The hardest part of the weight loss journey. When the scale suddenly lands on a certain number and refuses to budge. There are plenty of terms for this stage – “plateau,” “stall,” or the more technical “homeostasis.” In a nutshell, it is when the body decides it is in a balanced, well functioning state. The calories coming in are matching the calories being expended by the body, and the body is in essence running at its most efficient. In terms of human survival, this is a fantastic state to be in! In terms of a weight loss program, this is a frustrating state!
So what is the solution to getting the body out of a plateau state and back on track to weight loss? Well… it is getting the body out of it’s comfort zone! Wake up, body! Time to work again!
LOG YOUR FOOD
Believe it or not, a lot of plateaus are not really “plateaus,” so much as it is we have become comfortable and complacent with our food choices when the weight loss was easy. A little cheat here, a little snack there… It never hurt before! Except that the daily calorie intake has slowly snuck up under the radar. We have – inch by inch – gone from being in a calorie deficit where weight loss happens, to being in a low calorie “maintenance” zone where we are still eating less than when we started, but not enough of a deficit to make fat metabolize.
The beauty of logging food is that it is an intervention that costs nothing, but reveals a lot of useful data. What exactly are you eating? How do the macros look? Are portion sizes bigger than anticipated? Is something containing more calories than we originally thought? Having concrete, measured data on food going into your body can yield a lot of useful information and help guide you back into a good weight loss state.
SWITCH UP YOUR WORKOUTS
Two things cause your body to burn calories and fat stores – raising your heart rate and building muscle. As we get more in shape – the more toned our bodies get – the more exertion is needed to make the body work. Have you ever seen bodybuilders slowing increasing up their weight loads as they train? This is why! Your body now requires more effort to burn and build – Because it is stronger! So if you are in a plateau, taking a good look at your workouts is helpful. When you do cardio, is your heart rate going up and are you sweating? When you are lifting weights, are you feeling the effort? Or could you go up a few more pounds or reps and make it a little more impactful?
Also – are you possibly still loosing fat but adding on muscle weight? (This is why those check in Tania readings are so important!) By spending some time dialing up your workouts, you may see the scale starting to tip back in your favor!
DETOX AND INFLAMMATION
The problem with modern foods is that they are saturated with dyes, preservatives and chemicals. Even “good” foods can contain elements from the modern world that can accumulate in fat stores and cause the body to become mildly inflamed. This increases water retention and causes the body to resist breaking down fat. By cleaning out the liver and kidneys with a detox program 2-3 times a year and adding in good probiotics to the digestive tract, we can be sure the body is performing optimally and processing foods as it should. The other benefit of a detox program is it does cause you to take good inventory of what you are eating and how much water you are ingesting to clean out your system.
A detox program can be anything from taking a daily Liver Cleanse with Inulin and Probiotics to a full-on program, like the 6 Day Detox.
INCREASE YOUR DOSE
If you are on a Semaglutide / GLP-1 weight loss program, increasing your dose may be the ticket to helping with plateau stalls as well. Over time, the body does adapt and build tolerance to your weekly dose levels. Doses that may have been effective in the past may not have the same level of impact months later, and a simple 5-10 unit increase can put the body back on notice that it is time to be dropping pounds again! Be sure you are reaching out as soon as possible if you have hit a stall with your Semaglutide weight loss, or there is a dosing issue, as the sooner we can make corrections, the faster we can get you back on track again.
Weight loss stalls can be frustrating, but they are not unfixable, and many times just require a few tweaks and changes to get things back on track again. Be sure you are reaching out when you do have stalls and are open about barriers you are encountering.
Weight loss is a journey, not a race! So be patient with yourself as well!