Weight loss plateau

[mortensorchid]

Since restarting my diet in February I have dropped about 20 lbs.  My weight has remained stagnant for the last 2 weeks.  I am only 11 lbs away from my goal.  What do any of you do to break that plateau?

[DarrenB]

If you've kept a consistent diet throughout the year it may be something else distancing you from further weight loss, a very common problem being irregular hormones.

Your Thyroid hormones help regulate general body metabolism - if you were to have a deficiency you would experience a significant decrease in your metabolism. A simple way to prevent such deficiency is by a steady consumption of Iodine which you would mostly find in fish and seafood vegetables.

Stress releases Cortisol hormones into your system which provides an increase in your sugar level in your body for your muscles to use. When this is underutilized, the sugar will eventually convert into fat which would obviously limit your weight loss considerably. Mindfulness is the most common practice to combat such.

Stemming away from hormone deficiency have you found yourself maintaining a caloric deficit or steadily turning into a surplus? the most optimal way to lose weight is to follow a ketogenic diet and implementing intermittent fasting into the equation for a period of time - with the two paired it will speed up ketosis and amplify weight loss considerably. 

 

[clia]

I don't have any science behind this, but I've found that when I plateau, the way to get out of it is to do something different.  For example, eat at maintenance calories for a couple of days, rather than at a deficit.  Or change up the deficit, so eat at 100 calories more per day than what you've been doing.  Or try starting a different exercise routine than what you've been doing.    

 

[rjc149]

Are you relying on diet alone, or are you doing vigorous, high-intensity cardio? Like somewhat unpleasant HIIT sessions where your heart rate is very high and you are pushing your cardio-pulmonary system, for at least 20 minutes, 4-5 days each week?

If you want to get shredded, you need to do that. You're not going cut body fat by eating rabbit food and sitting around because you have no energy. Without making assumptions about you, a lot of people rely too heavily on calorie restriction to lose weight, because they don't want to, or don't have the self-discipline to, go to the gym and suffer. 

 

[Azincourt]

17 minutes ago, rjc149 said:

Are you relying on diet alone, or are you doing vigorous, high-intensity cardio? Like somewhat unpleasant HIIT sessions where your heart rate is very high and you are pushing your cardio-pulmonary system, for at least 20 minutes, 4-5 days each week?

If you want to get shredded, you need to do that. You're not going cut body fat by eating rabbit food and sitting around because you have no energy. Without making assumptions about you, a lot of people rely too heavily on calorie restriction to lose weight, because they don't want to, or don't have the self-discipline to, go to the gym and suffer. 

 

She's a woman. I'm pretty sure she's not looking to come out of the gym looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator. I'm guessing what she wants is to have a flat stomach. Just eat right and take long walks around your neighborhood. 

[rjc149]

2 minutes ago, Azincourt said:

She's a woman. I'm pretty sure she's not looking to come out of the gym looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator. I'm guessing what she wants is to have a flat stomach. Just eat right and take long walks around your neighborhood. 

I would recommend upping the intensity from walks around the neighborhood. That’s what obese people should do to start out. It’s not enough for vanity weight loss and body fat trimming which is what OP wants.

10-15 minutes on the elliptical at a vigorous pace, at least 4 days a week. Intensity should be where it is difficult to talk and converse. It should challenge her lungs. In an air-conditioned gym, she should still be sweating profusely at the end of her workout.

Nice physiques are paid for up-front with discipline and sweat. If you don’t take cheat days from the gym, you can take cheat days on your diet. Life is better that way.