The Nasty Fat Loss Plateau & How To Beat It

via Kelly Groff Team Jeremy Scott Fitness 

Many of us myself included have hit that nasty plateau in our weight loss journey and get so frustrated. Why have I seen the results and all of a sudden it seems like my progress has become a stand still?  Now I will be honest I am not a scale person usually, but I am an inches person, so my frustration comes from not seeing the inches move.  So I started  doing some research on why is that we plateau and just how can we break through these?

Plateaus tend to follow a typical pattern, when we first start our journey of weight loss or I like to call it fat loss, a rapid drop is pretty normal.  

We see the drop because we have changed our eating habits, we have changed our calorie intake, for some its been a change in what foods we eat and for some its how and when we eat.  

Either way our calorie intake has been reduced and our body is now getting the energy it needs by releasing its glycogen.  Glycogen is a type of carbohydrate found in the muscles and liver, it holds on to water, therefore when it releases it is also releasing the water weight we tend to hold.  So….. at the beginning of our journey we are losing a lot of “water weight”.

We then experience that horrible fat loss plateau.  Some of the reasons we plateau is because our new bodies now require fewer calories compared to what we needed at the beginning of our journey when we weighed more.  

Another reason people experience the fat loss plateau is because they are losing muscle.  The more muscle you lose, the more your metabolism slows down.  this is when we burn fewer calories during the same activity we were doing at a heavier weight.

So what do we do to get over this plateau?

We need to evaluate our food intake… are we eating the proper amount of our macronutrients now at our current weight? are eating all the right foods?

Track your food and exercise, make sure you are putting in the right portion size, and aren’t skipping any workouts.

Throw in some extra workouts even if its just 15 minutes more a day, shaking up your routine will help.  I like to throw in a sprint workout or a yoga workout every now and then just to add a little extra something to throw my body off.  Here at Jeremy Scott Fitness we love metabolic resistance & strength training to challenge your muscles, if you are reading this and you don’t workout with us, this is something that will help get you over that plateau…..trust me. 

These are just some ways to help get over your plateau.  I suggest when you reach this stand still and are truly frustrated reach out to a professional to help you keep attaining those fitness and nutritional goals.  

Or checkout our 10 Day Kickstart that you can do anywhere anytime – CLICK 

Be patient…. work hard …. eat well and know its not going to happen over night!

Kelly Groff ISSA CFT – Team Jeremy Scott Fitness