How To Battle Weight-Loss Plateau?

[Stars in my Pocket]

1. Zig-Zag Calorie Intake
Zig-zagging, or calorie cycling is the process of varying daily calorie intake, while maintaining the same weekly intake. Instead of consuming (for example) precisely 1800 calories each day - you can mix it up. Eat 1500 calories one day, and 2100 calories the next. This can be as simple as halving then doubling a portion size, or adding a post-workout shake into the plan. Just keep your body guessing.

2. Strength Training
If you are not doing this as part of your program or lifestyle, then it's time to start. Working your muscles will help to strengthen bone tissue, increase lean mass, and ultimately boost metabolic rate.

3. Change Your Exercise Routine
So you go walking a lot? Then try jogging, or swimming, or cycling -- anything that will change the way your body is working. If you are doing low intensity cardio work, then try some high intensity exercise (such as HIIT).

4. Alter Macro-nutrient Intake
Although it sounds complicated, once again, the idea is to change what you are eating. If (for example) you are eating a moderate diet that is higher in carbs - try eating less carbs and more protein. There is no need to get super-technical over the whole thing. If you have a carbohydrate snack every day at morning tea time - change it to a protein snack. Whatever you are doing consistently - try mixing it up a bit.

5. Change Meal Frequency
If you are eating three square meals a day - start adding snacks in between (which may mean reducing the portion size of the main meals). Eating often is an old and common style of eating - once again, you are trying to boost your metabolic rate.

I know all that - What else is there?
Some of us seem to have more adaptive bodies than others. I remember when I was eating a fairly rigid diet, having three strength training sessions per week, and as much as seven (often intense) cardio sessions a week. After 3-4 weeks - the fat simply stopped coming off. The frustration was enough to make me take my meal plans (stuck to the fridge), screw them up and throw them away in disgust. I was furious and disappointed. I felt that I was doing everything "right". So what was the answer?

Chill out and back off... I was becoming obsessional. I started eating more, and gradually reduced my cardio levels. I gave my body and mind a break. In the process I have learnt to eat more intuitively. Every person is unique, and we must learn how our individual body responds - and how to work with that.



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Your thoughts or experiences?

I've been at the same weight for a week now and it's so frustrating! scream I already strength train, so I will try to eat more fiber and less sodium. 3nodding

Is anyone here at a plateau right now? Why do you think it is?  

[Roslin]

I have been battling the same 5 pounds this entire year, losing and regaining the same 5 pounds over and over again. I've tried about everything to just get under 165 (goal is like 160, maybe more in the long run). I just tell myself to just keep it up and remember that my body has gone through a major shock over the past year and a half, losing 70 some pounds. My body probably just needs some time to adjust to this new weight and that if I'm at least maintaining then that's good. My body will lose more weight when it's ready.  

[Tandahda]

All that information is awesome Stars,

One of the biggest things I see is that people often think they're at a plateau when they have been losing weight and hold steady at a certain weight for a long time. But really what they've been doing is eating way too few calories for so long, they lost the weight at first because there was just no way for their body to support them, but eventually they just hold at a certain weight because they've done so much damage to their metabolic system.

A really good thing to do at first when you feel like you might be at a plateau is see how many calories you're eating (if you don't count already), and match that up with your BMR for your ideal weight.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

This one gives the base calorie level, and you're supposed to use a calculation based on how much activity you get, even if you get NO exercise you're still supposed to multiply the number you get by 1.2

Basically put in your ideal weight instead of the weight you're at. Follow the calculations. If the number you come up with isn't really close to the number you're eating, you're probably not at a plateau.

If the number of calories you should be eating is 1680 calories per day and you're eating 1200 calories a day, you're probably screwing with your metabolism too much and need to eat more, and more frequently to fix that. If you should be eating 1680 calories a day and you are eating 2000 calories a day, well, you're probably just maintaining your weight and adjusting your diet will help you get the scale moving again.  

[Euthanasia Phase]

Roslin

I have been battling the same 5 pounds this entire year, losing and regaining the same 5 pounds over and over again. I've tried about everything to just get under 165 (goal is like 160, maybe more in the long run). I just tell myself to just keep it up and remember that my body has gone through a major shock over the past year and a half, losing 70 some pounds. My body probably just needs some time to adjust to this new weight and that if I'm at least maintaining then that's good. My body will lose more weight when it's ready.

My mom hit a plateau at a similar weight for about a year. She's also on Weight Watchers, and the problem turned out to be that she was eating too much "free" or 1-point food that was barely under two points, and it really added up. Don't know if that's a problem or not - it sounds more likely that your metabolism has slowed from decreased calorie intake instead.
Also, drinking a lot of water has helped in the past, especially ice cold water.  

[Munkers]

My first thought was along the lines of what Seraphsody mentioned. When all else fails, try eating a little more and see what happens. It sounds like you're already working out quite a bit and if you're doing a lot of strength training, your muscles are going to require a lot of energy to rebuild and grow. If you're not eating enough, your metabolism is going to slow to a crawl and your body is going to fight for every pound it can.

I was reading through a runner's forum and one person told the story about how their weight loss just STOPPED and they couldn't do anything about it. They finally started eating a little more and the weight started falling off again. Turns out that, with their increased mileage each week, they weren't taking in enough daily calories and their body was in hardcore starvation mode.