10/19/2020
with
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Weight loss plateaus are never fun.
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You’re strumming along, seeing progress week after week, month after month, and then boom! Nothing.
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You start thinking, “what the heck?!”, I’m still doing all the right things, so why has my weight loss stalled!?
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Well, it does happen from time to time, so if you think you are at a weight loss plateau, keep reading.
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From working with clients over the past 4 1/2 years, I’ve noticed that lots of time when someone thinks they are at a plateau, they really aren’t. Let’s go over some reasons why you might not be in one.
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If your weight has stalled for a week, that is not a plateau. If you have not seen any progress for around 4 weeks, that’s much more realistic for a plateau.
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Now if it’s been 4 weeks and no progress, you now need to hold yourself accountable and ask yourself how accurately you have been tracking your nutrition. If you have taken some days off, take it easy on the weekends, or have eaten a lot of your meals out, that needs to be tightened up before you can say you are at a plateau because that could easily be the difference between being in a deficit or eating at calorie maintenance.
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Let’s say it’s been 4 weeks and you’ve been 90%+ accurate on your tracking, then you can consider these 3 things..
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1.Lowering your calories by 200 - 300 to get progress to start up again.
2.Adding more exercise to burn more calories.
3.Taking a break from your weight loss goal and shift your focus more towards muscle gain.
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Option 1 would be best for you if you are already eating a high amount of calories and have room to go lower. You don’t want to restrict too low where you will have less energy, become irritable, or have a higher likelihood of binging.
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Option 2 is great if you aren’t doing much exercise. 2 days to 3 or 4 is easy. 5 days a week to 6 or 7 might be too much.
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Option 3 is ideal if you eat a low amount of calories and exercise a lot. Sometimes it’s best to take a break from losing weight, focus on building muscle, increase your calories slowly, and then focus back on weight loss.