overly hungry all the time! Eating adequate amounts of protein (20-30% of caloric intake) is key when trying to break through plateaus since it helps promote satiety while aiding in muscle recovery between workouts - both leading toward positive results when wanting an increase in metabolism overall.
Switch Things Up: If activity has become too easy or routines have become stale it’s important mix things up every once in awhile - either by adding new exercises into workouts or changing up cardio activities can help shock the body into responding positively by potentially increasing caloric burn due to increased intensity from variations compared with what was done previously! Don't forget about mixing up food choices too - sometimes people fall into same eating patterns meaning there’s little variety from meal-to-meal so switching things up here could help keep appetite levels under control better when trying not take consume excessive calories unexpectedly!
Be Patient: Remember Rome wasn’t built overnight--it takes consistent effort everyday towards goals regardless of whether small steps are taken each day; Patience is key when wanting long-term results because otherwise giving up becomes much more likely before seeing desired outcomes occur! Therefore understanding that weight loss isn't necessarily linear might make acceptance easier along with encouraging others going through similar experiences who may find themselves stuck with no idea how move forward any further!

With these tips in mind, anyone looking overcome plateaus should now have better insight into what could potentially start producing positive outcomes again; All it takes is knowing potential culprits behind stalled progress then taking necessary steps afterwards make sure things continue moving forward despite challenges being faced!

If you need assistance with weight loss or overcoming a plateau, feel free to reach out to me. Click here to find out if I can support you on your weight loss journey.

-Ravonn G.