4 Effective tips to breakthrough a weight loss plateau
Weight loss is a popular goal for many members at CFP, but the path to reaching that goal has its ups and downs. If you’ve been focusing on losing weight for an extended period of time, you know there are weeks where the weight falls off and other weeks when the scale doesn’t budge. Typically, those stagnant weeks will transition back into weight loss if you maintain consistent exercise and a healthy diet. As you become more experienced in your journey to reaching your goal weight, there may be hurdles that halt your progress for multiple weeks (or months). For many this causes frustration to build and can make it even harder to get past a road block. Here are my Top 4 Tips for breaking past that weight loss plateau.
1. Track your daily food intake – Food is the most important variable to losing weight. With so much importance placed on reaching your weight loss goal, you should know exactly what you are consuming on a regular basis. I am NOT a proponent of counting calories but I do think it’s important to track your food intake for about a week so you are aware of what is going into your body. When someone does this for the first time, typically they are surprised by the number of calories they are consuming unconsciously. In other words, tracking food helps eliminate mindless eating and snacking throughout the day. It can also help you recognize that small “tastes” here and there may add up to more than you think.
2. Eat More! – I know what you are thinking, how is it possible to lose weight by adding in more food? Most people cut back on food intake significantly when they are trying to cut some pounds. The drastic change in calorie consumption works at first but your body eventually adjusts and metabolism slows down. This means your daily calorie expenditure decreases to a point where weight loss becomes almost impossible. Try slowly increasing your daily volume of food with Low Calorie Density Food. These types of foods include fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains and small amounts of lean protein. This should naturally speed up the metabolism but keep you feeling full. Note, this tip does not include people who consume excess calories.
3. Eat 5-6 servings of vegetables daily – This may be common sense to many, but most people don’t put this into action. One of the first thing’s I recommend to members at CFP is to add 5-6 servings of vegetable every day, and don’t change anything else. The increase in vegetable consumption (more fiber and volume) will cause you to eliminate higher calorie foods because your feel more satiated. Make sure the increase in vegetables is via whole foods and not vegetables powders/juices.
4. Perform 30 minutes of Fasted Cardio in the morning – At least 5 days/week, wake up and have a large glass of water then walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes. Exercising at a low intensity before you eat forces the body to use stored fast as fuel during this period of time. Make sure the activity stays at a lower intensity. As you increase the heart rate in a fasted state the body will use a larger percentage of fuel from glycogen (stored energy) in the working muscles. While the research has mixed results on fasted cardio, I have had a large amount of success with my clients adding this in to their workout routines.
