Rest assured it happens to all of us! After weeks of progress, all the sudden you find yourself in a slim down rut? Don't freak out! With a few easy adjustments, you can break through any weight loss plateau.
The longer you diet and the more weight you lose, the fewer calories your body burns. Stress and nutrient deficiencies only make things worse. This leads to plateaus and metabolic slowdown. Luckily, there are ways to get back on track. A higher protein intake, some extra fiber, and more water can do wonders for your body.
Check out these 5 simple tweaks to overcome weight loss plateaus:
1. Re-adjust Your Calorie Intake
As you slim down, your nutritional needs change. Let's say you needed 1,700 calories per day when you've started to diet. Now that you're leaner, your body requires fewer calories to function at its peak. To break a plateau, slightly reduce your daily calorie intake. Aim for 1,500 or 1,400 calories a day.
If your calorie intake is already too low, you might have a slower metabolism. In this case, eating less won't help. Reverse dieting is your best bet. Gradually increase your daily calories for three weeks or so, and then cut again. This strategy will rev up your metabolism and make weight loss easier.
The whole point is to adjust your calorie intake along the way. If you take in the same amount of calories for weeks or months, your body will adapt.
2. Power Up the Protein
Most dieters associate protein with muscle growth. However, its benefits go beyond improved sports performance and faster gains. This nutrient is made up of amino acids that regulate every function in your body.
Leucine, an essential amino acid, plays a key role in fat loss. It improves protein synthesis, speeds up muscle repair, and reduces urinary nitrogen losses. Moreover, minimizes muscle breakdown during dieting. All these factors combined help with weight loss.
To get more leucine in your diet, power up the protein. Eat fish, poultry, lean beef cuts, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Drink CLICK in the morning to energize your workout. Think of CLICK as your secret weapon!
3. Boost Your Fiber Intake
Along with protein, fiber is one of the most important nutrients for fat loss. Due to its hypoglycemic effects, it prevents blood sugar spikes. It also increases satiety, so you'll end up eating less.
Most foods high in fiber have just a few calories per serving. Cabbage, for instance, boasts 2.8 grams of fiber and just 22 calories per cup. You can eat as much as one pound without having to worry without weight gain.
4. Flush with Fluids
Dehydration symptoms are similar to those of hunger. Surprisingly, most people mistake thirst for hunger, so they eat instead of drinking water.
Add more fluids to your diet to break a plateau and stay full longer. Even the slightest dehydration can slow down your metabolism by up to three percent!
Drinking water has the opposite effect; it boosts your resting metabolic rate by about 50 calories a day. Cold water is even more beneficial as it forces your body to work harder to maintain its temperature.
5. Cut Empty Calories
Too much of anything can affect your health and add inches to your waist. Do you really need that smoothie late at night? Or that extra cookie? Just because it's low in carbs, it doesn't mean it's good for you. It still contains calories.
If you've hit a weight loss plateau, power your day with protein. Think twice before eating an extra meal or snack. Practice portion control and avoid eating out of boredom or because of stress.
Breaking through a weight loss plateau doesn't need to be difficult. All it takes is a few changes and a little perseverance. Turn to CLICK, to make weight loss and exercise a lot easier!