How to Break a Weight Loss Plateau

How to break a weight loss plateau? Here are some tips. Change your calorie balance. Exercise regularly. Keep a food journal. Try something new. Change your lifestyle to reduce your stress level. If your diet and exercise are not producing any weight loss results, you may need to consider changing your diet. Exercise can boost your metabolism and break a weight loss plateau. Strength training will increase your muscle mass, which will burn more calories than fat.

Change your calorie balance

Changing your calorie balance can be one of the best ways to break a weight loss plateau. It is difficult to lose weight when your body requires less calories than you burn. As you lose weight, your calorie requirements will be lower, but it can become more difficult to lose weight as you get leaner. Changing your calorie balance can be as simple as taking out a few extra calories from your diet or increasing your physical activity level.

The calorie intake/expenditure balance is another key to breaking a weight loss plateau. This can happen when you are stressed and underestimating your intake. Try to find ways to reduce stress and to keep a food journal. Also, consider using the right calorie tracking software so that you can see what you eat in a day and what your body needs. When your food intake is under 90 percent of your BMR, you need to increase your exercise.

Exercise

When you are trying to lose weight, exercise is a great way to increase the amount of calories your body burns. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, and it will burn more calories even when you are resting. Unfortunately, Americans spend more than 12 hours per day sitting down, so this type of lifestyle can lead to a plateau. Fortunately, there are many ways to break through this plateau and begin your weight loss journey again.

A good way to determine if you're exercising too much or not is to take a pulse. Try counting your heart beats for 60 seconds. If you're not breaking a sweat, then you're not working as hard as you could be. Try increasing your intensity or switching up your exercises. You may find you need a little extra motivation, which will help you keep on losing weight. However, you'll have more success if you prepare yourself for a longer journey.

Stress management

The key to breaking the weight loss plateau is to find a way to reduce your stress. Stress has been linked to weight gain, since the production of cortisol in the body increases. The increased cortisol levels make losing belly fat more difficult, so it's vital to learn how to reduce stress to promote weight loss. The weight loss trial participants who added stress management practices to their weight loss programs lost an average of nine pounds.

Keeping a food journal

One of the best ways to break a weight loss plateau is to track what you eat. You may not realize it, but many foods have hidden calories that can easily add up to a hefty amount. Not only that, but you might be eating more calories than you think. Incorrect portion sizes are another common cause of a plateau. Most people underestimate their portions, and one study found that people were consuming twice as many calories as they thought they were. Tracking what you eat and drink can help you keep track of any barriers to your weight loss goals.

Changing your macronutrient ratios

If you have reached a plateau and cannot seem to lose weight, consider changing your macronutrient ratio. Your body has adapted to a certain calorie intake and is no longer burning more calories than you consume. If you've already tried diets that included carbohydrate and fat-free food, your metabolism is probably slowed and your body has gone into starvation mode. Changing your macronutrient ratios can help you overcome this plateau and get your body back on track.

Before you start adjusting your macronutrient ratios, make sure you understand how your body reacts to each of these components. Make sure your overall macros are the same, but change the proportions of fat and protein. Try to stick to a 5% macro ratio initially and then gradually increase it over two to four weeks. If you've been seeing little or no results, try lowering your overall carbs and increasing your protein intake.