Losing weight is a process that can be very demanding on your patience, especially when you hit a weight loss plateau. One week, you can feel like you’re on top of the world. You’ll lose pound after pound and you’ll feel exceptionally proud of yourself. Then, suddenly, everything seems to grind to a halt. All of your success comes to an end and it can feel as though it doesn’t matter what you do, your weight remains at exactly the same level week after week. You’ve hit that dreaded weight loss plateau.
This can be extremely hard on your ability to remain motivated. It can feel as though there is no reason to continue to put your heart and soul into your dieting efforts because nothing is resulting from it. However, this is not the case. The odds are that you simply need to make a few minor adjustments and then you’ll start to see the scale moving in the downward direction once more.
The following are some of these little helpful tweaks that can send things in the right direction, once more and break you free from a weight loss plateau.
• Keep a food diary – for a couple of days, at least, jot down every single food you eat. Even if you snagged one French fry from your friend’s lunch tray or took a single grape from a bunch in your fridge, write it down. You could find that the secret behind the lack of movement on the scale is actually the number of tiny bites that you take on a regular basis, but that you don’t feel actually “count” to your total. Start recognizing them. They may have been your downfall until now.
• Reduce your overall carbs – this doesn’t mean that you need to start eliminating carbs, just reduce them a little. You may be eating more than your carb tolerance for weight loss and that is stopping you from making any progress. Try decreasing by 10 grams per day. Remember to pay attention to keeping your fiber up, though. Once your weight loss resumes, you can add 5 grams of carbs again, and then possibly another 5 grams if you feel that you can handle it again without sacrificing your weight loss.
• Abstain from alcohol – this doesn’t have to be forever, just until the scale starts to move again.
• Workout a little more – exercise for a little bit longer, or boost the intensity of your workout slightly. This is effective for some people but not all, however, it does improve the effectiveness of the other techniques when they are all combined.
