Leena Watts
Weight loss plateaus are incredibly common and can be incredibly frustrating. They occur when your body adapts to your routine, but there are many ways to overcome them. One way is to vary your workout routine by introducing new challenges, increasing workout intensity, and adding resistance. Another strategy is to focus on your diet by tracking your calories and macronutrients, cutting processed foods, and increasing your protein and fiber intake. Additionally, consulting a registered dietitian can be helpful as they can review your lifestyle habits and help formulate a plan to get you off your plateau.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Consult | A registered dietitian to review your lifestyle habits |
| Diet | Include more fiber, lean protein, healthy fats, legumes, fruits, and vegetables |
| Cut processed foods, high-calorie foods, and sugary beverages | |
| Eat more frequent, smaller meals | |
| Exercise | Increase exercise, vary your routine, and try weighted jump ropes |
| Track | Calories and macronutrients |
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What You'll Learn
Consult a dietitian to review lifestyle habits
If you've hit a weight loss plateau, consulting a registered dietitian can be a great way to review your lifestyle habits and get back on track. Dietitians are certified healthcare professionals who can help you formulate a plan to overcome the plateau and continue your weight loss journey. Here are some ways a dietitian can help:
Expert Guidance
Registered dietitians have extensive training and knowledge in nutrition and dietetics. They can help you navigate through misinformation and fad diets, providing evidence-based guidance tailored to your needs. With their expertise, they can create a personalised eating plan that takes into account your health conditions, dietary restrictions, and lifestyle. This plan will ensure you're getting the right balance of nutrients to support your weight loss goals while also promoting overall health and disease prevention.
Accountability and Support
Dietitians offer ongoing accountability and support throughout your journey. They can provide tools and strategies to help you stay motivated and make healthier food choices. Additionally, they can work with you to incorporate exercise into your weekly routine and manage stress, which are both important factors in breaking through a weight loss plateau.
Identifying Underlying Issues
Dietitians can help identify underlying issues that may be contributing to your weight loss plateau. For example, they can assess your sleep patterns, stress levels, and emotional connection to food. By addressing these factors, they can help you develop healthier habits and a more positive relationship with food.
Individualised Advice
Rather than providing a one-size-fits-all approach, registered dietitians take the time to understand your unique needs and circumstances. They consider your health history, lifestyle habits, and social and environmental factors. This holistic approach ensures that the advice and eating plan they provide are tailored to your individual needs, making it more effective and sustainable.
Ongoing Education
Registered dietitians stay up to date with the latest research and advancements in their field through ongoing education. This means they can provide you with the most current and evidence-based guidance. Additionally, they can offer education and resources to help you make informed decisions about your diet and lifestyle choices.
Remember, weight management is complex, and it's normal to hit plateaus along your journey. By consulting a registered dietitian, you can gain the expert guidance, support, and tools needed to overcome these challenges and continue progressing towards your weight loss goals.
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Reduce carbs, increase exercise, manage stress
Reducing your carbohydrate intake can help you break through a weight-loss plateau. Carb restriction may cause your body to burn more calories, a phenomenon known as the "metabolic advantage". While this is debated among experts, a low-carb diet has been shown to reduce hunger, leading you to eat less without feeling discomfort.
Increasing your protein intake can also help. Protein boosts your metabolic rate more than fat or carbs, due to the thermic effect of food (TEF). It stimulates the production of hormones that reduce appetite and increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction.
To jump-start your diet, you should also increase your exercise. Research suggests that aerobic training is more effective than resistance training when it comes to losing weight and belly fat. Consuming caffeinated beverages can enhance the metabolism-boosting and fat-burning effects of exercise. You can also increase your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) by standing up more often, using a standing desk, fidgeting, and changing postures.
Finally, managing stress is important for breaking through a weight-loss plateau. Stress can often hinder weight loss. Sleep is extremely important for managing stress and supporting weight loss. Aim for 7–8 hours of sleep per night.
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Eat soluble fibre to stay full for longer
To jump-start a diet plateau, it is important to understand the reasons behind it. A diet plateau can be caused by overeating, not eating enough protein, a lack of exercise, or insufficient sleep. It is also common to hit a plateau when your body becomes too efficient at a particular workout, causing you to burn fewer calories.
One way to overcome a diet plateau is to eat soluble fibre, which will keep you full for longer. Soluble fibre dissolves in water or liquid and slows the movement of food through your digestive tract, making you feel full and satisfied. It also aids weight loss by decreasing the number of calories you absorb from other foods.
There are many foods that are rich in soluble fibre. Brussels sprouts, for example, are packed with vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting agents, in addition to their soluble fibre content. Black beans are another great option, as they have a meaty texture and are high in protein and iron, while being low in calories and almost fat-free. Kidney beans are also a good source of soluble fibre, especially pectin, which can help delay stomach emptying and make you feel fuller for longer.
Other foods that contain soluble fibre include dried and fresh figs, flax seeds, avocados, and legumes. By incorporating these foods into your diet, you can increase your soluble fibre intake, which will help you stay full and satisfied while also boosting your weight loss efforts.
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Track calories and macronutrients
Tracking your calories and macronutrients is a great way to jump-start your diet if you've hit a plateau. Macronutrients, or "macros", are the nutrients your body needs in significant amounts daily to function properly. The three macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates (carbs), and fats, and they provide your body with energy and raw materials for growth and repair. Counting your macros is a popular way to track your nutritional goals and can help with weight loss, improving diet quality, and reaching health-related goals.
First, determine how many calories you need to consume each day. This will depend on your activity level. For example, if you maintain your weight at 2,000 calories per day, adding vigorous daily exercise will increase your daily calorie goal. Then, decide on a macronutrient ratio that will help you achieve your goals. The typical recommendation for macronutrient ratios is as follows: proteins: 10-35%, carbohydrates: 45-65%, and fats: 20-35%. However, these ratios can vary depending on your specific needs and goals. For example, if you want to build muscle mass, you may want to increase your protein intake and decrease your carbohydrate and fat intake.
Once you've determined your calorie and macronutrient needs, it's time to start tracking your food intake. You can do this using a food journal, a website, or a macro-tracking app. These apps are designed to simplify how you track your food consumption and can help you calculate the calories and macronutrient percentages in the foods you eat. To track your macros accurately, it's best to measure and weigh your food using a digital food scale, although this is not necessary. Additionally, be mindful that you don't have to hit your macro targets exactly; it's more important to be consistent and make sure you're not eating too little, as this can stall your weight loss.
Remember, the key to breaking through a weight loss plateau is to make sure you're not undereating, especially if you're physically active. Changing up your diet and exercise routine can help jump-start your progress. For example, if you've been eating a diet high in carbohydrates, try reducing your carb intake and increasing your protein intake. Similarly, if you usually walk a lot, try incorporating some high-intensity exercises like jogging or cycling to challenge your body in a new way.
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Change up your exercise routine
A weight loss plateau is your body's way of adapting to your routine. It's a normal and common aspect of weight loss. If you do the same workout for months, your body will get used to your routine and become more efficient at completing the activity. This means you won't burn as many calories as your body won't have to work as hard to move a certain way.
To overcome a plateau, you need to focus on adaptation, overload, and progression. Change up your exercises by introducing new challenges. You can do this by:
- Increasing workout intensity: For example, if you enjoy walking, try walking at a steeper incline or with intervals of a faster pace.
- Adding resistance: Use weighted jump ropes or wear a weighted vest, wrist weights, or ankle weights.
- Introducing new footwork variations: Try new techniques such as the alternate foot jump, boxer step, criss-crosses, or double unders.
- Using different equipment: Try a new weight machine or jump on a treadmill, rower, or elliptical trainer.
- Doing exercises you usually avoid or find difficult: For example, if you usually exercise in a group, try a solo workout, or vice versa.
- Incorporating strength training: Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, even when you're resting. Try to include strength training in at least two workouts a week, such as push-ups, lifting weights, or using resistance bands.
Remember, it's important to increase the intensity of your workouts gradually and give your body time to recover. Don't be too hard on yourself, and make sure to celebrate your progress!
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Frequently asked questions
Here are some ways to jump-start a diet plateau:
- Change up your diet by reducing carbs and increasing protein intake.
- Increase your water intake and cut down on processed foods.
- Try to vary your exercise routine and increase workout intensity.
- Consult a registered dietitian to review your lifestyle habits and help you formulate a new plan.
Some simple diet changes to jump-start a plateau include:
- Increasing your fibre intake.
- Cutting down on sugary drinks.
- Eating more lean proteins, healthy fats, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
Some simple exercise changes to jump-start a plateau include:
- Adding resistance with weighted jump ropes.
- Incorporating interval training into your routine.
- Trying new exercises like swimming or biking.
You may have hit a plateau if you've been stuck at the same weight for a month or more and your current diet and exercise routine doesn't seem to be working. Hitting a plateau is completely normal, and it's your body's way of adapting to your routine.
