It is hit when the body develops a tolerance for the program and so allows the body to process the nutrients from the food intake, but with a metabolism that has adjusted to retain the excess rather than burn it outright.
Whilst plateaus do occur without anything else changing, there can be other factors that cause the plateau or that may contribute to it.
• Not sticking 100% to the weight loss program
• Slow metabolism due to reduced muscle mass, inactivity or age
• Skipping meals and snacking
• Steroid medications
• Overdoing exercise, or for some people, lack of exercise
• Having your period
• Lack of bowel function
• Insufficient fluid intake
• Diagnosed or undiagnosed insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) or thyroid disease
• Medication doses may be incorrect and preventing weight loss, particularly with thyroid disease
The most common cause for a plateau is complacency; as you get closer to your goal weight and when you get excited about the results you are achieving, you also tend to pay less attention to what you are eating and how often or how hard you are working out.
This happens totally on a subconscious level, so unless you are keeping your food and activity diary up to date with what you’re eating and what activity you’re doing, it makes it difficult to see what’s really going on.
The first thing to remember is that a plateau is natural and is simply your body adapting to the rate of energy intake in relation to energy expenditure.
So what strategies can we put in place in order to overcome a plateau? Because adaptation of the body comes about largely through routine, in other words, eating, drinking and exercising the same amount each day, the best weapon against plateauing is likely to be a break or change in routine. Weight gain occurs gradually over time largely because of small changes in energy use (through declining metabolism and activity) in relation to food intake over time. Similarly, a change to the routine in the opposite direction is likely to cause a breakthrough in adaptation and overcoming a weight loss plateau. This can be brought about in a number of ways.
1. Be a calorie detective. Make sure you know how many calories a day are you eating; whilst calories are not the whole story (far from it) they are still an important component of weight loss, and they have a way of creeping up if you are not paying attention to them. Be brutally honest with yourself.
2. Change it up. The old advice of changing your routine when you’re not making gains in an exercise program holds true for your food program too. Vary your ratio of protein to fat to carbs. Even varying calorie intake may have a positive effect.
3. Exercise a temporary ban. Food sensitivities could be causing you to hold on to weight and bloat, and the frustrating thing is that you won’t always know which foods are causing this. So play the odds: highest on the list of “usual suspects” are grains (wheat in particular), dairy and sugar. Put a temporary ban on all three and see what happens.
4. Kick it up a notch. Or three. High intensity intervals of 30 to 60 seconds are the way forward, so if you’re used to going at level three, ramp it up to level 6 for a minute then slow back down, catch your breath and do it again.
5. Revisit strength training. If you’re not already strength training, then it’s time to start, and if you are, it’s time to take it up a notch. Muscle is your greatest ally in breaking a plateau.
6. Up your protein. Study after study shows that a higher ratio of protein to carbs makes losing body fat easier. Protein boosts the metabolism and it also increases satiety, making it more likely that you won’t overeat. A higher protein diet could be just what you need to break that plateau.
7. Try a gentle detox. While fasting for weight loss unsupervised is not a good idea, giving your system a rest does make sense. One way to do this is with a “natural fast” of nothing but fruits and vegetables for a couple of days. The added fibre is always helpful, and the massive amount of nutrients and phytochemicals is like a “spring clean” for your metabolism.
8. Do a personal inventory. Believe it or not, other things besides diet and exercise could be stalling your weight loss. Stress, for example. Or lack of sleep. Or medications. Take a look and see what else is going on in your life that might need attention. Sometimes when you clean up the problems in one area of your life, problems in other areas just naturally take care of themselves.
No matter what, keep creating positive changes day by day and progressing towards a vibrant and strong you, Ann.
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