Plateaus: Breaking Through
If you’ve made past weight loss attempts, you likely have experienced plateaus on your path to a healthier body weight. These plateaus can be frustrating and journey-ending for many, but they don’t have to be. This article explains the main reason for their occurrence, describes a healthy mental approach you can take if you experience one, and teaches how to break through your next plateau and leave it in the rear view mirror.
While there are a handful of potential reasons for your weight loss plateau, the most probable culprit is that the number of calories entering your body has become equal to the number your body is burning. This can happen when dietary vigilance begins to wane and old eating habits begin taking back over. Another possibility is that your exercise routine changes and you begin burning fewer calories. Yet another reason for ‘calories in’ equaling ‘calories out’ is that as fat mass is lost, you lose a body tissue (fat mass) that burns calories. When a significant amount of weight is lost, your resting metabolism slows because you no longer have as much fat tissue demanding and burning calories.
No matter why you’re experiencing your weight loss plateau, your mental outlook on the situation is absolutely critical in determining future success with continuing to lose. First, know that it is completely ok to take a break from weight loss for a while and just spend time maintaining what you’ve lost. Like in a sport or in a game where it’s good to practice, it’s also beneficial to practice maintaining what you’ve lost for the eventual weight maintenance phase. You can reframe your plateau from a frustrating chapter to one that will in the long term help you maintain your new healthy body weight. Similar to the idea of a practice, you can also choose to view your plateau as part of the weight loss game. It’s a half time or a timeout, not the end of the game. So, plateaus are no reason to quit and give up on your goal. They are a victory as you’ve been able to successfully maintain what you’ve lost so far, before eventually pushing on towards your goal weight.
When you’re ready to push and break through your weight loss plateau, try these plateau-breaking strategies. First, keep detailed food records either on paper or online. Multiple times per day record both the food and the portion you’ve eaten. Then, have a professional review your food records in order to provide you with personalized ideas regarding what you can do better. Second, lower your calorie intake slightly more via smaller, frequent meals and snacks spread every three to four hours throughout the day. Finally, after an initial weight loss, people are often more fit, exercising with more ease, and ready to add more cardiovascular and strength training to their regular routine. This can be done by increasing exercise frequency, intensity, or duration. Regardless of how you increase your exercise, do it slowly to avoid injury and burnout.
Remember, weight loss is like a game and plateaus are part of it. If you’ve decided to play, you’re likely to experience a plateau at some point. Now, when one occurs you’ll know there’s no reason to give up and you’ll know that you are capable of breaking through it when you’re ready.
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