Overcoming a Weight Loss Plateau
When we talk about weight loss, a plateau is the point where your efforts become stagnant and unproductive. You’ve been carefully eating the right thing, eating less and exercising more, yet the numbers on the scale don’t budge. Many people will blame their metabolism, and wish that it could be higher. Can you increase metabolism? Are there other ways to bust through a plateau?
Resistance Training
One of the benefits of exercising more - doing resistance exercise in particular - is that it can help maintain muscle mass during weight loss, and muscle mass is related to resting metabolic rate.
However, increasing resting metabolism isn’t super simple; it requires increasing muscle mass. To actually increase muscle mass your resistance training needs to include fewer sets and reps with heavier weights. You should feel ‘failure’ or fatigue at somewhere between one and eight repetitions, and that is not easy! But science says it’s so. Sets of easier weights, where you reach failure at 15+ repetitions, helps build muscle endurance, but is not a recipe for building new muscle.
Intensity is Key
Other methods to increase metabolism include other forms of exercise. Intensity is the key. Not just in resistance exercise, but also in aerobic activity. Interval training (exercising with short periods of high exertion interrupted by periods of lower exertion) has been shown to help maintain and develop muscle mass. Maintaining muscle mass helps maintain resting metabolic rate. While working to your near maximum might be uncomfortable compared to your regular, steady exercise plan, it pushes your body and challenges your metabolism.
Change it Up
Changing up your routine – that is, keeping your body from becoming comfortable with your fitness choices – also can help break plateaus. Our body re-adjusts to stimuli when it experiences the same ones over and over. We become more efficient, and we require less energy to complete tasks that were at one time challenging. Make a plan to rotate regimens in phases; it’s a good way to keep your body guessing, and elevates metabolic requirements. Vary your classes, equipment, workout speeds and exercises. Try those heavier weights and fewer reps. It may be simpler to keep things the same, but remember your goals!
Balance Your Calories
Finally, remember the caloric balance. You need to burn more than you consume. Learn how many calories your body needs, and what your resting requirements are. Then, estimate the number of calories you will burn in activity. Can you cut back somewhere? Don’t waste calories on beverages when water or less-caloric beverages will do. Avoid energy drinks, skip dessert (lots of empty calories), watch your snacking and eat foods that fill you up without excess calories. Eating protein is a good way to achieve a feeling of fullness. Be more aware of feeling hungry vs. feeling full. This is important in order to better control how much you eat. Ultimately, tracking calories IN and estimating calories OUT will be the best way to determine if you’re on the right track.
Plateaus will happen. If you are mindful about calories, changing up your workouts, and making an effort to build more muscle, you’re on your way to busting through them. More than anything else, be patient and stay focused on your ultimate goals. Every day is a new chance to be a better you!
