So, you’ve hit a brick wall during your weight loss journey.

We’ve all been there before in many different areas in life where we hit a stopping point in our progress. It can be frustrating when we suddenly see a stall in our progress. I know I have seen many. Some examples are when I was learning to write music, learning to ride a bike, dating girls and yes losing weight. If I decided to give up on these things I wouldn’t have performed in front of crowds, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy a bike ride down the beach, I wouldn’t be married and I would have given up on my fitness goals a long time ago. Before we start going over the reasons why we hit plateaus and how to break through them I’d like you to remember not to give up just because you hit a road block.

First compare weight loss to fat loss.

Many of my clients tell me that they’ve stopped losing weight but they’re losing size. This is because they’re losing body fat. You need to remember that when you’re just starting out you will see some gains in lean mass even if you’re in a calorie deficit. This is because your body isn’t used to lifting weights. When you become more advanced you won’t see this because your body will actually lose a lean mass when you’re losing weight. So, enjoy the good times while they last.

Now let’s jump into our list.

You’re not progressing your workouts

One reason why you many have stopped losing weight is because you have stopped moving forward with your workout program. There are many ways to progress your fitness program add more weight, run faster or exercise longer. If you aren’t pushing yourself while working out, then you’re just wasting your time. Next time you run, hit the gym or a spin class make sure that the workout is challenging. Track your progress weekly to make sure that your moving forward. Check out our program design guide if you need a place to get started.

You’re not in nutritional compliance             

I have heard from my clients so many times that they’re tracking what they eat only to find out that they’re not. They’re not logging the food they eat, they’re just eye balling the food without measuring or they’re not counting hidden calories like cooking oil. If you’re not measuring, then you’re not tracking. Heck I have been guilty of this many times then I find myself wondering why I’m not seeing any movement on the scale. Always double check to make sure that you’re tracking your food otherwise you won’t see the results that you’re looking for.

You’re eating too little

Many of us start out on a 1200 calorie diet with the best intentions of losing all those extra pounds before that big wedding this summer only to come up short but you might be doing yourself a disservice because your body is now eating up lean mass. This may cause a drop-in metabolism. Something else that happens on a low-calorie diet is binge eating because we let ourselves become so hungry. If you’re working out 6 days a week and you’re eating a low-calorie diet you’re not giving your body the proper fuel for the workouts. Adding an extra 200-300 calories may do the trick to get things going again. When adding, more food make sure that it is something healthy like protein, fruit or veggies.

Change up your Marcos 

When the scale stops moving, you should look at your Marcos. Now let’s be clear that the most important thing when losing weight is energy in and energy out but when you have more protein in your diet that can cause a slight increase thermic effect. When I’m on a dead load ill change my carb intake to about %20 of my total calories but you don’t want to do this when doing high intensity workouts because the carbs act as a form of fuel. One of the other tricks that you can do with your Marcos is to increase your carbs up to 65% for one week.

These tricks came from some of the top fitness models in the business but lacks scientific evidence. It shouldn’t hurt to give it a try I’ve seen some great results with my clients.

Improve your sleep

If you’re finding it hard tolose weight you might not be getting the sleep you need to get the job done. Lack of sleep doesn’t directly relate to weight gain but can lead to muscle loss which impacts your metabolism. Lack of sleep also causes you to have less of the hormone that makes you feel full and less of the more of the hormone that makes you feel hungry. This can get in the way of staying on track with your food intake. Lack of sleep may get in the way of your workouts because you might not feel like giving it your all on limited sleep. Which can impact how many calories you’re burning during your workout.

If you want to improve sleep, try cutting out caffeine earlier in the day and cutting out screen time before bed. I recommend using something to monitor your sleep.Personally, I use the I watch with a sleep tracker app on my phone. This

You eat out too much

We all love eating out and with all calories listed on the menus these days there shouldn’t be a problem, right? Wrong! You can’t count on people working in restaurants measuring your food. Most cooks are moving at a very fast pace and eyeballing what they’re putting in your meals. If you’re eating out every day this could cause you to eat hundreds of extra calories per week. Try to limit eating out to once a week if you’re on a weight loss program because it is a lot easier to control your food intake from home.

Try Oolong tea

We have seen a ton of weight loss products on the market claiming to help you lose weight fast but let’s be real most of them are just not true but Oolong tea has been shown to give us a little boost when on a weight loss program. Drinking the tea a few times a day my help you lose a few extra pounds over a 6-week period, I know that isn’t much but it every little bit counts.

The take away

Losing weight can be very hard and sometimes we hit roadblocks that stop us from reaching our goal. It is important to stay focused and look at what might be getting the way before giving up. Staying healthy is a lifelong goal and you will run into a few challenges here and there. The key is to keep pushing forward.

References

https://www.livestrong.com/article/303736-facts-about-oolong-tea-weight-loss/

https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/harness-the-power-of-tef

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/a18703912/eat-more-to-lose-weight/

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/restaurant-eating-leads-weight-gain-2903.html

http://www.idealfit.com/blog/counting-macros/