Beat the plateau !!

I am doing everything possible by not even losing a gram or inch. Surely you must have heard this statement umpteen number of times because weight loss is the most common topic of interest these days be it among the young or old. But more common than that is reaching the plateau during your weight loss process. People try all sorts of fads and follow every possible myth to get there but least they realize is that following the right thing is the easiest way to reach their target. It does not require working out in the gym for three hours or starving yourself to death. All it takes is the correct method of workout and a proper individually designed diet plan to get your dream body. Let us see some top reasons for plateau and how to deal with them.

1. No weight training: many people do not do weight training thinking that it is only meant for people who want a muscular body. This is the biggest myth. Weight training is the only sure shot way to increase your muscle mass. Muscle is that tissue in the body which controls your metabolism. More muscle means higher resting metabolic rate and faster fat burning even when you are not exercising. Weight lifting atleast 3 days a week is a must to jump start your metabolism. With very light weights do not expect too much weight loss; medium to heavy weights is what will do the magic.

2. Consistent cardio: This stops having an effect on weight loss after a point. Instead of steady state cardio which means staying at the same setting for most part of your workout be it treadmill, elliptical, jogging etc, you can opt for high intensity interval training which means challenging your heart to pump harder and then bringing it back to normal. For example walking on the treadmill at the speed of 6 for 3 mins and running at the speed of 9 for 1 minute. Doing this for 30 minutes can give you a great deal of workout thereby increasing your metabolism.

3. Repetition in workout: doing the same thing over and over again slows down weight loss as the body gets used to it and becomes so efficient in doing it, that it uses very little calories for the exercise routine. Bring about variation in your exercise pattern every few days to confuse the muscles which require more energy while working out. Example you can switch between weight lifting, cardio, circuit training, dancing etc to keep your body guessing what is coming up next.

4. Skipping breakfast and other meals: breakfast really important as without it, research says you land up with severe hunger pangs forcing you to eat more than you require during the later half of the day adding on the calories and lack of morning nourishment can slow you down causing fewer calories burned, halting the weight loss process. Skipping other meals during the day with the thought that it may help pull down weight is again a myth as skipping meals causes muscle breakdown, slows your metabolism and puts you in a starvation mode, where your body holds on to calories and stores it as fat for lean times. Try to eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day to prevent crash in metabolism.

5. Lack of protein in the diet: people turning primarily vegetarian causes a lack of protein the diet. Protein being the building block for the muscles, it is necessary to provide atleast 1-1.2gm protein/day to help in the wear and tear of the muscles thereby helping them grow and increase metabolism. Protein post workout is extremely important as there is window period of 30 minutes where your muscles are hungry and take up the protein for their repair. Bedtime protein in the form of slim milk, protein shake etc also helps to repair the muscles overnight while your asleep.

6. Not enough calories: you might be working out rigorously but following a very low calorie diet plan, it is not sufficient to fuel your workout, causing a drop in the metabolism as compensation. Just up your calories and see how your metabolism fires back helping you lose weight.

7. Lack of sleep: not many people are aware than sleeping well plays an imperative role in helping you shape your body the way you want to. Sleeping for 7-8 hours in complete darkness releases growth hormone which is a natural fat burner. Lack of sleep slows you down and your metabolism affecting weight loss process.

Now if you have figured out where you are going wrong, just rectify it and see the magic of weight loss unfolding itself.

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