It isn’t easy when you are losing weight and suddenly stop seeing progress. It’s frustrating because you are still doing everything you can to eat the right things and get regular exercise, but you are no longer seeing the results.
Here are a few reasons you might have stopped dropping pounds. By considering these possible issues, you can make fixes to overcome weight loss plateau scenarios and continue in pursuit of your fitness goals.
Reason #1 – Moving differently
One of the most typical weight loss mistakes is to focus on one particular workout routine. You want to switch to different forms of exercise so that you can stay interested and work other muscle groups. It also doesn’t hurt to introduce greater intensity to your current workouts.
Reason #2 – Dietary doldrums
If you have switched to eating the same dinner every night, you could be giving yourself cravings for junk food simply because your diet has become so bland. Try chicken and broccoli one night, followed by a baked sweet potato the next day and beef stew the next.
Beyond variety, also consider that the diet you initially introduced could be unreasonable to maintain. This is one of the most prevalent weight loss mistakes, explains exercise physiologist Jim White of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Sure you’ll lose weight when you don’t eat a lot of bread, rice and pasta, but a lot of times that’s not sustainable,” says White. “You’ll lose weight but also lose your motivation and [you won’t] get enough nutrients for energy.”
Reason #3 – Too many calories
It’s a simple concept that reducing calories will help drive your body weight lower. If you can remove 200 calories, that could be all that’s needed to overcome a weight loss plateau. You could switch out a cookie for fruit, or nix the dairy from your daily coffee. Just be careful never to go below 1200 calories per day if you’re a woman or 1500 if you’re a man. Being too aggressive with dieting can lead to malnutrition.
Reason #4 – Processed foods
Finally, you can often overcome weight loss plateau situations by switching out processed for whole foods. Examples of the latter include fresh produce, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and natural (non-processed) meats. You can also use healthy oils such as flaxseed or olive.
“Whole foods not only increase nutrient consumption,” explains LiveStrong. “[T]hey reduce hunger and fat storage by slowing insulin production.”
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