You've made nice results so far, you've lost a couple of pounds, you kept the plan when you suddenly reach a point where it all stops. The fat you've worked so hard so far will suddenly stick to you. Whatever you do, it does not help. It's been a week or two for a week or so. Your weight does not move. You are close to shaking your shoulders and giving it up.
Why can not you lose more weight? How can you break stagnation? This article will discuss the dynamics of the stagnation of weight loss and how it can be overcome.
Weight loss stagnation or fat loss stagnation?
The stagnation of weight loss is a longer period during which your body weight does not change. The question is, what if you your weight doesn't moves down for two weeks? Does it mean that your diet is not effective? NOT AT ALL! The word "weight loss" does not make a difference between fat loss, muscle loss and water loss.
One of the reasons why you are writing down your weight loss is to keep track of the changes. When weighing 1 kilos less, we tend to misconceit that this 1 kg is all pure fat (not muscle or water). If you balance yourself every day (or even several times a day), you may experience that your weight changes continuously, up to 1-2 kg. This change is largely due to the water in your body.
For example, if you consume lots of salt, carbohydrates, and little water, your body will store a lot of water, which will increase your body weight. However, if you drink plenty of water, you eat less carbohydrates and few salt and say you're done with a sweaty gymnastics, your weight may be fewer pounds. It may seem contradictory, but this is so: the more water you drink, the less your body stores.
Because of uncertainty due to water storage, it is recommended that you measure your weight only once a week, generally recommended on Monday mornings. Monday is good because after a "rushing" weekend, it's a little discipline, and in the morning because you did not eat / drank anything, so you're more likely to have the same conditions in your body. Of course, if you prefer daily weight, there is no problem. However, stepping on the scale more times a day is a straight path to losing your confidence and getting confused.
In definitive terms, we can talk about stagnation if there is no change in your weight for THREE WEEKS. The first two weeks can be smooth due to water storage, and the third-week stagnation is a sign that something is wrong. It is worth looking at the thing at this time.
Understand the natural dynamics of weight loss
It is worth clarifying a few things before we go into solving this problem.
Stagnation of weight loss is a very common phenomenon. If you have not met with the stagnation of weight loss until you reach your goal, you are very, very, very lucky. You need to know stagnation is normal, because our body is resistant to change. Most dieters encounters 2-3 stagnation session before reaching their goal. Think about it! If our bodies were so simple to change, everyone would walk on the street with a six-pack.
The more weight you lose, the slower the weight loss is. It has simple mathematical reasons. Let's say Johnny is 100 kg, and each week he loses 1% of his weight, ie 1 kg. If he reaches 90 kg, his weekly weight loss will only be 0.9 kg, ie 10% slow down. Weight loss - by its nature - as Johhny continues to lose weight, will be getting slower.
Losing weight is more and more difficult as you are getting closer to your ideal weight. Not only does the rate slow down, but your body is struggling to keep your fat reserves. We have to face the fact that our ability to lose weight is steadily decreasing, the diet becomes more and more difficult. According to statistics, stagnation usually occurs first after weight loss of 20-22%, then you lose weight again, and next stagnation comes after an additional 12% weight loss.
How can you break stagnation?
It was important to clarify that stagnation of weight loss is not the same as stagnation in fat loss and how the dynamics of weight loss work. Now let's look at what options we have.
Reduce caloric intake! As you eat, you will not only lose weight, but your metabolism will also slow down. Do not start looking for "how to speed up metabolism" articles: it is normal if your metabolism slows down during weight loss. Returning to Johnny: if he continues the same exercises after his weight goes down from 100 kg to 90 kg, his metabolism slows down by 10%. Why is that? His body weight is smaller and the smaller body needs less energy. Therefore, weight loss is constantly being re-evaluated during weight loss so that we continue to spend less energy than we burn. If you use our site, you do not have much to do with the case, because every newer weight loss page automatically recalculates the Daily Limit based on the new weight and the set target date. In any case, you are well aware of why this reduction is necessary.
Realize sneaky calories! We estimate that the cause of stagnation in weight loss is 90% due to "sneaky calories", that is, because you actually eat more calories than you think. Like slowing metabolism, it is a fact it happens in every diet. Quiet calories can come from inaccurate records, or when you get oversized dishes in the restaurant, or just because you want to make the food more savory with anything that is harmless. Or you may not be aware that a pack of 100 calorie "healthy" chocolate biscuits is actually 400 calories as the package contains 4 packs. Or maybe you think you're still making the same dose as you did 3 months ago when you started your diet and you first weighed the weight. Alcohol is also one of the most popular sneaky sources. Remind yourself of the importance of accuracy. In our opinion, this is the wisest and most effective way to pinch calories on the neck.
For sports, save only "sport" as a sport! Often, those who start calorie counting will treat general activities as a sport, just to raise the Daily Limit. We can not underline: for sports, take only physical exercise that you are doing in order to lose weight. So stairs, shopping, washing, walking, cleaning, etc., are for information purposes only in the database. These are already included in Daily Routine Kcal Burning, do not double them!
Train your body, instead of confusing it. Stagnation is not only about eating. It helps greatly if you increase the intensity of your exercise. Often you can hear about the positive effect of variation in exercise. With extreme examples, let's say you're in a gym and doing a different type of exercise each time. Although this does not interfere with your body as many people think, it may be disadvantageous to your weight loss. In the case of weight maintenance, the variation in training is an excellent solution. However, if your primary goal is weight loss (or muscle building) then it is not advisable, because in this case, continuity is more important than variation. Without continuity, you can not keep track of progress and intensify the exercises.
What if they do not succeed in breaking stagnation?
If you follow the first three steps, you are likely to overcome the problem. 90% of the cases calorie intake / burning is responsible for stagnation. However, if you belong to 10%, consider the following:
Avoid starving mode. The opposite of the sneaky calories is not eating enough calories to help sustain your body. While your metabolism will not drop if you skip a meal, or even a few, it will drop with chronic calorie deprivation. If you are a 180lb guy eating less than 1,000 calories per day for let’s say 3 weeks, you can bet your bank account your metabolism will take a nose dive. There are a host of other negative issues with extreme starvation diets (lack of proper nutrients being one of them). If you are chronically in starvation mode, it’s advisable to up your calorie intake.
Calorie Cycling. If you are in starvation mode, or have just been dieting for more than a month, or two, your metabolism can and will likely slow down above and beyond the range if you were eating more calories. There is no scientific evidence supporting calorie cycling as a superior way to lose fat, but I must mention it given the large number of respected experts who support it. Furthermore, science is not exactly ahead of the curve. Alternating low calorie with high calorie days MAY prevent this starvation response from occurring (i.e. 3 days low, 1 day high). Strategically placed cheat meals may also be helpful.
Hormones. There is a vocal contingent of nutrition experts who describe a stall in fat loss not as a calorie in/out issue, but as a "defect in fat metabolism”. The total amount of calories burned and how those calories are burned (fat loss vs. muscle loss) can be affected by hormonal imbalances. What’s the solution? Unfortunately, a simple answer is not possible, other than to seek medical assistance and test your hormone levels such as adrenal, testosterone etc. If you are taking medications, you may want to check to see if that medication can prevent weight loss because some do.
As you continue on your journey to reach your ideal weight, keep in mind that changing your body is a marathon, not a sprint (See: body change vs. maintenance). The sooner you can appreciate this, the better off you will be in the short and long term.
The article was from the builtlean.com site.