7 Steps to Take If You Hit a Weight Loss Plateau

7 Steps to Take If You Hit a Weight Loss Plateau : Weight is that one thing every single person walking this earth is concerned about – some vocally, others behind their phone screens.

Some people want to gain weight to fit into their dresses better. A vast majority wants to lose weight and keep it off for good. They want to shed those pounds and not get them back no matter how much they eat or what they do. They want to fit into their dresses from 10 years ago. For some people, their fitness goals are actually attached to what they were once able to do.

No matter how diligently you follow your fitness routine – you might go to the gym every day, eat right – but there’ll come a time when the scale will refuse to budge. No matter how hard you work out, the scales will not move. Or even if they do, their pace is so slow it ends up demotivating you.

When that happens, here are seven things you can do to kick-start your weight loss routine again. These are tried and tested and may prove just the thing you need to achieve your fitness goals.

Manage Stress and Sleep

Science has ample proof of how stress and sleeplessness (insomnia) are closely related. When your body is stressed, it produces higher quantities of cortisol, the hormone responsible for a wide range of problems including early aging and the inability to get a total shut-eye.

So if your weighing scales are refusing to budge, you probably need to have a closer look at your lifestyle and identify factors that could lead to stress. It could be your work or family problems. No matter what they are, do whatever is in your capacity to overcome it. And if things aren’t in your control, why worry? Just sip a cup of anti-anxiety tea and leave stress behind with its calming effects.
Change Your Diet

Irrespective of what you started off with, you eventually must change your diet once you hit the weight loss plateau. Clearly, what at first helped you lose weight is no longer efficient in doing so.

Initially, you might have been suggested to limit your intake. Your nutritionist could’ve put you on a high-carb or high-fat diet. They recommended you to take three square meals at specific times during the day to make sure your body is well-nourished and less prone to malnutrition.

Once you hit the plateau, you must switch it up. Additionally, experts believe slightly higher (than recommended) amounts of protein in the diet can promote weight loss. You must break your intake into several small meals for optimal effect.

It is common for your body to get used to a stimulus if exposed often. If you get beaten up every day, there will come a time when you’ll no longer feel pain. If you strain your digestive system over a period of time, there will come a time you’ll no longer be able to coax it into losing weight. It’ll just get used to it.

This is why switching things up can help. For all the right reasons, your diet plays a very important role in keeping you fit and healthy.
Hydration

If you haven’t done that already, now is a good time to chuck out all those alcohol bottles and instead replace them with milk, yogurt, smoothies and all those healthy drinks people love clicking pictures with! In fact, even drinking plain water (as per the recommended guidelines) can help you lose weight.

The problem with alcohol and caffeinated beverages is that they offer little nutritional value and mess up with the system significantly. So there’s little benefit (if at all) to be gained from such habits. Replace them with healthier alternatives, especially when you’ve hit the plateau. This will surely put you back on the journey to healthy weight loss.
CoolSculpting

When nothing else works, CoolSculpting can target stubborn fat tissues effectively and safely, enabling you to achieve that beach body in time for summer!

CoolSculpting targets specific fat cells – those that you haven’t been able to get rid of via exercise etc. – by exposing the area to cool temperatures. The whole process is closely controlled.

Fat cells are targeted and frozen. The body then naturally eliminates them over time, helping you lose more inches after hitting the plateau. Whoever said you had to stop in your quest for the perfect figure?
Intermittent Fasting

Fasting involves a period of a certain number of hours during which you don’t eat or drink anything. This could be the time between the last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day or the time between meals. Ideally, you shouldn’t be snacking in the middle. Intermittent fasting can help you get out of that habit.

Intermittent fasting is one way of telling your body to use up energy reserves stored within your body, typically in the form of stubborn fat. If you’re no longer able to lose weight, try intermittent fasting only after seeking express approval from your doctor and your nutritionist.
Eat Fiber-Rich Foods

Fiber-rich foods aren’t appreciated for their functions. Remember, they are an important part of your diet. From keeping your digestive tract healthy to making you feel full and hence eat less, fibers can work wonders along your journey towards weight loss.

So while the nutritionist experiments with carbohydrates, fat and protein intake, make sure you’re not skimping on fibers. Take these as supplements if necessary. These will not only help remove excess from your body but also neutralize a substantial amount of toxins along the way. A happier and healthier gut will definitely get you further along the way to weight loss.
Don’t Rely on the Scales Completely

When everything has been said and done, and you jump onto the scales to see how much you lost over the last couple of weeks, it is important to understand that these scales may not be the right reflection of what you’ve achieved.

You could stand still at a specific weight, but losing fat and building muscle in its place. You could shape up but not lose a lot of pounds on the weighing scales. There is a lot that could happen which means you’re moving forward towards your fitness goals without doing much to the weighing scales.

The numbers alone aren’t representative of your efforts. Look for results elsewhere and you won’t be disappointed.

Losing weight is a long-winded journey through a dark forest that opens at the summit of some of the most beautiful mountain ranges. Getting there is full of problems and challenges. But once you get there and look back at where you came from, you’ll understand it was all worth it!

Author:

Currently, she is associated with Indiana based Coolsculpting Treatment Provider named ‘Coolsculpting at Body By‘. Follow her for more update @JudyJrobinson

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