Moffat Mungazi
JUST because your weight loss has stalled, don’t revert to bad habits. These tips can help you restart your weight-loss plan.
You have been working hard to follow a healthy, low-calorie diet and improve your exercise habits. And your rewards have been watching your weight go down and feeling better. Now, however, for no reason you can identify, the scale has stopped budging. You have hit a weight-loss plateau.
Don’t get discouraged. It is typical for weight loss to slow and even stall. By understanding what causes a weight-loss plateau, you can decide how to respond and avoid backsliding on your new healthy habits.
What is a weight-loss plateau?
A weight-loss plateau is when your weight stops changing. Being stuck at a weight-loss plateau eventually happens to everyone who tries to lose weight. Even so, most people are surprised when it happens to them because they’re still eating carefully and exercising regularly. The frustrating reality is that even well-planned weight-loss efforts can stall.
What causes a weight-loss plateau?
During the first few weeks of losing weight, a rapid drop is typical. In part, this is because when you initially cut calories, the body gets needed energy by releasing its stores of glycogen. Glycogen is a type of carbohydrate found in the muscles and the liver.
Glycogen is partly made of water. So when glycogen is burned for energy, it releases water, resulting in weight loss that’s mostly water. But this effect is temporary.
As you lose weight, you lose some muscle along with fat. Muscle helps keep up the rate at which you burn calories (metabolism). So as you lose weight, your metabolism declines, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did at your heavier weight.
Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau.
To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat. Using the same approach that worked at first may maintain your weight loss, but it won’t lead to more weight loss.
How can you overcome a weight-loss plateau?
When you reach a plateau, you may have lost all of the weight you will lose on your current diet and exercise plan. Ask yourself if you are satisfied with your current weight or if you want to lose more. If you want to lose more weight, you’ll need to adjust your weight-loss programme.
If you are committed to losing more weight, try these tips for getting past the plateau:
Reassess your habits. Look back at your food and activity records. Make sure you have not loosened the rules. For example, look at whether you have been having larger portions, eating more processed foods or getting less exercise. Research suggests that off-and-on loosening of rules contributes to plateaus.
Cut more calories. Further cut your daily calories, provided this does not put you below 1,200 calories. Fewer than 1,200 calories a day may not be enough to keep you from constant hunger, which increases your risk of overeating.
Rev up your workout. Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week. For even greater health benefit and to assist with weight loss or maintaining weight loss, at least 300 minutes a week is recommended. Adding exercises such as weightlifting to increase your muscle mass will help you burn more calories.
Pack more activity into your day. Think outside the gym. Increase your general physical activity throughout the day. For example, walk more and use your car less, do more yardwork, or do vigorous spring cleaning. Any physical activity will help you burn more calories.
Don’t let a weight-loss plateau lead to an avalanche
If your efforts to get past a weight-loss plateau aren’t working, talk with your health care provider or a registered dietitian about other tactics to try. If you can’t further decrease the calories you eat or increase your physical activity, you may want to revisit your weight-loss goal. Appreciate the weight you’ve lost. Maybe the number you’re striving for is unrealistic for you.
Because you have already improved your diet and increased your exercise, you’ve already improved your health. If you are overweight or obese, even modest weight loss improves chronic health conditions related to being overweight.
Whatever you do, don’t give up and go back to your old eating and exercise habits. That may cause you to regain the weight you’ve lost. Celebrate your success and continue your efforts to maintain your weight loss.
Manage stress
Stress can often put the brakes on weight loss.
In addition to promoting comfort eating and triggering food cravings, it also increases your body’s production of cortisol.
Cortisol is known as the “stress hormone.” While it helps your body respond to stress, it can also increase belly fat storage.
Producing too much cortisol can make weight loss difficult, but research has shown that learning to manage stress can help promote weight loss.
Avoid alcohol
Alcohol may be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.
Although one alcoholic drink (4 ounces (oz) of wine, 1.5 oz of hard liquor, or 12 oz of beer) contains only around 100 calories, it provides no nutritional value. In addition, you may have more than one drink at a sitting.
Another problem is that alcohol loosens inhibitions, which may lead you to overeat or make poor food choices. One study of 283 adults who completed a behavioural weight loss program found that reducing alcohol intake led to a reduction in overeating and greater weight loss among those with high levels of impulsivity.
Research has shown that alcohol can suppress fat burning and may lead to belly fat accumulation.
If your weight loss has stalled, it may be best to avoid alcohol or only consume it occasionally in small amounts.
Eat more fibre
Including more fibre in your diet may help you break through a weight loss plateau. This is especially true for soluble fibre, the type that dissolves in water or liquid.
To begin with, soluble fibre slows the movement of food through your digestive tract, which can help you feel full and satisfied.
Another way that fibre may aid weight loss is by decreasing the number of calories you absorb from other foods.
Drink water, coffee, or tea
While sugary beverages lead to weight gain, some beverages may help reverse a weight loss stall.
Research has found that plain water can boost metabolism, which may translate into weight loss over time, especially in those who consume water before meals, which may help reduce food intake.
Coffee and tea may also help your weight loss efforts. Green tea, in particular, contains an antioxidant known as EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) that may promote weight loss.
Moreover, research suggests that consuming caffeinated beverages can significantly enhance the metabolism-boosting and fat-burning effects of exercise.
Get plenty of sleep
Sleep is extremely important for good mental, emotional, and physical health.
It’s also becoming clear that not getting enough sleep can lead to weight gain by lowering your metabolic rate and altering hormone levels to drive appetite and fat storage.
To support weight loss and overall health, aim for seven to eight hours of sleep per night. – Online
