Weight loss plateau: a stretch of weeks when the scale stops moving even though you're still following your diet and exercise plan.
Why plateaus happen
As you lose weight, your body tries to defend its old weight.
- It makes more of the hormones that drive hunger and less of the ones that make you feel full.
- Your body also gets more efficient with exercise, so the same morning walk burns fewer calories than it did when you started.
Knowing this can stop a plateau from feeling like failure, and stop you from slashing food drastically, which tends to backfire.
Getting past a plateau
Keep your healthy eating steady rather than starving yourself, because deprivation usually ends in overeating.
Make your activity a little harder:
- walk faster or uphill
- add strength work
- try a new class
Check the basics:
- Check that portions haven't crept up and that chai biscuits and namkeen haven't slipped back in.
- Sleep well and manage stress.
Be patient, since a healthy pace is about half a kilo to a kilo a week, and look at waist size and energy as well as the scale.
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Tell Puja what's going on and she will tell you honestly whether she can help.
Checked against: Cleveland Clinic: How To Break That Frustrating Weight-Loss Plateau. General information, not medical advice.
Related words
Calorie deficitBMR (basal metabolic rate)TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)Yo-yo dietingWater weightBody fat percentageIdeal body weightCrash diet
Where it comes up
Work it out
Calorie calculator for weight loss (Indian)
Sample diet charts
Weight loss diet charts: a sample day for each way of eating
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