Dealing with a Weight Loss Plateau

Have you reached a weight loss plateau? Your weight loss program has been going according to plan when suddenly you find your weight has reached a plateau. You wonder what could be the reason or what went wrong. However, a plateau is what most weight watchers are confronted with at some point in their weight loss campaign. However, this pause is only momentary and need not be permanent.

Look for the cause

If you hit a plateau then the first thing to do is determine the cause of this situation. There can be several reasons for this plateau: you may be eating more calories than what you should to lose weight. Research proves that most people under report the number of calories they eat. It's not that they are lying but they just don't know how to make an accurate assessment of what they are eating. It could be that you are eating just enough calories to maintain your present weight and not less than that, which is actually desired to lose weight. Suppose you need 1,800 calories per day to lose a certain amount of weight. However if you hit a plateau, 1,800 calories may be the exact amount you need to stay at your current weight. On the other hand, you could have slowly changed into a less active mode by doing less physical exercise and thinking that you are doing more.

What you can do

A situation like this presents two broad options. Either you cut the calorie intake by eating less or burn more by exercising more. In both the cases you can go past the plateau. Let's consider both possibilities. Cutting the intake of calories is not a better idea because it may result in cutting those essential nutrients that your body essentially needs. This may be harmful for your body as a whole. Even otherwise it may be difficult to continue with such an option as you may find yourself binging off and on.

The same will be the case with exercise too. If you are planning to burn too many calories, then you are certainly heading for a complete halt in your weight loss march. Firstly it will be difficult for you to devote enough time to the increased schedule and secondly you may get injuries because of overuse. Thus keeping all these factors in view it is suggested that a weight loss plateau can be best dealt with a combination of both options done in moderation. Try this: multiply your goal weight by 10 calories per pound, and add more calories according to how active you are. Don't attempt to burn too much. Stick to moderate 30 minutes activity for most of the weekdays if not all. However, as you get comfortable with this increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions, though gradually. Again, don't make your workout boring if you want to continue with it for long. Include exercises that you enjoy as this would help to break the monotony.

So if you have hit a plateau then don't be in a rush to press the panic button. Just rethink your schedule, introduce some changes and you will soon find yourself back on track.