At some point anyone and everyone will come to face their own version of a plateau whether it be through weight loss, muscle gain, improving fitness or even in everyday life, such as their job.
Here are 3 tips to dealing with a plateau and how to get you back on track towards your goals:
- Stress Management: Stress has a huge impact in every area of our lives, and especially when it comes to weight loss. Producing too much cortisol (AKA the stress hormone) can have a considerable impact on your body’s ability to lose weight. Learning to manage your stress will help reduce cortisol allowing for more effective weight loss.
- Spread out your protein intake: As much as increasing your total protein intake in a day matters, so does consuming protein over multiple meals throughout your day. Not only does protein have the ability to improve metabolism through its thermic effect (TEF), there is also plenty of research into how protein is beneficial for your weight loss and maintaining and building muscle mass. Consuming 30-40 grams of protein in each meal will be ideal in reaching both your protein goals for the day, and keeping you feeling fuller as you take on the day.
- Don’t just rely on the scale alone! When trying to lose weight or gain muscle, it is highly likely that hopping on the scales will be a part of your daily or weekly routine. However it’s important that we understand that the scales does not always accurately reflect the progress you are making, such as your body composition or even your strength gains. If you are working out regularly you may be building muscle which is denser than fat, holds water and takes up less space in the body compared to fat. So, if the scales aren’t moving how you would have liked, you may be building muscle and losing fat keeping the weight the same or showing smaller drops on the scale. A great way to tell the difference is by taking a Bioscan in your local Vision Studio.
It is important to remember, especially when in a weight loss program, that we will all at some point hit a plateau, and knowing how to overcome that barrier is vital. It may mean changing your goals and focus away from fat loss towards a fitness goal or improving your strength through exercise. Even something as simple as maintaining is still progression as being able to retain those goals you’ve been hitting will prove successful in the longevity of your health and fitness.
