How to Break Past a Weight Loss Plateau
Sep 16, 2024 mindpumpHitting a plateau is a very common issue people come across in their weight loss journey, especially if you have been dieting for a very long time. It can feel super frustrating but even just understanding it’s a normal part of the process can be key. Here are some ways you can break through a plateau.
Caloric Intake
What is your current intake? Do you know it? Have you been tracking it? If you haven’t even been tracking what you are taking in, I would start there. The deeper we are into a cut, and the leaner we get, the more knowing your intake matters. Your body will need less and less calories so the margin of error tightens up. Figure out where you stand and make the necessary adjustments. For those who are tracking, you may need to drop another 200-300 calories. I don’t recommend men go less than 1800 calories on their diet and women go below 1500. If you are past that point you may want to consider taking a break for one month and going back to maintenance or building your caloric base back up.
Macros
Do you know where your macros are coming from? A lot of times a plateau can be due to eating the wrong type of calories. Make sure you are eating one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight and having the remainder of calories come from your preference of carbohydrates and fat. For men, make sure your fat intake is at least 50 grams and 55 grams for women for proper hormone management.
Change Up Your Routine
If you have been doing the same workout routine for months and months it may be time for a shakeup. When our body has been doing the same workout, our strength tends to plateau on those lifts because we have been pushing them at the high end for so long. Switching up the exercises or rep ranges can produce a more novel signal that allows your muscles more room to progress again. You may also want to consider introducing 1-2 days of HIIT cardio if you are on the tail end of your diet.
Track Progress Properly
Sometimes we only go by what we see in the mirror or scale. Those shouldn’t be your only markers to follow on a diet. Our weight can fluctuate so much day to day. As we diet more and more it can be hard to notice changes week to week. Instead, take pictures week to week. Then after a couple months you may look back at your week 1 picture and see how far you’ve actually come. I know when I diet, even at my leanest, I feel like I never got that lean. It isn’t until I’m at my peak bulk when I look back at an old picture and notice just how lean I really was.
Lifting Weights
This should go without saying, but if you aren’t already, make sure you are lifting 2-3 times a week. Lifting weights keeps your metabolism revved up whereas just doing cardio slows down your metabolism when on a diet. Your body becomes more efficient with calories which means you end up needing to do more and more cardio to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Recovery
Make sure you are keeping an eye on your recovery. Get 7-9 hours of sleep, and your stress low. Research shows if you slept 5 hours a night for a week your body ends up putting on weight due to the lack of sleep. Your hormones get disrupted causing an imbalance. It also messes with your appetite making you hungrier.
Seek a Coach
If you still feel like nothing is working, it may either be time for a break, or time to hire a coach who has worked with clients on fat loss. Having a third party oversee your progress can be super beneficial in terms of having an objective eye on what needs to be done and how to do it. They may also be able to ask questions and further diagnose what is wrong.
