Fat loss plateaus always happen when ever you begin to see progress in your fitness routine. Usually, it happens something like this. . . You choose to dropping your calories. You avoid pizza for skinless chicken and salad. You avoid sweets for blueberries and cranberries and protein shakes. You eat more veggies and spinach. You eat less cake and root beer floats. You stop drinking booze and drink more water.
You start working your new "ab-contraption" just like you were told, maybe you start to walk three miles a day. You find some activity that keeps your heart at a “target” rate for 30 to 45 minutes 3 times a week. Maybe you talk to the gym’s training staff and do some universal work.
Most likely, you start to feel great. You notice your clothes are a little looser. You have a little more energy. Soon you see the needle on the scale go down. Then you hit a wall. No more loss of weight. Maybe you actually gain a few pounds. And it seems that nothing you do actually helps you get closer to your goal.
There are several reasons why you experience plateau and some ways to overcome it.
- You are overtraining and have reached a level of diminishing returns. Your body’s ability to adjust to a new routine changes over time. At some point, your body needs recovery. If you don’t give the body enough opportunity, your metabolic rate drops to recover.
Take a week off of your routine. Engage in some low-intensity training. Ease off on the diet. Sometimes, you have to take a step backward to take three steps forward.
- Your routine is lacking variety. Your body adapts to new routines. Eventually, your body will adjust to your new routine and your metabolic rate will lower to accommodate the new “demands” you’ve put on yourself. I used to live and work in the same neighborhood. I remember this man: mid-40’s, overweight, around the 300 lb mark. He would walk/jog to get exercise. I say walk/job. It was more like a shuffle.
In seven years, I never saw him lose any fat. Almost every day, I would see him in a tank top drenched with sweat. Moving just faster than a walking pace. Never lost a pound. Why?
I suspect it was because he never changed his routine. Vary your fitness routine. Play different sports. Always look for new activities to challenge your body. Never let it adapt. Then every 10 to 12 weeks, give yourself a few days off for low-intensity activities.
- Add variety to your eating habits. If you are budgeting yourself for 2000 calories a day, eat 2200 calories one day and 1800 the next. If you are eating three meals, spread out your calories througout the day, eat more meals. If you are eating more than three meals, shift back to three. And maybe just relax and have a beer or two.
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