Have you hit that notorious plateau on your fat-loss journey and struggling to get off of it? I did not too long ago and it was completely frustrating. I couldn’t figure out what I had changed and what I was doing wrong. Then one day, I had to sit back and ask myself “If someone came to you for help with getting off their plateau, what would you tell them?” It’s amazing what happens when you remove yourself from the problem … you start to see things more clearly. Here are a few tips that has been shown to ignite some good, steady fat loss.
· Review your meal frequency. If you are only eating 3 meals a day, try increasing it to 5 without increasing your calorie intake. Increasing the number of meals can help increase your metabolism and also help control your blood sugar levels.
· Check your daily calorie intake. Are you eating more than you should be? Or are you not eating enough? Sometimes, you need to eat more to help stimulate your fat loss. This leads to, are you cycling your calorie intake? Your body will adjust to match the calorie intake if it stays consistent. There are variations to this, but an example would be for three days, consume your minimum calorie requirement based on your height, weight and goals. Then on the other four days, increase your calories by an additional 400 (nutritious foods only). This technique can actually get the metabolism racing and stimulate additional fat loss.
· Change up your workout routine. Just like with your calorie intake, you will need to change up your workout routine to, what I like to call, throw your body off. If you stick with a consistent routine, your body adjusts so the workout is no longer a challenge, thus decreasing progress towards your goals. Some ways to mix it up is to incorporate various including interval training, change up your cardio, and even change the time of day you work out.
· Check your water intake. You need to stay properly hydrated to help lose that stubborn fat. Plus, if you find yourself eating too much, having a glass of water prior to each meal will help manage your calorie intake. To know if you are drinking enough, just check the color of your urine. Check out my article specifically on this topic: www.bodyandmindstrong.com/proper-hydration-what-is-the-right-amount-of-water. But to keep it simple for this article, you want to make sure you keep the color around a very light yellow.
· Check how you are balancing your nutrition. Balancing your macros (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) vary person to person. So, check to see where your macros lie and change them up and see what happens. For me, I have learned I need to have lower carbs at night. In fact, having a scoop of protein for dessert appears to help me ignite my fat loss.