Take the Heartache out of the Weight Loss Plateau

You've been on a weight loss program for a few weeks or months, and things are going well. You're losing weight, exercising regularly and feeling healthier than ever. You're not far from your goal weight and you're getting really excited .. and then WHUMP!

You hit a wall. It's been two weeks, and the scales haven't budged.

What's going on? You're doing everything the same, haven't cheated or changed anything, you're working out same as you have been all along - but have not lost as much as half a pound in two whole weeks!

Welcome to the Weight Loss Plateau.

An apt name if ever there was one! For those who are wondering why it's called that, a plateau is the low-lying, flat area of land found most often between mountain ranges. (By the way, in Afrikaans, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, where I'm from, 'plat' means flat!) Flat is probably a good description of how you're feeling right now, too.

The good news?

This is perfectly normal. Most, if not all, people hit at least one plateau while dieting. You are most probably not doing anything wrong. Your body is reacting the way it's supposed to - even if you don't like it much!

The better news?

You can and will get over this - just as you have overcome so many challenges on the way to this next challenge.

What makes you reach a plateau?

Usually, whatever weight loss program you have been following will have involved some form of calorie restriction, whether it's just a reduction in calories overall, or specific types of food that you've cut back on.

The reason for reducing calories is to force your body, which burns calories to create energy, to look beyond your calorie intake for its needs. If you don't take in enough calories, your body burns fat.

After a while, as you lose more and more fat, your body will turn to extra proteins for its energy needs, usually in the form of lean muscle. Less lean muscle means a slower metabolism, which slows the fat burning process down even further.

At the same time, your body is lighter than when you started your diet, so you are using less calories just for normal everyday activites. Your body will be functioning more efficiently too, and your improved health means that your resting metabolic rate is lower.

Muscle also weighs more than fat, so your plateau may mean that you are still losing fat, but not seeing the result on the scale because of muscle development.

Before you try anything else, take your measurements.

If they are still decreasing, this is what's taking place, and you may need to revise your goal weight which only takes into account how much weight you wanted to lose, not how much fat you would replace with heavier muscle.

If you've been exercising, you are probably following a routine that you have now been doing for a while. Whatever exercise it is, chances are that you do it on the same day, for the same amount of time at the same intensity.

Basically, you've been 'practising' - and now your body is more efficient at that exercise, so it uses less calories to do it.

In a nutshell, your body has adapted to the initial changes in eating habits and physical activity that you made when you started your diet. When you reach a plateau, you'll find yourself trying to reduce calories even more, and possibly intensify your workout routine.

This won't help.

If you overwork your body with exercise, it responds by slowing down your metabolism for the rest of the day to commpensate for the additional energy used. Further reducing your calories will have the same effect, as your body will go into 'starvation' mode. Yep - your body is self-regulating.

Built-in survival methods may seem to be designed to frustrate your every effort to lose weight - but they are there to keep you alive, functioning optimally under any circumstance.

So what do you do now?

Believe it or not, there is one simple thing - yes, just one - that you can do to shift your body off that plateau and back into losing weight.

CHANGE! Your body has settled into your routine - so change things up a bit and get it out of that rut!

Let's look at some of the ways you can do this.

1. Eating Habits

• Try calorie shifting for a week or two.

Eat more calories than your normal diet one day, then cut back to less than normal for a day. Increase it slightly the next two days and so on. Because your body takes a day or two to adjust to the change in calories, by the time it realises you're starving it (on day two), you've increased the calories again, so your metabolism stays in overdrive to burn them up.

• Swop nutrients, like carbs for proteins, a couple of times a day.

Even a small change in routine like this can be the jumpstart your body needs to get it burning fat again.

• Up the frequency.

If you're eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks, consider trying 5 smaller meals for a week.

• Take a break.

For 5 or so days, forget about your diet. Don't binge, but just ease up on yourself. Take a rest from intense exercise too - let your body rest and rebuild. That way, when you start again, it's all new and your body will start burning fat again.

2. Exercise

• Change the type of exercise you are doing.

If you've been walking, try jogging. Instead of the treadmill, go for a swim, Different types of exercise use different muscles - enough of a change to jolt your body back into action.

• Change the duration and/or frequency of your exercise routine.

Split an hour of walking into two sessions at different times of the day. Go to gym in the morning instead of the evening. The idea here is to trick your body into thinking you've started a new routine that it has to adapt to.

• Change the intensity of your physical activity.

If you've been exercising intensively, slow it down for a week or two with stretching and yoga classes, then go back to the more hectic stuff.

• Increase the amount of strength training you do.

Strength training is great for building lean muscle - just what your metabolism needs.

What may seem like a small change to you may be just the thing to get your body back into fat burning mode.

Another way of changing what you're doing that seems to really help those who are stuck in a plateau for more than a week or two, is to try a different weight loss plan. A completely different way of eating and exercising will probably change most of the things mentioned above. A fast fat loss plan will help you get rid of those last few pounds quickly.

It is frustrating, irritating and disheartening to have come so far, only to feel that your own body is working against you!

Have patience - your body is just doing what it's supposed to do. Most important - don't throw in the towel. You've achieved so much already, and worked so hard to get there, it would be a real shame to stop before you reach your goal.

Persevere, try some of these tips - but never give up!