Reasons for stopping
Often girls leave virtual cries for help on forums for losing weight: “They can’t lose weight, what should I do?” Most of these users face a problem when the weight has stopped while losing weight and stubbornly refuses to decrease further. You should be mentally prepared for a dietary plateau before you start a body contouring program, as this is a completely normal occurrence. Let's look at why the process stops in full swing.
- Incorrect calculation of the energy value of food. You may not even think that a small chocolate bar will cancel out the results of an hour and a half workout, but this is a fact. It is a mistake to think that after grueling workouts in the gym you have the right to treat yourself to something sweet. You don't! And this will happen until you achieve your goals and secure the result. To reduce unhealthy snacking, write down absolutely everything you eat and drink during the day in a diary, and then analyze your eating behavior.
- Incorrect meal schedule. If your weight has stopped while losing weight, and you are 100% sure that you are consuming a normal amount of calories, reconsider your nutrition schedule. You don’t need to eat your entire daily intake of food at once; divide it into 5-7 servings and take them at the same time interval.
- Excess fluid. If the weight has risen, it is likely that water has begun to accumulate in your body, because it has considerable mass. Analyze whether you are consuming foods that retain moisture in the body, and refuse or at least minimize salt intake.
- Dehydration. Insufficient water can also cause a plateau, because water is simply necessary for the oxidation, breakdown and removal of fats from the body. If there is not enough of it, metabolism slows down. You can overcome the problem by following a drinking regime.
- Nutrition on training days. The explanation why your weight has stopped, even with regular exercise, may be your poor diet. Fat burning occurs only if you do not eat any food 2 hours before classes and 2 hours after them. Also keep in mind that on days you go to the gym you should give preference to protein foods, because they are necessary for fat utilization and muscle growth.
- Energy deficiency. Even those who prefer too strict diets encounter a dietary plateau. The thing is that with an extreme reduction in caloric content of food, the body finds itself in a state of stress. He does not know how much longer he will have to starve, so instead of expending energy, he begins to actively accumulate it “for a rainy day.” Try to eat a balanced and nutritious diet, this will help you reach your goal a little slower, but get a lasting result.
- Grueling workouts. To lose weight, it is enough to do cardio exercises every other day; if desired, add strength training to your schedule. If you sit in the gym every day for 2-3 hours, you will not only lose weight, but also gain it. This is due to a metabolic disorder and its sharp slowdown, which is how the body reacts to a sharp increase in physical activity.
- Your scales are broken. Yes, this is a banal, but quite common reason, which can sometimes be difficult to detect on your own. To avoid damage, try weighing yourself on a different scale before panicking.
- PMS. Before menstruation, women's bodies begin to produce large amounts of estrogen, a hormone that retains fluid, stimulates appetite and increases irritability. There are ladies who are less sensitive to estrogen and those who are more sensitive, so the weight may not only stop, but also increase. However, immediately after your period everything will return to normal and you will continue to lose weight again.
- Incorrect nutrient ratios. If your weight has plateaued, you may be eating the wrong amounts of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Compare your diet and the ratios recommended by nutritionists for weight loss. If there is a difference between the values, correct your menu.
As ideally needed
Counting calories and BJU (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) is one of the optimal methods of losing weight if you care not only about your figure, but also about your health. It is based on the calculation of the basic metabolic rate.
You will consume less food than your body requires, so it will use the energy it needs from fat cells. Using the values of age, height, weight and physical activity, an individual daily caloric intake is calculated.
All you need to lose weight is to formulate your menu within the framework of this value. By healthy and competent weight loss, we mean a deficit of a maximum of 20% of basal metabolism, taking into account physical activity.
Girls, the most important thing to remember is that with any method of losing weight, the human body first begins to get rid of excess fluid and only then fat reserves are used. In addition, when the first kilograms have already begun to recede little by little, we often allow ourselves to give a little leeway to our own feelings and desires, thereby straying from the intended path.
Why is everything so unfair and the hated fat is the last to be burned? Yes, because of all nutrients, fats are the most valuable and effective substance .
When fat molecules break, interatomic bonds release energy. When splitting 1 g. fat (compared to carbohydrates and proteins) releases 2 times more energy .
Fat is used to form the sheaths of nerve fibers, like insulation for wires, thanks to which we can quickly generate thoughts. Some important hormones are fatty in nature, and fatty molecules are also part of the membranes of our cells.
That’s why fat is protected in this way and is not used up at the first need. In the event of famine, which our body has experienced more than once during evolution, every gram of fat increases the chance of survival.
An article about how to burn subcutaneous fat
Nutritionists, as a result of many years of observation, have come to the conclusion that almost every woman who wants to lose weight sooner or later comes a period when the needle on the scale freezes. This phenomenon is called the “dietary plateau.”
This means that during the initial stage of losing weight, the body needs a certain transition period to adapt to the new lifestyle.
After all, the volume of daily food and the number of calories decreases, physical activity increases, which means that the body is forced to take additional energy from its fat reserves, which precisely affects the dynamics of changes in body weight. As they say, if you want your butt to lose weight, you need to move it!
But soon there comes a time when your body gets used to this rhythm and then it begins to require significantly fewer calories to maintain basic vital functions, which, of course, is reflected in a slowdown in the weight loss process .
And if something similar happens to you, do not despair, and especially do not stop your struggle with extra pounds. Otherwise, you risk gaining back what you lost, and even with a plus! But it is simply necessary to make changes to your program. But it is important to do it as correctly as possible.
Dopamine addiction: how to relieve cravings for food, cigarettes, alcohol. Compulsive overeating
What to do with the plateau?
Some people give up as soon as they discover that their weight loss process has stopped. However, this is a fundamentally wrong approach; under no circumstances should you quit what you have started, even if the result does not completely satisfy you.
First of all, continue to eat right and exercise as if nothing happened. Next, carefully study all the causes of the plateau, find out which one you are facing, and eliminate it.
How long does the plateau effect last?
How to force yourself to lose weight
The exciting question is when the plateau effect will end. It all depends on the reasons for its occurrence; its duration ranges from 3 weeks to 3 months. The main thing is not to stop training and not to deviate from your diet schedule, then the body will adapt to the current regime and continue to lose weight.
Plateau effect
How to get your weight off the ground when losing weight while playing sports with constant and increased loads:
- you need to maintain a balance in gaining muscle mass and losing body fat;
- structure the exercises correctly - perform the exercises accurately, dosing the load.
Note! To ensure that the exercises are performed correctly, you need to check your pulse from time to time. Calculation formula: 220 – age = desired heart rate. The heart rate should be 65-75% of the calculated one.
How to shift weight when losing weight with PP
After a diet, often, in order not to gain extra pounds and not return to the previous excess weight, they switch to proper nutrition. PP is accompanied by mandatory physical exercise as an additional way to further lose weight. Starting exercise often leads to a rapid gain of muscle mass and water retention in the body. Therefore, you should not shift the chosen course, but resort to adjusting your training.
Diet with proper nutrition
Psychological reasons
In the current situation, when you have lost weight but the weight has stopped, a possible reason for stopping weight loss is a psychological reason - when you become too obsessed with weight, you constantly step on the scale, calculating the calorie content of foods down to the gram. The body additionally experiences stress and falls into a state of economical metabolic mode.
To relieve excess stress, you need to return to a positive attitude and allow yourself not to be so strict about the calories you consume, encourage yourself more often and sometimes use fractional meals, spreading the portion over several meals.
How to start the weight loss process
When losing weight, the weight has risen. How can you shake up the body and reduce the protracted plateau effect in a situation where the menu has been adjusted and a suitable set of physical exercises has been selected, but the desired result is not there? It is worth using other methods to speed up your metabolism.
How to lose weight
Changing your diet
If changes in diet do not help, then you should consider the following methods to shake up the body:
- Alternation of days when fasting days are introduced. Days when your calorie intake is insufficient help you lose weight. This starts the process of accelerated metabolism.
- Decrease and increase calories consumed. From the daily norm, 300 calories are alternately subtracted and then added. This is a tip for daily rotation.
- Fractional meals - allows you to make snacks every three hours.
- Pamper yourself with the forbidden - once a week, allow yourself to eat food that is unacceptable during proper nutrition: a piece of cake or fried potatoes.
Note! You should not allow yourself to drink alcohol, as it contains a lot of calories.
As your daily calorie intake decreases, your body adjusts and gradually requires fewer calories to function properly.
Restoring the body's water balance
It is worth monitoring your water consumption and not reducing its amount, in addition to the tea, coffee and juices you drink during the day. If you still gain weight, you need to force yourself to completely eliminate salt from your diet so that fluid retention does not occur in the body.
Important! Water is involved in metabolic processes and serves to remove toxins.
Changing the training program
Alternating types of training will help speed up your metabolism. The body adapts to the chosen set of exercises in 1-2 weeks. To avoid addiction when the effectiveness of exercise decreases, it is worth changing or alternating physical exercises every week.
Workout program for weight loss
Strength training should be alternated with aerobic exercises, exercises on an exercise bike should be alternated with walking at a moderate pace, yoga should be alternated with aerobics, swimming with a treadmill.
For men, strength training with steel can be alternated with running or swimming.
Note ! You should not greatly reduce your loads and under no circumstances abandon them.
Fighting methods
Zigzag nutrition
This is a nutrition system that will not allow your metabolism to “hibernate.” After all, a too clear order of calorie distribution can simply put him to sleep. To prevent this from happening, distribute the number of calories in such a way that the first four days you eat fully, the next two days you reduce the energy value of your meals as much as possible, and on the last day of the week you compensate for what you did not eat in the previous two days. This scheme will help keep your metabolism in good shape, but not overeat.
Including aerobic exercise
Strength training is often ignored by those losing weight, believing that only cardiological exercise is enough to achieve results. However, if your weight loss process has stopped, aerobic exercise will be the most rational solution to speed up your metabolism.
Changing the training program
Our body is a complex and very smart mechanism. It can adapt to any conditions that do not destroy it. The same thing happens with training - if you use the same programs and exercises, the body simply gets used to them and no longer reacts properly to the load.
To continue the weight loss process, you need to change your exercise program every 2-3 weeks. This will allow the muscles to always be in good shape.
Massage
This procedure will be useful for those who want to overcome a plateau or do not know how to maintain weight after losing weight. There are special techniques aimed at starting metabolism.
In addition to accelerating metabolic processes, you will get tightened, elastic skin and be able to get rid of cellulite.
What to do to move
When the scale arrow stays in one place for some time, do not despair. If you continue to exercise wisely and maintain a healthy diet, the weight will begin to fall again.
Weight loss can stop if the workouts are carried out according to the same program and the same diet is used. Allows you to awaken your metabolism with zigzag nutrition. For example, the usual diet of 1500 kcal should be changed so that one day it is 1200 kcal, the next – 1800 kcal.
Weight loss may stop if you train according to the same program
In physical training, it is necessary to add strength exercises. At the same time, the process of weight loss starts again, and it is possible to speed up the body’s metabolic process. You can simply change the set of exercises during training. By doing something new, there is a chance that you will again feel a surge in weight loss and notice a decrease in body volume.
On a note. Spicy foods increase metabolic activity by 20%. Fat will go away even when a person is just at rest. Nutritionists advise eating at least one spicy dish per week.
Thanks to capsaicin contained in spices, the metabolic process is accelerated. This component increases the amount of lipids that motivate a decrease in the number of fat cells.
A regular hot bath will speed up your metabolism. American studies have shown that this burns as many calories as can be lost in 30 minutes of exercise. You can relax and lose weight at the same time.
Cautions
Despite the fact that the “plateau effect” most often occurs due to banal mistakes when losing weight, it can also be caused by other, more serious reasons. There are a number of diseases and disorders that can lead to a slowdown in metabolic processes and, as a result, to a stop in weight loss or even weight gain.
If you encounter a plateau and are unable to resolve its causes on your own, make sure that you do not have:
- Hypothyroidism is a disease of the thyroid gland, which is characterized by a decrease in its ability to produce hormones. Additional symptoms of the disease are: dry skin, fatigue, weakness, hair loss, etc.
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which a person’s appetite sharply increases, he is constantly tormented by thirst and other symptoms.
- Hypogonadism is a disorder of the production of reproductive hormones. The disease can manifest as decreased libido in both women and men, and in some cases, infertility.
- Heart failure is a disease that manifests itself as shortness of breath and severe swelling of the limbs in the afternoon.
- Renal failure - it can be identified by swelling of the face during waking hours and a decrease in the amount of urine.
What not to do if the weight has stopped?
Since stagnation of body weight is perceived with displeasure, to put it mildly, we are looking for ways to resume or accelerate weight loss. Some methods, unfortunately, are not good and will only make the problem worse. Therefore never:
- don't stop your diet. Of course, the lack of effect demotivates us and leads us to think that all our sacrifices are meaningless. Often at such moments we give up and return to our old eating habits. As a result, the kilograms that were initially lost come back;
- Don't impose too many restrictions. Further reduction in the amount of energy supplied at this stage can only help for a short time. The next week will probably lead to a loss of grams and kilos, but the body will be able to adapt to these changes very quickly - another weight stagnation will occur.
