How To Break Through A Weight Loss Plateau
So you’ve hit a plateau in your weight loss progress.
I want to start by saying that you’re not alone, EVERYONE hits plateau’s in their progress from time to time.
And it doesn't necessarily mean that you’re doing anything wrong!!!
So try your best not to stress, and most importantly don't just give up because things are starting to get difficult.
There is only ONE way that you will fail to break through a plateau…
And it's by quitting altogether.
When you start on a weight loss journey, it is incredibly common to see progress at a relatively fast rate at the beginning.
And at a certain point, that progress is destined to slow.
If and when this happens, the key is to reassess, make changes where necessary, and KEEP GOING!
So keep reading, and I’m going to explain exactly how you can do this.
HOW TO TELL WHEN YOU’VE HIT A PLATEAU
I want to start with talking about how to tell if you’re ACTUALLY in a plateau.
Because in my experience, there can be a lot of confusion as to what a weight loss plateau really is.
By definition, a plateau is a period of little or no change following a period of progress.
And especially with weight loss, it’s easy to get confused whether you are…
A.) in a period of SLOW progress, but still making PROGRESS
OR
B.) actually in a PLATEAU
The typical ‘rule of thumb’ for rate of weight loss progress is 0.5-2 pounds per week.
What this means is, in most cases, even if you’re doing everything right, you may not see a meaningful change in scale weight everyday.
As a matter of fact, you might only see a meaningful change in scale weight once every 7 days!
And this is if you’re doing everything right!!
So if you opened this article thinking, “oh yeah I’m in a weight loss plateau right now, how the f**k do I get out of it?!!!!”
I would first ask you, are you REALLY in a plateau?
Or has your progress just slowed a little.
And you’re being a little bit impatient.
You may very well be in a plateau, and if you really are please keep reading because I’m going to go into DETAIL on how to get out of it.
However, a good rule of thumb that I personally go by with my clients is 4-6 weeks with no progress before we look to make a change in their training or nutrition program.
Anything less than that is just too short of a time period to accurately determine whether or not they are ACTUALLY in a plateau.
Just to give you a visual example, this a real weight tracking graph from one of my awesome clients in my online coaching program.
Take a quick look at exactly how many mini ‘plateaus’ you can see throughout this graph.
There were multiple times throughout her journey, which is still ongoing btw (her name is Dalisis btw and shout out to her!), where her weight loss progress slowed for days or even weeks in some cases.
And while in the moment it might have FELT like she was in a plateau, by staying consistent and sticking with the plan she was on…
You can see that each time she ‘plateaued’, her weight eventually continued to go down shortly thereafter.
So once again, the first step to breaking out of a weight loss plateau is making sure that you’re actually in one.
Because it is entirely possible that your progress has just slowed a little, and if that’s the case then you really don't need to change anything.
Now, since we’ve established how to tell if you’re ACTUALLY in a plateau, let’s dive into how to break out.
HOW TO BREAK THROUGH A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU
I said this at the beginning of this article but I’m going to say it again juuuust in case you might have missed it.
The only way you can fail at breaking through a weight loss plateau is by QUITTING.
So if you’ve hit a plateau, take a deep breath. You will get through this and continue on your road to progress.
Now, if you’ve read any of my articles or seen any of my content before, I talk a lot about energy balance.
Basically, the balance between calories in (calories consumed) and calories out (calories expended).
If you’re weight loss progress has plateaued, meaning your weight is no longer going down OR up, this means that your energy balance is at MAINTENANCE.
What this means is, your calories in is now EQUAL to your calories out.
And once again, this doesn’t mean that you’re doing anything wrong!!
When you started your weight loss journey, you or your coach likely set your calories (your calories in) at a certain number to achieve weight loss.
And while that may have been the right number to trigger weight loss at the BEGINNING of your journey…
When you lose a certain amount of weight, you are destined to hit a point where that intake becomes too high for you to CONTINUE to lose weight.
Here is an example (this is merely an example, do NOT follow this exactly I’m just using this to illustrate my point)…
For a 300 pound person - 2,000 calories/day - leads to weight LOSS
For a 170 pound person - 2,000 calories/day - leads to weight MAINTENANCE
For a 150 pound person - 2,000 calories/day - leads to weight GAIN
Now once again, these numbers are not exact, and there is much more that goes into calculating someone’s intake in addition to their body weight.
But this illustrates my point.
If someone weighs 300 pounds and eats 2,000 calories/day, at a certain point they will hit a weight where 2,000 calories no longer triggers weight loss.
While this may not be exactly what’s happening with you, the overarching principle still applies…
If you are not losing or gaining weight (after 4-6 weeks remember) then you are in MAINTENANCE.
Now that we’ve established that, you have two options if you want to continue to lose weight.
You can either…
A.) decrease your intake (calories in) slightly to continue to lose weight
OR
B.) increase your activity/expenditure (calorie out) slightly to continue to lose weight
OR
C.) do a little bit of both (decrease calories in slightly while increasing calories out slightly)
And this brings me to another point.
This may cause you to realize that you really don't NEED to lose any more weight.
Or maybe, you don't want to lose weight badly enough to make all the sacrifices required.
And that’s fine! Many people realize that while initially they may have THOUGHT they wanted to lose a certain amount of weight…
Those last 5-10 pounds simply aren’t worth the sacrifices they need to make.
If your current plan is already SUPER difficult for you to stick to, it’s probably not going to be easy or enjoyable to get on a more rigorous plan.
But in the end, if you have hit a plateau it is because your energy balance someway/somehow is back at maintenance.
And in order to continue to lose weight, you need to get BACK into a deficit somehow.
Thanks so much for reading!
If you’re in a weight loss plateau, first make sure you’re ACTUALLY in a plateau.
And if you are, don't panic for starters. But then follow the steps I outlined above to break THROUGH your plateau!
I hope this article helps you and if you have any follow up questions (or any other questions) please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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