You may or may not have noticed that it’s “the Weight Loss Plateau” and not “a Weight Loss Plateau.” As you begin a weight loss program and are consistent with it over time, you will inevitably hit the weight loss plateau. This is the dreaded moment when your workouts are trash, you’re always in a bad mood except for the minute or two before you eat, and your weight is refusing to budge.
How familiar does this sound to you?
This blog post is going to discuss some tactics on how best to handle the weight loss plateau and your overall weight loss strategy by helping you understand how your body operates, what happens as you come to the weight loss plateau, and how to utilize the art and science of paying close attention. Put another way, this blog will help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look.
How many times have you heard the word homeostasis?
The weight loss plateau is a natural occurrence; it’s protection from times when food is scarce (that’s the theory, anyway). Check out this article with the word “theory” in mind.
*Side note: If this is your first time on the Cornerstone Weight Loss blog, welcome; you being here and sharing in the knowledge is much appreciated. If you’ve read a few Cornerstone Weight Loss blogs before, then you’ve probably seen this disclaimer, however a friendly reminder for your benefit seems like a good call. There are many scholarly articles posted throughout Cornerstone Weight Loss Blog along with real-life experiences called anecdotal evidence. In order for you to better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look, it looks like the best approach is to look at everything with a critical eye. It seems best to ask a great deal of questions because this is your life, health, and weight loss success on the line. Feel free to comment below with comments or questions to share in the knowledge, it just makes everyone better. Additionally, feel free to email comments or questions you may not want in the public forum to info@cornerstoneweightloss.com.
It seems to pay to learn that your body really favors the status quo, or homeostasis. Though most of us have never gone through a time of actual famine, in order to achieve weight loss we simulate that scenario by tactically restricting calories for strategic, longterm weight loss wins. The crazy part is, when you get further and further into caloric restriction and weight loss, your body will make adjustments.
How does this happen?
Well, there’s a lot that can be discussed here, and for the sake of brevity we are going to focus on non-exercise activity, most of which you have no or limited control over. (Unfair for sure). This is called NEAT and it stands for “non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” which is a fancy way of saying all the physical activity you do that seems to happen in the background. This ranges from arm movements while you’re talking, to blinking, to twirling your pencil while you’re thinking, and the list goes on. These processes account for a surprisingly great deal of energy expenditure during the day. Fortunately for your survival and unfortunately for fitting into your favorite pair of jeans, this slows down as you eat less and experience weight loss. If you’re looking to get a little more detail, check out this article.
So you’re saying I blink slower and move my arms less because I’m eating less and experiencing weight loss?
Yes.
Now you know what NEAT is, what can you do about it?
Let’s dive in to what it’s meant by “staying ahead” of the weight loss plateau.
*Side note: if you’re currently getting help losing weight and have not discussed the plan for the weight loss plateau, or are being ignored for more than four days at a time by the person you are paying, we advise taking a fresh approach from a studied professional in order to not lose more time and money.
If you’re restricting calories and are currently progressing through your weight loss program, it seems like tracking your body weight daily can really show you where you are in relation to the weight loss plateau. (If you’re a little lost right now, try starting here. Click, scroll down, wait for the pop-up, and download the free PDF that can get help you started).
If you see your weight trending down slower than it has been and you are remaining consistent with what you’re eating daily, it looks like you’re about to come to the weight loss plateau. This is great information because you can use it to direct your next action, for instance, further reducing your daily food intake.
*Side note: if you’re at the lowest you’re willing do go in daily food intake, you need to start thinking about tactically adding food back into your diet. (More to come in a later blog post).
This additional reduction of daily food intake before your weight loss totally stops (the weight loss plateau) will likely keep you losing weight. Your NEAT is still fighting you, but you have just used some tactics to combat it by simply paying close attention to how your body is reacting from your caloric restriction.
Paying close attention is the key to staying ahead of the weight loss plateau
Paying attention is skill like anything else, there’s a bit of an art and a science to it. Noticing trends in your weight loss -or anything you’re measuring in order to make improvements – takes repetition and evaluation on a consistent basis. The science behind paying attention is the repetition; the art is the evaluation. If you’re thinking about starting a weight loss program and doing it right for the first time, it may be helpful at this point to get someone who has honed skills in paying attention and helping others do the same. This professional could help you from wasting precious time and reduce the frustration that may keep you from your weight loss goals by helping you pay close attention to your progress and making slight adjustments to help you stay ahead of the weight loss plateau.
At Cornerstone Weight Loss we help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look. In order to get in touch with a professional who can help tailor your weight loss plan to you, click below, fill out the information, and a member of the Cornerstone Weight Loss team will reach out to you to get the results in weight loss you deserve.