This is Why You Stopped Losing Weight

This article was originally written for and posted in my column, The Fitness Corner, in The Macon Telegraph.

One of the most frustrating experiences to have in life is to work hard towards a goal and never reach it. Imagine climbing Mount Everest, struggling through bitter cold and thin atmosphere that makes each breath laborious, and realizing when you reach the peak that, in actuality, you’re not even halfway up the mountain.

This is how it can be when you start trying to lose weight, and you’re doing well at first, but suddenly your weight loss stops. You worked hard to change your eating and exercise habits and experienced some initial success, but now you’ve reached a sticking point. Now, nothing seems to help you lose weight. You’re exercising religiously, you’re lowering your Calories, and yet, your weight remains stubborn like a kid who refuses to eat his or her vegetables.

I know that weight loss plateaus can be extremely frustrating and disheartening. Please understand, though, that you can undoubtedly see your way out of a weight loss plateau once you understand a few things about how your body works.

Your Body Adapts Constantly

First of all, the issue at the source of your plateau is adaptation. Our bodies have an amazing, God-given ability to adapt to whatever environment they’re placed in. This isn’t a bad thing; rather, it is a survival mechanism, without which the human race probably wouldn’t be around today. It’s why we get used to waking up early in the morning for work, or why a weightlifter develops calluses on his hands after years months of heavy lifting.

If you repeat the same action over and over again, your body naturally adapts to be able to perform that action more efficiently. This is why you experienced success at the beginning of your weight loss journey, and why your weight loss eventually stalled. Your body has simply adapted to handle exactly what you have been subjecting it to.

With that in mind, how do you break a weight loss plateau? You have to do something different.

Change It Up

You must change your routine so that your body is continually having to adapt. For example, if you’ve been walking 30 minutes a day for several months and you now see no results, it’s probably time for you to either walk more, or to raise the intensity of your walk. Walk hills, wear a weighted vest or backpack, or begin running or cycling.

If you’re no longer getting stronger from your current strength training routine, add more weight or reduce the rest you take between sets of your exercises. Keep your body guessing.

It works the same way on the diet side. Change your diet up so that your body has to adapt by getting rid of your excess fat. While this would generally involve you lowering the amount of Calories and/or carbohydrates you consume, sometimes, for the sake of keeping your body guessing, it’s good to practice a technique like carb cycling. Carb cycling involves eating more carbs than usual for a time before bringing them back down. This often helps individuals to restart their weight loss when it’s stalled for a while.

So if you’ve plateaued, don’t be discouraged! It simply means that it’s time for you to switch up your exercise and eating routines to keep your body adapting until you reach your healthy weight range.

Related Resources

Could it be that the reason that you aren’t losing weight or experiencing better health is because your thoughts about how to do that are incorrect? Learn about these myths about weight loss and health so that you can get to the next level!

You don’t have to struggle with knowing how to eat. Get your copy of my fat loss workbook which will help you develop eating habits that will result in weight loss and a healthier body

Becoming your healthiest self, preventing and reversing lifestyle-caused disease, and enjoying your life.  That’s what we’re about.  All new subscribers get our free monthly newsletter, a copy of the book, My Doctor is NOT Responsible for my Health…I AM, and more.  Join us today!