6 Reasons You’ve Hit a Weight Loss Plateau


Losing weight is a battle: And like any good fight, you don’t always come out on top. At first, you were dominating, dropping weight every time you stepped on the scale. Then, the numbers began to slow, and now they’re completely stagnant.

You’ve hit the dreaded weight loss plateau.

It’s a bummer when your fat loss slows, but hitting a weight loss plateau is completely normal.

“The leaner you get, the harder it gets to lose those last few pounds, ” says Tony Gentilcore, C. S. C. S., owner of CORE in Brookline, Massachusetts.

As you continue losing weight, your metabolism starts to slow down, so you either need to eat fewer calories or burn more calories to see continued weight loss. But still, your current weight doesn’t have to be your ending weight. You just need to start approaching your fat loss plan a bit differently if you want to see results. Here, six reasons you’ve stopped losing weight-and what you can do to get back on track.

WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU CAUSE: YOU DON’T PORTION OUT YOUR FOOD





A lot of guys devalue the importance of portion sizes, says Gentilcore. You might think eyeballing the amount of food you eat isn’t doing much harm, but it can make a big difference when you’re trying to shed those last few pounds.

Say, if you add just a few extra tablespoons of peanut butter to your daily smoothie, that’s around 120 extra calories, adding up to 840 extra calories a week.

“As you get a little bit closer to your target excess weight, you have to be a little more meticulous, ” affirms Gentilcore.

If you’ve stopped seeing results, you need to pay attention to portion control. First, familiarize yourself with what you should actually be eating. For instance, a serving of beef is usually 3 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) and a serving of ice cream is usually half a cup (about the size of half a tennis ball). Then, measure it out, Gentilcore says.

After you get used to what that amount looks like, you can go back to eyeballing your portions. Here are 12 easy ways to estimate servings sizes if you desire a place to start.


WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU CAUSE: YOU TREAT YOURSELF TOO OFTEN


What’s the harm of one brownie after a hard workout, right? Well, that kind of mindset can stunt your weight loss, affirms John Raglin, Ph. D. an exercise researcher at Indiana University Bloomington’s School of General public Health.

“You could run an extra five miles, but it’s really easy to reward yourself with more than 500 calories, ” he says. “The reward usually far exceeds the extra calories you expended. ”

These excess calories stack up: If you eat a 500-calorie treat several times a week, that could be an extra day’s worth of calories each week, or more than 6, 000 calories per month. And that can make a big difference if you can’t appear to move the scale, affirms Raglin.

Instead of binging on a sundae when you “earned it, ” choose smaller portions of treats you really love, suggests Raglin, like an actually decadent piece of dark chocolate or one scoop of your favorite, high-quality vanilla ice cream.

Here’s one rule to go by: Only 10 to 20 percent of your daily calories should come from junk food, affirms Men’s Health nutrition advisor, Alan Aragon. If you feel like you’re not seeing results, try to stick to the 10 percent range if a craving hits-so if you’re an active guy eating about 2, 800 calories a day, that treat should only be around 280 calories.


WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU CAUSE: YOU THINK YOU’RE MORE ACTIVE THAN YOU REALLY ARE


When you start working out more, you might encounter something called “compensatory inactivity, ” affirms Raglin. That means you may be exercising more, but moving less throughout your day.

Many persons fall into this habit of “keeping score. ” You bust your butt during your morning sweat session. Then when you get home, you plop down on the couch for the rest of the day to binge watch your preferred Netflix display because you feel like you’ve already done enough for the day.

That’s a mistake: If you’re serious about keeping up with your weight loss, falling into this habit of not moving after exercising can really hold you back, affirms Raglin.

“Don’t miss out on opportunities to walk or be active or take the stairs, ” he says. “It’s a small difference, but you’re keeping your metabolism up. ”

What’s more, incorporating more movement throughout your day can keep you motivated, affirms Raglin. Make an effort to be active whenever you can-take your dog for a walk, kick around a soccer ball with your kids, or give yourself a daily step count target. The pounds will keep coming off, he says.

WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU CAUSE: YOU DON’T Gas UP RIGHT


Sticking to a high-intensity program boosts your hunger, affirms Raglin. You might end up feeling ravenous post-workout, causing you to overeat and gain all of those calories back instantly.

So play the preventive game: If you’re hungry going into your workout, chances are good you’ll be starving afterward. In that case, consider having a pre-workout snack to manage your hunger, affirms Raglin. You don’t want something too heavy or rich, which can make you feel uncomfortably full. Instead, shoot for an apple, which is definitely full of simple carbs to give you energy, or a handful of almonds, which contain good fats and some protein to hold your hunger over. Or you can try one of these protein bars.

If you work out before work or after leaving the office, you will need to eat afterwards. Just make sure you’re doing it right: In case you have a while to destroy before your usual dinner time, make yourself a protein shake or have a small snack so you’re not tempted to overeat at dinner, affirms Raglin.

If you end your workout just in time for dinner, check out one of these simple post-workout meals.


WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU CAUSE: YOU’RE NOT CONSISTENT IN THE GYM


Consistency matters when you’re trying to lose that last bit of excess weight, affirms Gentilcore. In fact, skipping just one workout can increase your odds of missing another one by 61 percent, relating to British research.
And consistency matters in your routine, too. Despite what you may hear, novelty doesn’t necessarily equal progress, affirms Gentilcore. For a fat loss program to work, you have to stick to a routine very long enough so you can really master it.

“The squat, deadlift, and bench press are staples for a reason, ” he says. “People don’t give themselves enough time to learn and master these techniques. ”

The sooner you become proficient at an exercise, the better you get at it. That means you can add more weight to it, helping you gain and retain muscle-which helps you burn more calories throughout the day and fend off fat. But if boring really bothers you, add fresh stuff to the last 10 minutes of your typical routine as a finisher, suggests Gentilcore.

Then, usually after about 4 to 6 6 weeks, you can think about switching your exercises up, affirms Gentilcore. Once you’ve mastered your staples, you can seek out some more challenging variations, like switching up the classic smooth bench press with the incline or close-hold bench press.

WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU Trigger: YOU DON’T RECOVER PROPERLY


You’re not likely to maintain or continue your bodyweight reduction if you’re too sore to maintain with your workout strategy out for all of those other week. Not really acquiring your recovery period could cause you to plateau significantly, said Gentilcore. When you pump iron, you’re actually wearing down your body by leading to micro tears in your muscle groups, so that it need be distributed by you time to rebuild that muscle before you get back in to it.

“People don’t recognize that going house and eating well, sleeping, and drinking enough drinking water is going to allow your body to recuperate so you can get back to the fitness center the next day so you can repeat, ” he says.

When you’re getting started first, training three days a full week appears to be a happy medium for most guys, said Gentilcore. Or you are able to do full body workouts almost every other day and allow a complete day of recovery among.

But if you would like results really, Gentilcore said it doesn’t hurt to enter the fitness center 6 days weekly, make certain you’re alternating muscles just, he says. Therefore if is your upper body day Monday, tuesday to provide your chest muscles time to recuperate work your legs.

If you’re feeling as well sore to get going again constantly, try among these ways to increase recovery after a difficult workout so that you can stay on track together with your exercise routine.

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