You are getting in your veggies every day, drinking plenty of water, and going to the gym at least five days a week, yet the number on the scale doesn’t seem to budge. Sound familiar? If so, you may have hit a plateau.
Losing weight can be as simple as cutting back on your calorie intake and increasing your activity level. However, it isn’t that easy for everyone. Depending on your body shape, genetics and past dieting history you may have a tougher time losing weight. Here are some considerations:
- Weight Distribution: Those who carry their weight in their hips and thighs may have a tougher time losing weight compared to those who carry it in their middle. As women, our bodies want to prep us for child bearing with excess hip and thigh pounds. Though this may be frustrating, it is actually healthier to store your weight here. Abdominal weight can be toxic to your vital organs. Not to mention, the weight you carry in your thighs can be predominantly muscle whereas weight in your abdomen tends to be fat. And as you may know, muscle weighs more than fat; muscle is 18% more dense. Think of yourself as lucky if you have a pear body shape versus an apple shape.
- Genetics: Take a look at your mom, grandma, aunts, sisters, and cousins. You can bet that you probably have a similar shape and issues with weight loss. For example, I look a lot like my dad’s side of the family. Not many of the Lannans are stick skinny, so why should I expect that my body manipulate itself into a shape it’s not meant to be?
- Dieting History: Past yo-yo dieting can really catch up with you. If you have had a significant period in your life where you restricted your calorie intake, especially if it was below 1200 per day, you may have a harder time losing weight. By sending your body into starvation mode you decrease your metabolism which, in turn, decreases the amount of calories you burn. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. This doesn’t mean you will never achieve a healthy weight; often it just takes time eating healthy and the appropriate amount of calories for your metabolism to get back to normal.
Think you have hit a plateau? Try these plateau busters to get you back on track.
- Vary your calorie and carbohydrate intake. This is called carbohydrate cycling. Basically one day you eat a diet lower in calories and carbohydrates and switch the next day to a diet higher in calories and carbohydrates. You’ll want to calculate your calories needs for weight loss (figure that out here), so that the average of your higher calorie/carb day and lower calorie/carb day equals that target number. So if your needs are 1350 calories, alternating between 1200 and 1500 calories. Chris Powell, the trainer from the show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, recently came out with a book called Choose to Lose: The 7 Day Carb Cycle Solution. Check out his lower carb meal plan and higher carb meal plan to get you started.
- Vary your exercise routine. Dominating a plateau is mostly about shaking things up a bit. One day do cardio (running, elliptical machine, biking), one day do strength training (weights or weight lifting group class), and one day throw in a pilates or yoga class to increase your core strength and work those muscles you didn’t even know you had.
- Scrutinize your intake. Our eyes can deceive us. What looks like a couple tablespoons of peanut butter could really be closer to three or four (which would increase your calorie intake by 100– 200 calories). Even though those extra calories don’t seem like much, they can add up throughout the days, weeks and months. Get out your measuring cups and spoons again and double check those portions. You don’t have to do it forever; just until you get your eyes back into serving size working order.
- Journal. Writing down what you eat is another way to make sure you really are eating what you claim. So buy a cute journal! That way those little bites while cooking or snacking throughout the day gets added to your calorie tally. You may be surprised to see how much you really are eating. I suggest using an online journal or app. I use My Net Diary and love it.
- Increase your water, decrease your salt. Water helps keep you satisfied and full. Not to mention it does wonders for your skin and energy level. Salt, on the other hand, leads to water retention and can falsely increase the number on the scale leading you to believe you aren’t losing weight.
Bottom Line: Don’t give up, don’t lose hope, but also don’t keep doing things that don’t work. Reevaluate your weight loss plan and take some of these changes into consideration. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward.
