When Weight Loss Plateaus. 8 Tricks To Breakthrough Any Weight Loss Plateaus.
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When Weight Loss Plateaus it can be a challenge to overcome.
It’s sometimes hard to stay motivated through a plateau, especially when you have been making good progress.
So,
What’s the answer when weight loss plateaus?
You’ve heard the media say “exercise more and eat less”.
But, is cutting more food out and or increasing your exercise to lose more weight the way to kick a plateau?
Sorry but this statement isn’t exactly true for many…you can increase your exercise routine and decrease your calories and still NOT lose weight.
Whether you are following a Ketogenic, Low-carb, Paleo, or any other food plan for weight loss…we can all experience weight loss plateaus.
Weight loss is not merely about the food you don’t eat.
Here are 8 Tricks To Breakthrough Any Weight Loss Plateaus.
Trick 1, Reassess Habits
The first step in breaking through when your weight loss plateau is recording.
Record what and when you are eating, what and how often your exercise, even your menstrual health if that’s applicable, other things to record are if you notice any bloating, upset stomachs, how much water you are drinking, and how well you are sleeping.
I know this can sound daunting but sometimes you have to be your own accountability partner.
Once you have at least a week of data, you can begin assessing what you are doing and if you notice any patterns taking place.
Often it’s found people have started to loosen the rules they were following when things are going well.
Then the plateau happens…
and they tighten them back up and start to see results happen again.
Unfortunately, this see-saw motion is less efficient than sticking to the original plan.
This is where the record-keeping can be helpful,
especially if you were as honest as possible when you recorded it…remember it’s just you cheating yourself if you are not being as honest as possible.
By taking the time to reassess your habits, you may find that you’ve been eating when you weren’t hungry, allowing too many cheats, and eating foods high in sugars.
Once you recognize this, you can put yourself back on track and beat your weight loss plateau.
What about if you notice any bloating, upset stomachs? This leads us to Trick 2.
Plus you’ve been monitoring your sleep and water intake… which leads us to Trick 3 & 5
Trick 2, What are Food Intolerances?
Have you ever eaten something that’s made you feel bloated?
Sluggish?
Gave you a stomach ache?
or A headache?
If this sounds familiar, then you most likely have a food intolerance. Please notice, I didn’t say allergy!
The term ‘food intolerance’ and ‘food allergy’ are often confused and are two very different things.
What’s the difference between a food allergy and food intolerance?
What is a Food Allergy?
A small population is directly affected by food allergies.
A food allergy is a swift response by the body’s immune system to a specific food…these reactions can be Life-Threatening.
The body’s immune system mistakes food for an ‘invader’ which often results in a rapid allergic reaction. These can happen often within minutes, but generally within a maximum of two hours.
Food Allergy reactions are commonly associated with reactions to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, and seafood.
What is a Food Intolerance?
Food intolerance isn’t as severe of a reaction as a Food allergy.
But, they can make you feel very uncomfortable and often embarrassed….and often people don’t even realize they have an intolerance to a particular food or group of goods.
Eating food that you are sensitive or intolerant to causes inflammation in your body.
Food intolerance is quite different from food allergy and even though the symptoms that many people experience can impact the person’s quality of life, they are not life-threatening.
Similar to a virus or bacteria, food sensitivities signal an immune system response during digestion that leads to gut damage and hormone imbalances.
Eating foods you’re sensitive to every day, multiple times throughout the day (like dairy or gluten, for example) causes a powerful chain reaction that starts with inflammation.
Inflammation in our body is a sign of an unhealthy, unhappy body.
Inflammation is regulated in part by the hormone cortisol…(Cortisol is our stress hormone).
Excess cortisol production keeps your blood sugar running high and causes an overload of insulin production.
Too much insulin production has the potential to cause insulin resistance and potentially lead to Diabetes and many other lifestyle-related illnesses.
Plus,
This release of cortisol during the inflammatory process may be causing your body to store more fat…particularly belly fat.
And you may also experience some or many of the below symptoms of food intolerances.
Abdominal Pain, Acne, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Bloating, Constipation, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Diarrhoea, Dizziness, Eczema, Headaches or Migraine, Nausea, Stomach Cramps, Weight loss/Weight Gain, and many more.
So what can you do if you suspect that food intolerance may be stopping your weight loss results?
First,
Start by removing the basic foods that can cause a lot of problems for many people.
One at a time per week.
Gluten (this one should be easy if you are following a quality low carb meal plan)
Dairy
Eggs
Sweeteners (example: sugar)
Soy
Then if you still haven’t found the irritant then you may consider following an Elimination Diet.
Trick 3, Are you sleeping enough to lose weight?
Did you know sleep and weight loss are linked?
You may not realize that too little sleep, will result in an increase in Cortisol, (yes that stress hormone again) which in turn can make you hungry.
In fact, getting less than 6 hours of shut-eye can drop your fat-burning rate by up to half.
If you’re a night owl try going to bed 30mins earlier each week until you get closer to getting your recommended amount of sleep per night.
We need seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night. That amount helps avoid the negative consequences of sleep deprivation.
Otherwise, your weight loss plateau may go on for a while.
Trick 4, Manage Stress
Stress, whether inflicted by daily life, your weight loss journey, or something else. Stress can prevent weight loss.
Feeling stressed affects your hormone levels, including cortisol.
Unfortunately, cortisol tells your body to gain weight rather than lose it. Cortisol stimulates your fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating a surge of energy in your body.
Sending your body into fight-or-flight mode, temporarily pausing regular bodily functions, and slowing your metabolism.
This process is our ‘flight or fight response essential for human survival…but we are no longer running from tigers…are we?
How does Cortisol create weight gain?
Our stress hormone,” cortisol, rises during tension-filled times..yes this can be any tension-filled environment.
These tension-filled environments can turn your overeating into a habit if you let it.
Because increased levels of the hormone also help cause higher insulin levels, your blood sugar drops and you crave sugary, fatty foods.
So instead of choosing a healthier option as part of your weight loss plan, you’re more likely to reach for cookies or mac and cheese.
This is why they’re called “comfort foods.”
Fortunately, there are many stress-reducing routines you can try out.
Some things as simple as going for a gentle walk, listening to some relaxing music, doing some meditation and journaling can help you process your stress before it reaches harmful levels.
Give it a go, you might be surprised how calm you can feel.
Trick 5, Add More Fiber
Fiber is one very important part of weight loss.
Fiber comes in two varieties soluble and insoluble, both of which can help you lose weight.
Soluble fiber helps keep your gut bacteria healthy and promotes overall fat loss by reducing your appetite.
This variety of fiber slows down the movement of food through your digestive tract, which in turn helps you feel fuller longer, so you don’t reach for unhealthy snacks.
The fiber may even reduce your blood pressure as a bonus.
Insoluble fiber is not digestible.
What insoluble fiber does is move through your digestive tract like a sponge. Picking up things like debris, excess hormones, and more on the way.
This helps our body perform better overall, including getting the right nutrients metabolized.
Both soluble and insoluble fiber has been shown to increase weight loss results.
Note, One common thing I see when people start a ketogenic plan is they reduce their fiber intake…this is exactly the time when our bodies need to be having those delicious leafy greens.
Trick 5, Drink more water.
Water does more for the body than just quench your thirst—it might even help you drop some pounds.
The more hydrated you are, the more efficiently your body works from thinking to burning body fat.
Drinking water can help with weight loss in a variety of ways. For example, suppress your appetite, boost your metabolism, and make exercise easier and more efficient.
Trick 6, Focus on Non-Scale Goals
A weight plateau often triggers feelings of inadequacy. These feelings can lead to emotional eating and going backward on the progress you have already made using keto.
Once a plateau hits, it’s a good idea to step away from the scale for a while…this can be challenging for some.
This is the time to focus on your healthy lifestyle, First.
Non-scale goals are things you experience as you lose weight. Time to focus on the process, not the daily scale outcome.
Focus on goals and things that you feel good about, and achieved already.
Keep a record (journal, post-it notes, etc..write them down) of your achievements and things you are grateful for.
Examples of non-scale goals vary wildly, from clear skin, reduces stomach aches, and more energy to feeling comfortable slipping and feeling great in on your favorite figure-hugging outfit.
These goals are as vital as the number on the scale and affect your life positively when you achieve them regardless of that number.
So, you’ve embarked on a ketogenic diet and were told you can lose a vast amount,
But…you have stalled.
Discover Why You are Not Losing Weight on the Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet has been proven to be a very effective method of weight loss.
Thousands of people all over the world have tried it and the results have been amazing.
It’s not as stringent and unforgiving as the paleo diet, but it’s also not as lenient as the Mediterranean diet. T
here are a few rules to follow with the ketogenic diet to ensure that you lose fat.
Usually, when people face setbacks with the keto diet,
they’re probably flouting one of the rules without realizing it.
Let’s look at a few reasons why your weight loss is not happening even though you’re on a keto diet.
Trick 7, Eat More Fat.
You’re not in ketosis or you are eating too low in healthy fat.
This is probably the most obvious reason and also the one most overlooked.
Ketosis is a situation where the body is burning fat for fuel instead of glucose. That’s what makes this diet so powerful.
People who are not on the ketogenic diet usually need to cut their carbohydrates and adopt other methods such as intermittent fasting in order for the body to burn its fat stores.
With the keto diet,
since most of your diet will be fat, your body will realize that it has no shortage of fat, and it will burn off your fat stores more readily.
You should always check if you’re in ketosis to ensure that your body is in fat-burning mode.
Even if you are not following a Ketogenic lifestyle, eating whole foods with good healthy fats is vital for weight loss.
The keto diet is a fat-based diet. The majority of your calories have to come from fat.
This is not as easy as it sounds. Most people are so used to diets high in carbs and protein that making a switch to a diet high in fat is quite a challenge.
Sneaking in a few carbohydrates or proteins can affect ketosis.
Trying to achieve a state of ketosis requires a few conditions to be in place.
Even a slight error on your part can take you out of ketosis and halt your fat loss. So, you must be aware of what you’re eating.
Aim for 20 grams of carbs per day, and only 20 percent of your calories should come from protein.
The rest of the calories come from fat. This is the general requirement to achieve ketosis.
Bonus Trick, Patience…Get Healthy to Lose Weight.
This is a condition that can be fixed by getting sufficient sleep, de-stressing, reducing inflammation by cutting out sugar, and so on.
It’s just a matter of giving your body time to adjust to the keto diet.
Once your leptin sensitivity is restored, your body will know how much to eat, how much fat to shed, and so on.
It just needs time to adapt. So, be patient.
Most issues related to failing with the keto diet can be traced back to one of these issues.
Analyze why you’re not losing weight before you think of quitting.
Track your foods, measure your food portions, test and see if you’re on ketosis, and give your body time to get used to the diet before it starts torching the fat.
“Patience and persistence are an absolute must as you pursue ketosis.” – Dr. Eric Westman
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