How To Break Through A Weight Loss Plateau

So you’ve been watching what you eat and working out…

Your clothes fit a little better, you can start to see the faint outline of what you think is an “ab” in the mirror, and the cute girl (or guy) at the office even smiled at you.  So you keep watching what you eat and working out.  But things stall.  After another month your clothes still fit only a “little” better, that ab outline is still faint, and now you’re wondering if the cutie was just smiling at the lack of a line at the copy machine behind you.  You’ve hit the dreaded fat loss plateau.

This situation of stagnated fat loss progress is common.  But breaking through the plateau?  That requires the uncommon…

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Albert Einstein

Yes, the classic Einstein quote applies to fat loss.  When you keep doing what you’ve been doing (the common) but are no longer seeing results, it’s time to do something different (the uncommon).  Perhaps a better way to think of the uncommon is the uncomfortable.

Get Uncomfortable

My favorite exercise for embracing the uncomfortable is cold shower therapy.  And although there is some evidence that cold exposure may help with fat loss, I prefer to go for the big wins.  Anytime I need to help a client break a fat loss plateau, I ease them outside of their comfort zone on diet, recovery, or exercise – in that order.

But before we get to the diet, recovery, and exercise, we have to ensure that we have one crucial habit in place.  And this habit makes some people more uncomfortable than 100 burpees with a kale smoothie chaser.  This crucial habit is keeping a food and training journal.

Without a written record of what you are eating and how you are training (bonus points for also tracking sleep), there is no way to make an accurate prediction of what adjustment to your regimen will yield results.  And beyond the data collected, there is the awareness gained from deliberately tracking.  One study found that keeping a food diary doubles weight loss results.  My personal experience is similar – every single client that I have ever had who was not happy with their results also failed to keep a food journal.

So if you’ve hit a fat loss plateau and you are not keeping a food and training journal, step one is to start keeping a food and training journal.  Now that step one is out of the way, let’s get to what people normally think about when it comes to breaking fat loss plateaus: diet, recovery, and training.

It’s Your Diet… No Really, It’s Your Diet.

There is no facet of your fat loss program more important than diet.   And that’s why diet is always the first place I look when trying to solve a fat loss riddle.  The simplest adjustment to make with diet is to eliminate a certain type of food that you have been eating.  Below are the foods that I recommend removing one-by-one if you are not losing fat:

Wheat, other grains, and legumes.  Ok that’s not really one-by-one, but let’s scrap this junk all at once.  Bread, pasta, cereal, and other wheat products should not be part of your diet when trying to lose fat (and maybe not ever, but gluten is a topic for a blog post in itself).  Other grains such as oats, corn, and buckwheat should also be avoided when striving for fat loss.  Some people will consider legumes a bit more controversial to take out of the diet (namely slow-carb fans) but if you’ve hit a plateau, try eliminating the beans.

Liquid calories.  If you are still consuming liquid calories during your fat loss quest,stop.  Obviously soda (including diet soda even though it’s calorie free) and alcohol should go.  But also fruit juice, even fresh squeezed, should be eliminated due to the high sugar content.  And if you’re still drinking milk, consider letting go of dairy.

Dairy.  Milk, cheese, and yogurt should all be taken out of the diet.  Yes, dairy can have some great nutritional value especially when derived from the “rawest” sources available.  But remember we are talking about breaking a plateau here… so if you’re still consuming dairy, try giving it up and seeing if your fat loss resumes.  An exception to this is butter (ideally derived from grass fed cows), which is nearly pure fat and great for cooking or blending with your coffee.

Potatoes and rice.  Wait a minute, isn’t rice a grain?  Yes, rice is a grain but I’ve found that small servings for those with high training volumes can work.  But if the fat loss stops, consider forgoing the rice.  Same thing with potatoes.  Potatoes are a carbohydrate dense food that can benefit someone doing high intensity work, but I put them on the chopping block if fat loss stalls.

Fruit.  Fruits can have good micronutrient content but they are also high in sugar.  If you have hit a fat loss plateau, I recommend avoiding fruit especially the “sweeter” fruits such as mango, pineapple, melon, and even bananas.

Another factor to consider experimenting with is the quantity of food you are eating.  Even if you are sticking to a diet of lots of vegetables, some meat, and small amounts of fruit, nuts, and seeds (commonly called the paleo diet), it is still possible to eat in an amount that can hinder fat loss.  If your fat loss has hit the wall, consider using the following portion guidelines:

Vegetables.  For the most part, eat all of the vegetables that you like!  This goes especially for the green vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli, and asparagus.  Some of the root vegetables, such as carrots and parsnips, might hinder fat loss if eaten in large quantity.  So if you are trying to break a plateau, you might want to consider abandoning the Bugs Bunny impersonation.

Meat.  Beef, chicken, pork, fish, or anything else that has contributed muscle or organs to your dinner plate should be kept to the size of the palm of your hand.  That’s about 3 – 5 ounces for most people.

Nuts and seeds.  Keep the quantity to no more than fits in the center of your palm without overlapping.  As an example, this is about 6 – 8 almonds for most people.

The timing of meals can also be a factor for fat loss.  Intermittent fasting is worth experimenting with when trying to break a fat loss plateau.  Popular intermittent fasting methods include 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of feeding and 24 hour fasts once or twice per week.  Intermittent fasting is not as much about calorie restriction as it is about hormone regulation.  And as we’ll see in the next section on recovery, hormones can play a key role in fat loss.

Recovery: The Sneaky Culprit.

The tag-team of “diet and exercise” gets drilled into our brains from every glossy fitness magazine and purveyor of six pack abs when it comes to losing fat.  But there is a third component that can sneak up and derail your fat loss when it gets neglected… recovery.  Recovery can include a variety of modalities from myofascial release to ice baths, but as usual we are going to focus on the big wins: sleep and stress reduction.

Sleep is kind of weird when you think about it.  We become unconscious, our nervous system powers down to the point that we are essentially paralyzed, yet the body is hard at “work” doing repairs and maintenance that help us function optimally during our waking hours.  Disruption of sleep can lead to hormonal imbalances that can make fat loss feel like a losing battle.

One study found that losing sleep can cut fat loss by as much as 55% and elevate levels of the hormone ghrelin.  Higher ghrelin levels have been shown to reduce energy expenditure, stimulate hunger and food intake, and promote retention of fat.  Lack of sleep has also been shown to significantly lower testosterone levels in men.  Testosterone is crucial for strength, muscle building, and bone density – all important aspects of body composition and looking and feeling your best.

So if your fat loss has floundered, try getting more quality sleep.  Go to bed an hour earlier.  Stop looking at computers, tablets, and televisions a few hours before bed.  Ensure your sleeping space is cool, dark, and quiet.  Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evenings.  Basically, follow a bedtime ritual that sets yourself up for sleep success.

Another factor of hormone imbalance is stress.  Specifically, stress can lead to elevated levels of the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol which causes fat to be stored centrally.  Yep, stress reduction is one tip that may actually reduce the often hyped “belly fat”.   So if your pants aren’t any looser despite your best efforts with diet and exercise, reduce the stress in your life.  Meditate, play with your dog, take a walk in nature, or just stop watching the damned news every night.  Unplugging from our modern always-connected lifestyle and enjoying the simple things may be one of the best things your can do to break your fat loss plateau.

Training: Where Most People Look, But Few People Find.

Finally we get to where most people immediately turn to when they are frustrated with their fat loss – exercise.  I love fitness training and firmly believe that it is essential for overall health and well being.  But when it comes to fat loss specifically, training pales when compared to diet.  After helping people lose fat and get fit since 2001 I am convinced that nearly any exercise protocol will work as long as the diet is dialed in.  And that is why training is the last place that I look when someone hits a fat loss plateau.

That’s not to say that I don’t have my preferred training methods when it comes to fat loss.  If possible, I favor a combination of heavy strength training with barbells and high intensity interval training such as sprinting or skipping rope.  But barbells are not always accessible and some people prefer a no equipment “no excuses” approach.  In that case, I prefer using body weight circuit training as we did with Impossible Abs.

But the strength training and intervals or body weight circuits are just the foundation.  If you’re looking for an exercise “hack” to try to get you over a fat loss hurdle, below are a few methods that I’ve used with success:

Morning wake up call.  As soon as you roll out of bed, do five minutes of high intensity bodyweight exercise.  Sure you can hit the bathroom first and wipe the sleep from your eyes, but before you do anything else in your morning routine grind out your five minutes.  Burpees are my favorite morning wake up call drill.  But other movements such as squats and lunge jumps can also work.  And if you want to venture outside of bodyweight exercises, kettlebell swings are a great option.  The key is that this morning wake up call is in addition to your regularly scheduled training that you do later in the day.

Evening stroll.  This is a great option for people who already have their regularly scheduled training first thing in the morning.  Simply get outside and walk for an hour or more.  Notice I said to get outside… sure we’re burning a few extra calories with this evening stroll but we are also reducing stress as mentioned earlier.  So leave the iPod and cell phone at home, get out into the real world, and enjoy a leisurely walk.

Sprints.  If you are not already sprinting as part of your training, I can think of no better exercise to add for fat loss.  Whether up a steep hill or at your local high school track, sprints are the ultimate high intensity short duration exercise for breaking your plateau.

Now What?

So I’ve run down several different options for breaking a fat loss plateau.  By no means am I suggesting that you should try all of these options at once.  Breaking a fat loss plateau comes down to self experimentation.  You have to test and track – but if you test too many variables at once, you never know which one was the key to your results.  So here is the simple process for breaking your fat loss plateau:

1.  Weigh-in once per week.  The number on the scale is the best indicator of whether your fat loss efforts are going in the right direction.  Sure we can get into the whole “muscle is denser than fat” issue and there may be a point in your transformation where the number on the scale either doesn’t budge or actually goes up a pound or two due to an increase in muscle mass.  But that intersection will be fleeting.  By and large if you are trying to lose fat that scale should be headed south.  So weigh-in once per week on the same day and time wearing the same attire or lack there of (always wearing shorts and a t-shirt with no shoes, or naked before you step into the shower as examples).

2.  Keep your diet and training journal for a week.  For the food journal write down what you eat, when you eat it, and an approximate quantity.  Calorie counting is not necessary, but if that’s your thing, knock yourself out.  For the training journal write down the exercises used, sets and reps performed, and amount of weight lifted if any.  Other factors such as the amount of rest between sets, total time of the workout, and even the weather can be tracked if you desire but are not essential.

3.  Weigh in at the end of the week.  Did you lose weight?  If yes, keep doing what you’re doing.  If no, select ONE of the adjustments listed above in this post, make the adjustment for a week, track it in your food and training journals, and evaluate your results.

4.  Rinse and repeat until goal is achieved.

When it comes to fat loss, there is no one-size-fits-all formula.  The big picture of eat real food in appropriate quantity, train in a manner that is continually challenging, and allow for adequate rest and recovery applies to everyone.  But the finer details, especially when trying to break a plateau, will vary from person to person.

If you are experiencing fat loss frustration, start with diet.  Consider eliminating a specific food, adjusting your quantity, or trying intermittent fasting.  Next, look at your recovery.  Do what you can to optimize your sleep and reduce stress.  Lastly, examine your training. If your foundational training is solid, try adding the morning wake up call, evening stroll, or sprints.

And remember that self experimentation is key.  Weigh-in weekly, track your diet and training, and focus on one adjustment at a time.  Before you know it, your clothes will fit much better, your abs will be clearly defined, and the cutie at the office will be smiling at you even when there is a long line at the copy machine.

Vic Magary is a U.S. Army Infantry veteran and has been helping people lose weight and get fit since 2001.  Get his complete fat loss program for free – including four different 12-week training programs, a 12-week sample menu, 20-minute jump start audio, and 68 instructional videos – by clicking here.

Source
http://impossiblehq.com/how-to-break-through-a-weight-loss-plateau/

How to Overcome the Weight Loss Plateau

There are many ways to overcome a weight loss plateau

following are some tips that may assist you in getting back on track. You may want to try one or even all …but remember you will need to monitor yourself long-term to enjoy the success you want to achieve!!

Reassess your energy intake

Use a plateau as a trigger to review your food and drink intake by keeping a record of everything you eat or drink for at least 3 days. Be honest and see if there are any areas where you can make some energy intake savings or where you might be sneaking more snacks in-between meals.

Alcohol, sugary drinks, cakes, custards and biscuits are examples where excess energy can slip back into your eating plan. Ongoing self-monitoring will help keep you on track.

Increase your activity levels

Increasing your activity level will counteract the natural reduction in metabolic rate that comes with weight loss. Increase the duration or effort during your exercise sessions to burn more energy. Use apedometer to check that you are also being as active as you can throughout your day.

Check your routine

If you’ve been in a routine for a while, try doing something different. Change your meal pattern, the foods you eat or even the type of activities you do.

Your body can become complacent with routine. A change adds variety and helps you to overcome the plateau.

Persistence and patience pays off

Don’t be hard on yourself!

Be patient during a plateau period and maintain focus.

You may be doing everything right and just need some time to make a breakthrough.

Remind yourself why you have had the surgery and how well you have done so far, but also remind yourself of all the health benefits you are experiencing! Such as reducing your medication or being able to run around with your kids more!

Source
http://evolvme.com.au/how-to-overcome-the-weight-loss-plateau.html

Think Yourself Slim

Attitude means the difference between diet success and failure. Our 8-step plan will keep you on track.

1. Define Your Motivation

Weight loss is a three-part process: Exercising and cutting calories are vital, but your mental outlook can mean the difference between success and failure.

"Self-defeating thoughts are often the most overlooked factors when a dieter gets off track," says Jeffrey Wilbert, PhD, author of Fattitudes: Beat Self-Defeat and Win Your War with Weight (St. Martin's Press, 2000). "You feel disappointed when a quick fix turns out to be anything but, or weak if you succumb to an intense craving for ice cream." Without the resolve to overcome such thoughts, sticking with any major lifestyle change can be difficult, if not impossible.

The key is to adopt the right attitude before you start your plan. "If you're really serious about slimming down, you need to think long-term. That's why it helps to ready yourself emotionally to take on the challenge," says Daniel C. Stettner, PhD, a behavioral-medicine specialist at Northpointe Health Center in Berkley, Michigan. These eight strategies will help strengthen your mind-set.

You probably have lots of reasons for wanting to lose weight. Not all, however, may be good ones. "If your decision develops primarily out of pressure from someone else, your conviction to succeed could diminish over time," says Stettner. "To ensure success, you need to develop the will to improve your life, not someone else's vision of it."

Start by listing all the reasons you can think of for slimming down. Highlight any that include other people. Rewrite the list, omitting the highlighted items. Next, inspect each one for phrases like "have to" or "must." Such words imply obligation, not desire; eventually, they'll also invite the instinct to rebel. (Test the theory: Stand in front of a piece of chocolate cake and tell yourself over and over that you must refuse it. You'll instantly want to dig in.) Translate each "have to" into a "want to." If your reasons lose their relevance, pare down the list again, until you find two or three of the most compelling motivations.

2. Choose an Attainable Goal

"Studies show that most dieters expect to lose as much as four times what they really can in a six-month period," says Stettner.

Think smaller: Count on losing just 10 percent of your weight within six months, and focus on keeping it off for more than a year. But be careful about relying solely on figures. "A number on the scale isn't a goal; it's a measurement of success," says Bonnie Goodman, a psychotherapist based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who specializes in behavioral therapy. Instead, focus on behaviors you wish to change: to reduce your daily fat intake to below 35 percent, or to cut out your afternoon soda or vending-machine snack. Also, consider setting non-weight-related goals, such as entering a 5K race. The pounds you'll automatically lose in the process will seem like a bonus.

3. Design Your Own Plan

Rather than trying every new diet fad, create your own plan that will fit your lifestyle. You need to cut out only 150 calories a day to lose 15 pounds in a year, so start small.

"Little changes to your current eating style, like downsizing portions or preparing foods differently, can add up to big results," says Stettner.

Think about the foods you can — and can't — live without, then try to work your diet around them. Love chocolate? Have a small piece every day. If you're a born snacker, divide your daily calories into six or seven mini meals so you always feel like you're having a nibble. Whatever you do, don't give up your favorite foods. You'll inevitably feel deprived, which will only make your cravings stronger — and your willpower weaker.

4. Visualize the New You

A mental dress rehearsal prepares you to recognize and accept success. "Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and picture yourself healthier and slimmer," suggests Goodman. How do you walk? With your head held high. How do you dress? More boldly. How do you feel? More confident, energized, and proud of your achievements.

5. Get Your Priorities Straight

Start by making "commitment appointments." First thing in the morning, set your goal for the day, whether it's to spend an hour at the gym or to cook a healthy meal. Before the beginning of every month, decide which days you'll work out and what you'll do. Shop for healthy foods once a week, always on the same day if possible.

Stettner also recommends planning ahead for any obstacles you might encounter, such as a visit from the in-laws or a weekend getaway. If your mother-in-law stresses you out (and leaves you raiding the fridge after everyone's gone to bed), schedule private time during her visit to unwind. Going away? Book a hotel with a fitness center, or plan an active outing. Keep an exercise record and a food diary (noting not just what you eat, but when and why), and schedule a time to make entries.

6. Uncover Emotional Obstacles

Sadness and anger are two of the most common reasons women overeat, but food won't quell either one. Your diary can provide valuable insights into what may be causing you to binge occasionally. Once you start evaluating your eating triggers, you'll be able to develop more effective strategies to deal with the underlying emotions. Keep in mind, too, that the very act of committing to a diet plan can bring its own challenges.

"Fear of change is a particularly formidable enemy," says Wilbert. "Altering your lifestyle involves taking a risk, and that can dredge up insecurity."

As your body changes, so will the way others perceive you, which can be unnerving. The best way to combat any type of fear is to face it head-on. Keep reminding yourself that every change you make brings you one step closer to becoming a bolder, more confident woman.

7. Celebrate Every Achievement

"Rewards reinforce positive behavior, but only if they're meaningful," says Goodman. "When you reach a milestone in your weight-loss or exercise routine, treat yourself to something that celebrates the particular goal you achieved and helps further your progress."

Logging an extra mile a week on the treadmill? Invest in a pair of top-of-the-line running shoes. If you've dropped a dress size, buy an outfit that highlights your new figure.

8. Forgive Yourself

"If you make an unhealthy diet choice, admit that you're fallible, but don't drown in a sea of judgmental thoughts," says Wilbert.

Berating yourself won't foster the courage you need to dust off those cookie crumbs and move on. A momentary slip won't register on the scale. An egregious misstep, like a no-holds-barred vacation binge, may delay your weight loss slightly, but it isn't likely to undo every bit of progress you've made. Think about what else you did on vacation, then focus on the positive. For instance, lounging by the pool relieved stress, while sampling the buffets exposed you to new flavors you can incorporate into your own low-cal cooking. Turning negative thoughts into encouraging ones will propel you to keep at it until you finally reach your goal weight.

Source

Weight Loss Plateau: Tips on How to Break It

You are making awesome changes in your body when suddenly your progress grinds to a screeching halt. Those pounds of fat that were once falling off effortlessly are now clinging to your body for dear life.

No matter what you do, nothing is working. Maybe it’s been a week, or two, or even a few months, but your weight is not budging. You are ready to shrug your shoulders, throw your hands in the air and say “I quit”.

Why can’t you lose any more weight? What are some solutions to break through your stubbornweight loss plateau?

This article will delve into the dynamics of a weight loss plateau and offer you solutions to overcome it.

Weight Loss Plateau Vs. Fat Loss Plateau

A weight loss plateau is a period of time during which your body weight remains at the same level. So if your weight doesn’t change for 2 weeks, does that mean your results have stalled?

Absolutely not!

The word “weight loss” does not differentiate between changes in fat, muscle, and water.

The primary purpose of tracking your body weight is (1) for accountability and (2) as a proxy for measuring fat loss. When you get on the scale and the reading goes down 1lb, the hope is that 1lb represents pure fat – not muscle, or water.

If you are weighing yourself every day, or multiple times per day, you probably notice your weight can fluctuate substantially by 3-5lb. Most of this weight fluctuation is due to changes in water retention.

For example, if you eat a lot of sodium, carbohydrates, and drink little water, you will retain a ton of water, which will increase your body weight. If on the other you drink plenty of water, moderate carbs and low sodium and you just finished an intense workout where you sweat buckets, your weight can decrease by several pounds. It may seem counterintuitive, but the more water your drink, the less you retain it.

The unpredictability of water retention is one reason to weigh yourself only once per week withMonday Morning Weigh-Ins, unless you find weigh ins every morning keeps you more accountable. Weighing yourself multiple times per day, or at different times each day is the fastest way to kill your confidence and mess with your head.

A weight loss plateau and more specifically a fat loss plateau should be defined as no change in body weight for 3 weeks. The first week may be because of water retention, along with the second week, but the third week indicates that maybe your body is not changing as you have hoped despite your best efforts.

Weight Loss Plateau Facts To Keep In Mind

Before delving into some solutions to help you break your weight loss plateau, here are some important facts that you should know:

1) Weight Loss Plateaus are VERY common

If you do not experience a weight loss plateau as you approach your ideal body weight, consider yourself very, very lucky. Weight loss plateaus are to be expected as you are losing weight. Our bodies are resistant to change. A large chunk of people who reach their ideal weight have experienced as many as 2-3 plateaus lasting several weeks. Remember that if changing our bodies was easy, then everyone would be walking around with a six-pack.

2) The More Weight You Lose, The More Weight Loss Slows

This comes down to simple mathematics. Take a guy Mike who is at 230lb and loses 1% of his body weight in fat per week (0.5%-1% is a solid pace of fat loss). Mike would then lose roughly 2.3lb of fat per week. Now if he gets down to 200lb, losing 1% of fat is now 2lb, or 15% less than 2.3lb. As Mike’s weight decreases further, less weight would be lost as a percentage of his total bodyweight so weight loss inherently slows down the leaner you become.

3) Losing Weight Becomes Harder The Closer You Get To Your Ideal Weight

Not only does the pace of weight loss slow down, but your body will work harder to hold on to your fat stores the leaner you become. We are left with a sobering fact – the ability to lose more fat decreases and it becomes even harder to do so. The most common plateaus I see for guys is first around 20-22% body fat, then around 12% body fat (for those guys looking to break into single digits).

3 Steps To Break Your Weight Loss Plateau

Now that you understand the difference between weight loss plateaus and fat loss plateaus along with the basic dynamics of weight loss, here are some tips to follow to help break through the toughest plateau.

Weight Loss Plateau Step #1: Re-evaluate Your Calorie Intake

As you lose weight, not only does it become harder to lose, but your metabolism decreases. Now don’t go searching for those “how to boost your metabolism” articles – your metabolism is supposed to decrease as you lose weight.

Going back to our friend Mike, if he continues the same workout regimen at 200lb as he did when he weighed 230lb, his metabolism will be roughly 15% lower at 200lb vs. 230lb. Why you ask? He has less body mass, which means his body does not require as much energy to support a smaller frame.

That’s why every 10-15lb you lose (if you have a lot of weight to lose), you can reevaluate your calorie intake to ensure you are eating less calories than you are burning. For more, check outHow Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight?

Weight Loss Plateau Step #2: Control the “Calorie Creep”

My estimate is 90% of all weight loss plateaus are related to “calorie creep”, or more generally, eating more calories than you think you are eating. Combined with a decrease in metabolism from weight loss, plateaus are almost a certainty.

The calorie creep can come from mindless eating, eating out at restaurants that serve huge portions, or simply condiments like dressings, spreads, and sauces. Maybe you don’t realize that small 100 calorie bag of “healthy” chips is really 400 calories because there are 4 servings in each bag. Alcohol also goes on the calorie creep list.

The best place to start is to track your food intake if you are not already doing so. There are many great reasons to keep a food journal, so tracking your nutrition intake (even for a few days) is possibly the smartest and most important step you take to improve your nutrition.

Weight Loss Plateau Step #3: Progress Your Body, Don’t Confuse it

While nutrition is likely the culprit for the stall in your weight, making sure you are progressing the intensity of your workouts can only help improve your results.

There is a lot of hype about “muscle confusion” because of a certain exercise program that has sold over 20 million copies through infomercials. In the extreme case, choosing a different workout every time you hit the gym is not confusing your body as much as you think, but it’s definitely curtailing your results. If you want to maintain the results you have, changing things up is awesome, but not if you want to maximize your results in a muscle building, or fat loss program.

Continuity in your exercise program is more important than switching things up all the time. Without continuity, you will not be able to track improvements and make the workouts harder, which is the goal. In my BuiltLean Program, even though I switch up the workouts every couple of weeks, I keep several of the exercises and the structure of the workouts the same so that you can track changes in your strength and fitness levels.

What happens if you still can’t break your weight loss plateau?

The chances are very likely if you follow the preceding 3 steps, you will be able to break your plateau. Again, 90% of the time it’s a matter of not balancing calorie intake with calorie burn. But for those in the 10% category, here are some issues/solutions to consider:

1) Starvation Mode – The opposite of the calorie creep is not eating enough calories to help sustain your body. While your metabolism will not drop if you skip a meal, or even a few, it will drop with chronic calorie deprivation. If you are a 180lb guy eating less than 1,000 calories per day for let’s say 3 weeks, you can bet your bank account your metabolism will take a nose dive. Some studies have shown metabolism can drop by as much as 40-50%. There are a host of other negative issues with extreme starvation diets (lack of proper nutrients being one of them). If you are chronically in starvation mode, it’s advisable to up your calorie intake.

2) Calorie Cycling – If you are in starvation mode, or have just been dieting for more than a month, or two, your metabolism can and will likely slow down above and beyond the range if you were eating more calories. There is no scientific evidence supporting calorie cycling as a superior way to lose fat, but I must mention it given the large number of respected experts who support it. Furthermore, science is not exactly ahead of the curve. Alternating low calorie with high calorie days MAY prevent this starvation response from occurring (i.e. 3 days low, 1 day high).

3) Hormones – There is a vocal contingent of nutrition experts who describe a stall in fat loss not as a calorie in/out issue, but as a “defect in fat metabolism”. The total amount of calories burned and how those calories are burned (fat loss vs. muscle loss) can be affected by hormonal imbalances. What’s the solution? Unfortunately, a simple answer is not possible, other than to seek medical assistance and test your hormone levels such as adrenal, testosterone etc.

As you continue on your journey to reach your ideal weight, keep in mind that changing your body is a marathon, not a sprint (See: body change vs. maintenance). The sooner you can appreciate this, the better off you will be in the short and long term.

I hope this was a helpful overview of the true dynamics of weight loss and how to break a stubborn weight loss plateau.

Have you ever experienced a weight loss plateau? What did you do to break it?

Source
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/05/22/weight-loss-plateau/

Should We Really End the War on Fat?

By Keri Gans

The recent Time magazine cover story “Ending the War on Fat” by Bryan Walsh has the entire nutrition world talking: Could it be that everyone was wrong and that saturated fat is not the enemy, and the advice being given to avoid it for the last 30 years was not warranted? After all, instead of reducing heart disease, Americans simply got fatter.

It seems this all began in 1980 when the USDA issued its first dietary guidelines, and one of the key messages was to avoid cholesterol and fat of all sorts.  That same year the government announced the results of a $150 million study that encouraged Americans to eat less fat and cholesterol to reduce their risk of a heart attack, and the National Institutes of Health also jumped on the bandwagon, recommending that all Americans over the age of 2 reduce their fat intake.

However, over the last decade or so researchers began to state otherwise, concluding that there was no significant evidence that saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.  Most recently a meta-analysis that I blogged about in March reached the same conclusions, as well as revealing that the intake of polyunsaturated fats (the supposedly heart healthy ones) also had no effect on heart disease.

Science will still support that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol levels, which are associated with higher rates of heart disease. However, it has now been found that saturated fat also raises levels of so-called "good" HDL cholesterol, therefore they cancel each other out. What is new is that scientists have discovered there are two kinds of LDL particles: small, dense ones and large, fluffy ones. The large ones seem to be mostly harmless, and fat seems to raise those, while carbs seems to have an effect on the damaging small ones.

So where does that leave us? As stated in the Time article, “The idea here was in part to cut calories, but Americans actually ended up eating more: 2,586 calories a day in 2010 compared with 2,109 a day in 1970.” I think that is exactly where the problem lies, plain and simple. We didn’t replace fat with fruits and veggies, but rather “fat-free” products and sugary carbs, not high-fiber ones. For some reason Americans believed that if it said “fat-free” on the label, than it was “calorie-free;" obviously that's not the case. Fat-free cream cheese on a bagel doesn’t make it a healthy choice.

Also, if you were to look at the size of portions served in restaurants over the last 30 years and the frequency of fast food dining, inevitably you will see that they both have grown tremendously. Perhaps that's another valid reason we are gaining weight, not solely because we thought to eliminate saturated fat from our diets. And by the way, there is lots of fat served at these establishments.

I won’t deny that saturated fat is no longer the evil once thought; I strongly advise all my patients to include fat with all meals throughout the day. Without some fat in a meal for satiety, most people will overeat. And yes, I like butter on my baked potato.  But let's not get carried away here. “Eat more fat” is not the correct message. One serving of butter on my potato is not the same as a stick. If only everyone could focus on eating a variety of whole foods that include fruits, veggies, 100-percent whole grains, dairy, and nuts, and watch their portion sizes, then I think positive change could really happen. And let’s not forget to exercise too.

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