So you started a new healthy diet and exercise program and you got great results. Felt good huh?
Maybe you even started telling everyone about it? “Keto this…” or “Crossfit that…”
But at some point I’m guessing you hit the wall.
Whilst weight loss plateaus suck, it can be comforting to know that it happens to everyone.
Our bodies are pretty amazing at looking after us so any weight loss is a cause for concern when your body’s primary goal is survival (not a smaller jeans size – who would have thought?!)
Here are some practical things you can do to shift yourself out of that rut:
- Write it down.
Have you ever written down every thing you’ve spent money on over an entire week or month?
You put down all of the times you grab a coffee, a bite to eat, or you run out for milk and accidentally spend $30. You write down everything and then put all the expenses into columns like ‘groceries’ and ‘entertainment’.
Keeping a food diary is exactly the same except your columns might be breakfast, lunch and dinner; or meats, vegetables, dairy, treats etc.
And just like when you find out you’ve actually been spending $300 at Kmart each month (you needed it right?) – when you write down everything you eat you’ll be surprised where you’re unknowingly spending your calories too.
And you don’t need to be a dietician to know that those three lemon meringue pies you had last week weren’t going to help you lose weight.
2. Mix it up.
Your body is designed to adapt. In fact that’s what we’re asking it to do each time we exercise – adapt to be fitter, stronger and healthier.
If you don’t exercise at all simply starting will fire up your metabolism and shift you into fat burning mode again.
If you do exercise think about how you can do it differently. Do you usually stick to lighter weights? or skip the cardio? Ask your body to adapt to something new and shake things up a bit.
3. Exercise better.
Heavy weight lifting and high intensity interval training are the best ways to shed fat fast and visually change your body. So if you’re not at a forward thinking gym offering these things get yourself into one asap.
However, if you’re turning up to the gym 5 days a week, and you’re working full time, and you’re looking after a family, and you’re not eating properly, you’re exhausted and find you can only give about 50% in your workouts then guess what… you’re only getting 50% of the results.
Instead of ‘just turning up’, focus on turning up and training really well. If that means dropping the number of sessions you do from 5 to 3 do it. And if that means you add in a 30 or 60 minute personal training session do it.
And then when you’re in the gym maximise your effort by giving 100% and pushing your limits. Choose the heaviest weights you can safely lift and commit to going hard or going home. Then reward yourself with quality nutrition and plenty of quality rest to recover.
4. See a health care professional.
A naturopath will be able to look at your diet and lifestyle as a whole and point out things that you may not have considered as barriers to your weight loss. Hormonal issues, nutrient deficiencies and the effects of chronic stress are all important for a healthy metabolism.
If you haven’t had a blood test in a while – perhaps it’s time to schedule a check up with your GP. You may have an underlying condition like thyroid dysfunction that is affecting your ability to lose weight.
5. Use a set plan.
When we’re tired, lacking motivation or just feeling deflated, it’s incredibly hard to think up healthy snacks, cook ourselves amazing meals or come up with effective workouts, let alone actually go through with them.
At the end of the day, the easier something is, the more likely we are to do it.
So even though you ‘know what to do’ and even though you ‘could do it yourself’, give yourself a break!
Sign up for a challenge, join a great training community, follow a meal plan and put yourself into healthy auto-pilot mode.
If you train at a great gym with a group of people all you have to do is turn up at the start time and the trainer will take you through a really effective workout session where you get to laugh with your friends and leave buzzing.
If you have a meal plan on your fridge and it says you’re making savoury mince tonight, then it’s easy – you’re making savoury mince tonight.
When we’re really ‘on’ and super motivated, that’s awesome. But when we hit a stalemate it’s best to just revert to a plan and follow instructions.
No decision fatigue, no analysis paralysis, just positive steps in the right direction.
Ready to shift yourself out of that plateau? Join our 28 day challenge and get your training, nutrition and support network all sorted in one go. The good news is you can start whenever you like.