My weight is stagnant: How to break a plateau during a diet

You may have heard of this concept: a tier or plateau, during a reigma. This is a common occurrence, but one that many experience as a failure – when there are simple solutions to address it. What’s this? Am I affected? How to overcome it? I’ll tell you everything right away.

Already a landing, what is it?

It’s quite simple. A plateau, during a diet, is a time when your weight stops falling, while you do not change your habits .

This definition is important, because it means that to be concerned you must:

• You are currently on a diet, so there is a calorie deficit between your energetic expenditure and your intake – otherwise, it’s called maintaining your weight,
• You have already lost weight in the previous weeks and months
• you continued to eat the same way as when you were losing weight (if you add snacks here and there, it’s not a stop. It’s because you started again to overeat.)
• you ate more than 1200kcal per day (otherwise it is not a plateau, it is the famine threshold that is reached, and it is dangerous.)
• you have not lost weight for more than 3 weeks (otherwise there is no point in panicking, we are patient, there is no fire)

If one of these conditions is not validated, it is not a break. It’s just that your diet isn’t sustainable, and you have all the keys to rectifying that.

Good.

So, in the event that you have indeed reached this “level” , you are most likely very pissed off (e). Understandably, it’s quite frustrating – I got stuck for 3 months at the same weight, with the same drastic efforts, and it makes you want to stop everything and throw yourself  .

BUT this is never a solution, or the next step:

Understand where this level comes from

There are many reasons the body stops losing weight when dieting. (this list is not exhaustive)

• He has reached a weight that he thinks is viable : This is often the case during heavy diets. The first few pounds are very easy to lose, because they are really superfluous and bothersome for the body. And after that it becomes a hassle, because the body no longer really finds a physiological reason to lose weight. Your metabolism doesn’t care if you step into a 36, ​​as long as you don’t put yourself in danger. As a result, he will tend to try to stagnate as soon as he finds a balance, a configuration that pleases him better.
• He has reached a weight he is used to : it is a little curious reflex too, but if in your life, you have remained (e) a long time at the same weight, your body remembers it, and tends to view it, by default, as a viable weight. So he tries to keep it as it is.
• He’s got used to your diet. It can happen when you’ve been on the same diet (often with strict diets, by the way) for a long time. Your metabolism gets used to the way you burn calories and especially the way you eat them. As a result, he adapts his consumption and slows down precisely to stop consuming more calories than you bring him. In short, he falls asleep on his laurels. If you think this is the case, read the article on reverse dieting, to fix your metabolism!

Now that you may have a beginning of an answer to“ but why am I losing more weight ”, we attack the last part:

How to break a plateau: tips and tricks

CAUTION : this is not an exact science, every body, every metabolism is different and therefore reacts differently. It’s up to you to experiment, to see what suits YOUR body, and what will unblock YOUR situation. There is no quick fix – and no crash diets – private detox – mono food and other stupid inventions is not a good idea . NEVER. Do not traumatize your body with this kind of nonsense, it does not need it, it is dangerous and in addition to not unblocking the situation, it can make you lose muscle AND store fat.

So, healthier solutions that can be summed up in a tip: SURPRISE YOUR METABOLISM. It seems a bit stupid, said like that, but in 90% of cases your body says to itself “no, I don’t want to, I will stay like that” because it gets used to it and is in favor of the least effort. The method, then, is to shake it all up, one way or another. So what can we do?

• eat a lot more during a day – the principle of the cheat meal. It’s today, it’s your day, it’s party in your closet. The point is to make excess calories so wacky that your body won’t know how to handle it, it will panic, and it will start straining again, lest you do this kind of stuff again. Be careful, this only works if you have a very regular diet, and you don’t already have a cheat meal every week.
• eat a lot less during a day – this is another way to surprise your body on how much you are giving it. He expects a certain number of nutrients and calories, and there VLAN he doesn’t understand what is happening to him.
• eat a lot of new things for 1 week – same principle. If you never eat bread, or cooked fruit, or whatever, make yourself a week or you eat it every day. Or make for example 1 high protein meal a day (an omelet with ham and cottage cheese, for example)
• change your sports routine: here, we play on the calorie expenditure side, but it can also work. If your habit is 1 hour of cardio every 3 days, take 2 weeks to do 45 minutes of strength training every day instead. Or change ALL your exercises, or your cardio type (go for a run rather than a bike, etc)
• do a day of intensive expenditure – and this is best if you have something planned, like a trip to an unfamiliar city or an amusement park. But by keeping the same calorie intake as the previous days, (if you cancel the expense by eating twice as much, it doesn’t work, eh), make a long physical effort and straining for the body over a day or two.

and finally…

• give time to time – and I know it’s not what you want to hear, but there are times when you have to trust your body, and let it adjust on its own. A landing is also an opportunity to sit down and reflect. If your body finds the weight you have reached to be sustainable, doesn’t that mean this is the place to stop? Think back to your goals, and why you started on this diet in the first place. Was it to be healthy? is it aesthetic? In short, this is also a time to take stock. You’ve lost weight, and it’s a great victory, but now what do we do?

One last remark:

Steps are boring. But if you’ve been losing weight before, that means you KNOW how to make the right choices. it’s not at all that your diet isn’t good, or anything your fault. Especially , you must not let go at this point, if after having reflected your (realistic) objectives are not achieved. This is the time to try new sports, to build muscle to tone your body while waiting for the loss to resume, and it is also the time to love and celebrate your body and the progress you are making. have accomplished so far. Yes, that sounds a bit silly, but it’s super important. You are not losing any more weight NOW, BUT you HAVE LOSED it, and if that was your goal, then now is the time to recognize that you are doing a good job, and be a little proud. from you. And that can’t hurt.