There is nothing more deflating, demotivating and disappointing than when you feel you have put in 110% of effort into your diet and training and you step on those dreaded scales to see the SAME number flashing in your face like a beacon. What do you do next? F**k it, this week you’ll eat what you want and not bother putting in so much effort. WRONG. This is NOT what you should do. Instead of doing this, you need to consider WHY this has happened.
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR WEIGHT PLATEAUS
· You’re not in a calorie deficit, you just THINK or BELIEVE you are. You may actually be consuming more calories than you think. Are you tracking EVERYTHING to an absolute T? Every teaspoon of oil or sauce, every ml of milk that goes into your tea, every grain of rice on your plate, every berry that pops into your mouth, every sugar free drink you down? Yes, even that extra 1TBSP that rocketed into your mouth when you taste tested your dinner while cooking is STILL calories.
· Sodium levels/water retention: if you’re a woman and on your cycle you are holding more water. My weight increases by about 2lbs in the week of mine. Additionally, the types of food you’re having eg going out to eat and overeating or having even 1 takeaway will take your weekly average up because of the sauces and oils used to cook the food. My weight increases the morning after I’ve eaten food that’s not been cooked by me and that’s also because of the high sodium levels. Always overestimate your calories and save yourself room when going out to eat if you want your weight to keep dropping.
· Your output is not high enough. You’re not hitting at least 10k steps and you’re not training with intensity. All of your sessions should feel like an 8/10 (10 being the hardest)
· Stressed/rundown: It might be your relationship, your job or your kids. But science doesn’t lie. If you are stressed out your Cortisol level heightens and your body goes into a survival mode holding on to everything, making it less likely for your weight to drop.
· Sleep: You’re not recovering well enough. Lack of sleep leads to more hunger and is also responsible for your stress hormone level increasing
· Your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) isn’t great. BTW NEAT is any activity that burns calories that isn’t actual exercise. That could be fiddling with your hair, tapping your foot, or fiddling with a pen at your desk. That means you’re quite sedentary. You’re sitting down at your desk too long, you’re not really fidgeting all that much. Basically it’s everything you do actively OUTSIDE of training and exercise. Believe me, just training x2 or x4 a week may still not be enough to burn enough calories.
· You’ve dieted for a very long time and your metabolism has slowed right down (slows down greatly in a fat loss phase)
· Body Fat Set Point: This is the weight that you naturally fall at, a weight you may struggle to get past (mine is 140lbs). Your body fat set point weight is the weight where your body feels most comfortable. You can change your body fat set point but it does take some work! (This will be outlined in another post)
HOW TO OVERCOME A PLATEAU
So you’re probably thinking right now ahhhh yes, these could be a few reasons. Now trial some of these for the next few weeks and see if it doesn’t make a difference. Just a word of advice, ensure you are calculating your weekly average weight (weigh yourself everyday) so you know your true weight, instead of just measuring your weight x1 a week.
· Decrease your calories (lower your carb intake but keep protein high for satiation)
· Incorporate more strength straining
· Increase your steps to 11 or 12k a day and/or in addition add a few power walks at the end of your training sessions
· Add HIIT finishers into your workouts e.g.20 seconds on/20 seconds off on the bike, rounds of the prowler, deadmill sprints
· Add extra sets into your compounds eg instead of 3 sets of squats go with 4, with the 4th being a Drop set
· Be mindful of your NEAT-get up off your desk and walk around your home or office every so often
· Hitting maintenance calories for 2 weeks before you go back into the deficit so that your metabolism speeds up
· Having a weekly re-feed (decrease your deficit calories during the week and increase your calories on one day) but over the course of the week your calorie intake remains in a deficit
· De-stress e.g. take hot baths, read or listen to music
· Get more sleep-set timers on your phone to remind you and stick to the routine
· Drink more water
It is frustrating when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but try and avoid beng too disheartened as things are always reversible. Most importantly, really think about where you’re going wrong and do something about it. DON’T just give up, especially if you’re not in your healthy weight range yet!
Need guidance getting past that annoying plateau? Contact us today on Instagram @natashakostalas or for males @antonkostalas
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