How To Break A Weight Loss Plateau..And Keep The Weight Off

So you’ve lost some weight and have hit a roadblock. 

If that’s you, I’m going to be talking about how to break a weight loss plateau. 

This first tip alone may double your weight loss!

This is one of the top questions from my new clients. They may have lost a little bit of weight but the scale stops moving in their favour. If that’s you, I have 5 tips for you.

 

 

#1 HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU | KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL

I know you hate tracking what you eat and it sucks but it’s one of the most effective things that you can do. Research shows that the simple act of keeping a food diary can encourage you to eat fewer calories so that you can lose more weight.

Studies show that people who use a food diary can lose TWICE the amount of weight as those who don’t. In fact, in a study done by The American Journal of Preventive Medicine ¹ , they found that people keeping a food diary six days a week lost about twice as much weight as those who kept a food diary one day a week or less.

TWICE AS MUCH WEIGHT!

So how does keeping a food journal have so much power over your weight loss?

 

Here are 2 reasons why a food journal can help you to lose weight:

Awareness. Keeping a food journal instantly increases your awareness of what, how much, and why you are eating. This helps you cut down on mindless munching.

Food diaries also help you to zero in on areas where you can make changes that will help you to lose weight.

 

Prevents overeating. Food diaries can unveil patterns of overeating. They can also identify triggers causing you to overeat like going long periods in between meals because you have a lot on the go or overeating at night when you’re watching your favourite show. Also let’s face it – your pride is also on the line. 

Just the very fact that you’re recording every bite helps deter overeating, I bet that you’ll reconsider eating something because you don’t want to see it in black and white. I know this to be true because that’s what happened when I kept a food diary when I was trying to lose weight. 

You are the sum of your habits.

If you aren’t 100% satisfied with where you are in your life and health, and if your body doesn’t look the way you want it to look… 

THE REASON IS BECAUSE OF YOUR HABITS.

 

 

#2 HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU | GET MORE PROTEIN

If the scale has stopped budging, try increasing your protein intake.

Protein may boost your metabolic rate more than either fat or carbs.

This is due to the thermic effect of food (TEF), or an increase in your metabolism due to the digestion of food. Protein digestion boosts calorie burning by 20–30%, which is more than twice as much as fat or carbohydrates.

Also, protein stimulates the production of hormones that are key to weight loss such as PYY, which helps to reduce your appetite and make you feel full and satisfied.

In one study², healthy, young women followed diets that provided 30% or 15% of calories from protein on two separate days. Their metabolic rate increased twice as much after meals on the higher-protein day 

If animal protein is your choice, just make sure to select lean sources of protein that is organic and free from antibiotics and hormones.

 

Video more your thang? Watch the video here!

 

#3 HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU | EAT MORE FIBER

Most North Americans are deficient in fiber, a key nutrient for weight loss. Many people these days are not getting enough fiber due to processed foods which strip most of the fiber from foods during processing. 

Fiber may aid weight loss by decreasing the number of calories you absorb from other foods. Fiber is important for healthy digestion and also helps to regulate your blood sugar and insulin. This is important because when you have a spike in blood sugar followed by a sharp decline [hello, processed foods!], this can cause weight gain as well as zapping your energy and focus. 

Fiber also helps to keep toxins out of the brain and body which may help to regulate your mood and memory. Fiber also helps to reduce inflammation in the body. 

Some of the best sources include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, leafy greens, lentils, beans, and high fiber fruit like berries. 

Improving your gut health through the addition of prebiotic foods may also help you to lose weight as they feed your healthy gut bacteria.

The foods that are high in prebiotics contain a dietary fiber called inulin.

These include asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, leeks, dandelion greens and garlic.

 

#4 HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU | GET MORE SLEEP

Sleep and weight gain are more closely intertwined than you may think.

First things first try to establish a regular sleep pattern by going to bed and waking at the same time every day. I talk about this more in my book Unbreakable which is all about the habits that helped me to lose 30lbs including the best foods and nutrients to induce sleep.

Every system in your body is affected by how much sleep you get. Some of the most common effects of lack of sleep are obesity, overeating, brain fog, memory problems, diabetes and depression.

Sleep also gives you more control over your brain. How?

When you’re sleeping, your body is at work releasing powerful fat-burning hormones that speed up weight loss and help you to lose weight.

Allow me to introduce you to leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is secreted primarily in your fat cells and decreases hunger. It is the hormone that regulates your appetite, metabolism and calorie burning. Leptin also tells your brain when you’re full, and when it should start burning up calories and when your energy level is sufficient. 

When you lack sleep, you end up with too little leptin in your body, which makes your brain think you don’t have enough energy. So what happens is, your brain tells you you’re hungry, even though you don’t actually need food at that moment. Then when you eat, your body stores the calories you eat as fat so you’ll have enough energy the next time you need it. The end result? Sleep deprivation decreases leptin, which leads to constantly feeling hungry, thereby slowing down your metabolism. This chain of events leads to….you guessed it, weight gain. 

Then there’s ghrelin. Ghrelin is secreted primarily in the lining of the stomach and increases hunger. It’s the other hormone that’s linked to sleep and weight. Ghrelin is known as the appetite-stimulating hormone. It’s the hormone that’s responsible for increasing your hunger and driving you to handfuls of chocolate almonds. 

The role of ghrelin is basically the exact opposite of leptin. It tells your brain when you need food, when it should stop burning calories and when it should store energy as fat. 

When you sleep, ghrelin levels decrease because, naturally, sleep requires far less energy than when you’re awake. When you don’t get enough sleep, you end up with too much ghrelin in your body, so your body thinks you’re hungry and need more calories. What happens is, it stops burning calories because it thinks there’s a shortage.

Bottom line, when you don’t get enough sleep your body produces less leptin {which leads to constantly feeling hungry} and more ghrelin {the appetite-stimulating hormone}. If you’ve ever been unable to stop eating everything in sight when you don’t get enough sleep, then you’ve experienced this hormonal imbalance at work. 

 

#5 HOW TO BREAK A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU | DRINK MORE WATER, COFFEE, TEA

First thing first – ditch the sugary beverages – yes that includes fruit juice and diet soda.

Instead drink more water which can boost metabolism by 24–30%.

Also consuming water before a meal may help you reduce the amount of food that you eat. 

In one study a group who consumed one serving of water before meals lost 44% more weight than the non-water group³.

Add more plain coffee and tea to your diet. Just make sure you’re not adding any sugar to either. Both coffee and tea contain caffeine, which studies show can increase fat burning and boost metabolic rate by up to 13%. 

Also try adding Green tea which contains an antioxidant known as EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which in one study, was found to boost fat burning by 17%⁴. 

Additionally, research shows that consuming caffeinated beverages can significantly enhance the metabolism-boosting, fat-burning effects of exercise ⁵.

 

Tell me in the comments below which one of these tips will you start using to break your weight loss plateau?

 

 

Sources:

¹ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708080738.htm

^{2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3629809/}

^{3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661958}

^{4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326618}

^{5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27331913}