A Weight Loss Plateau Is Your Body Protecting You

The goal for everyone is for weight loss to occur now, and quickly. Unfortunately, that isn’t how it usually works. 😉 A weight loss plateau, is everyone’s enemy, or is it?The best weight loss occurs at an average rate of 2-3 pounds per week. Above all, this is not what you wanted to hear, right? I know it was the most frustrating part of my journey! Read below for a few tips and tricks to keep the weight loss slow and steady so you don’t hit the dreaded weight loss PLATEAU. (To clarify, this will help get out of one too!)

Weight Loss Plateau Solution 1: Don’t crash diet…

We all know crash dieting is bad, it’s in the media all the time. But really how does one define a crash diet? I call this, the how low can you go diet. Why? Because a lot of people think the best way to lose weight, and in particular a lot of weight, is to eat as little as possible. This is a myth… just an FYI. This kind of dieting long-term leads to that dreaded weight loss PLATEAU.

The goal for everyone is for weight loss to occur now, and quickly. Unfortunately, that isn’t how it usually works. 😉 A weight loss plateau, is everyone’s enemy, or is it?The best weight loss occurs at an average rate of 2-3 pounds per week. Above all, this is not what you wanted to hear, right? I know it was the most frustrating part of my journey! Read below for a few tips and tricks to keep the weight loss slow and steady so you don’t hit the dreaded weight loss PLATEAU. (To clarify, this will help get out of one too!)

Weight Loss Plateau Solution 2: Don’t rush to exercise,…YET!

If you haven’t started an exercise plan yet, don’t start it because you hit a weight loss plateau. There are a few things you can do before you add that, and we will discuss that in the next section. We LOVE exercise and it is a very important part of a health journey! But just starting exercise to break a plateau, without tweaking a couple of other items first, could set you up for your next plateau.

So above we covered the Don’t(s), let’s take a look at a few things you can do!

Weight Loss Plateau Solution 3: Get Your Water!

Water helps the body detox, and it helps you digest the food you consume. It is an important part of any weight loss and health journey. One big secret of water consumption is that ice-cold water increases your metabolism slightly because your body has to work to stabilize your internal body temp. So keep that water flowing in you, as it helps to burn those calories!

Weight Loss Plateau Solution 4: Do eat whole foods, made with love!

Boxed and even some canned items have a lot of hidden sugars, sodium and saturated fats. All things that we want to avoid for both our health and to slim the waistline. And these items have almost addictive properties in the stuff they add into the box, to make saying no to seconds nearly impossible!

Weight Loss Plateau Solution 5: Make sure to eat enough! (see #1)

Now this one is a challenge! I say it’s a challenge because our instinct when we want to lose weight, and when we start this journey is to go as low as possible, and burn as many calories as possible because that will make it faster… Right? But remember I said 2-3 pounds a week is healthy? And loosing more than this can lead to a weight loss plateau?

1200-1400 calories per day is not enough for someone with 100 lbs or more to lose

This is where we have to draw on some outside information. Yes, if you are just trying to lose 20 pounds and you have never heard the talk from the doctor. You know the talk, the one about how much damage you’re doing to your body. Or if you’ve never gotten the look from the nurse as you get off the scale. There is a chance, a standard diet that puts on 1200-1400 calories per day is probably enough calories. If you work in an office and drive to and from work, and don’t work out. This is about right…

On the other hand, for those of us that are coming from a different place 1200-1400 calories to start with is not a good place to start. And if you are just starting off a diet and you hit your first plateau rather quickly. You may be under feeding yourself significantly.

An Example Of Calories for someone who has a lot of weight to lose:

Sarah is a 43-year-old woman, that works from home, she is highly sedentary. She weighs 286 pounds and she is 5 foot 8. The calories her body needs to just exist, is around 2000 calories. This is the calories to pump blood to heart, made her brain function, etc…

Based on the example above, if you are consuming 1200-1400 calories and you still have a significant journey ahead of you, you may need to bump up your calories. Then as you lose weight the number of calories you need decreases. Consequently, this needs to be monitored as you travel your adventure.

Where to go from here…

Of course, if you are early in your journey and you have already stalled there are some things you can check. First off, check your water consumption. Then you are going to want to check what you are actually consuming for calories, and the quality of those calories. Finally, make sure you are eating enough! If you need help please reach out! We love to answer questions where we can and point you in a direction if we can’t!

Sending Love & Hugs!

#ONEderlandWellnessBlog #JourneyToHealthy