Seven Reasons for Hitting a Plateau in your Weight Loss

Are you tired of trying diet after diet without achieving the lasting results that you desire?  It is highly likely that what is causing your weight loss plateau isn’t necessarily what you are eating, but rather who you are being?  Statistically, 75% of our weight loss success has to do with our mental and physical state, and 25% is attributed to what we eat. 

Clean Food Crush has detailed 7 reasons that impact weight loss and cause most people to hit a plateau on their journey to wellness.   https://cleanfoodcrush.com/seven-reasons-for-stalled-weight-loss

1. You’re Being Overly Restrictive

While plenty of diets out there will tell you to restrict your calories and do your best to adapt to being hungry all of the time, this is the opposite of a smart weight loss strategy. Not only does this cause the body major stress overtime, but it’s totally unsustainable in the long-term. Signs you are being overly restrictive are:

• Eating less than your recommended daily calorie intake
• Removing important nutrients from your diet by only eating a few kinds of foods
• Feeling constantly hungry
• Having trouble sleeping because you’re thinking about food

2. You’re Not Drinking Enough Water

You really do need to drink enough water throughout the day so your body can detox, and flush out waste faster. Hydration helps to curb false alarms like sugar and carb cravings while giving your body and brain the energy it needs to succeed during the day. You can add herbs and sliced lemons or fruits to your water to mix it up!  For optimum success, one should drink half their body weight in ounces of water each day (thus a person weighing 150 lbs, should drink 75 oz. per day).

3. You’re Eating More Calories than You Realize

If a majority of the foods you’re eating are packaged or contain a lot of ingredients, it’s possible that you’re consuming more calories than you realize. Even healthy foods can be overdone if you’re not careful. This means sufficient protein at each meal to curb hunger cravings, lots of veggies and leafy greens, and a small amount of good carbs like rice, sweet potato, squash or carrots. You don’t want to eliminate carbs, just minimize a bit and remove the empty carbs like bread, pasta, and sugar.

4. You’re Eating at the Wrong Times

The body likes routine. This can be a challenge, but it’s important enough to do what you can to create some consistency in your eating schedule even if it means more time planning. As your body feels safe and knows when food is coming, it will more readily release excess weight. Furthermore, if you are eating a big heavy meal right before bed each night, not only do your organs have less time to rest and regenerate, but all of the energy that could be put to fat loss is instead directed toward digesting all of that food you just ate. Ideally, don’t eat after 7pm, and have water or tea after that.

5. Your Sleep Is Throwing You Off

Sleep is the magical place where healing and restoration happens!  If you aren’t sleeping well (or long enough) it’s possible that this is the main reason why your weight loss has stalled out. In one study at the University of Chicago, researchers discovered that participants lost 55% more weight simply by getting a few more hours of sleep at night. Set up your sleep environment optimally by having a dark room that’s cool (or even cold) enough that you need a blanket to sleep comfortably.

6. Stress is Holding You Captive

As long as we are holding stress in our bodies, it’s incredibly tough to lose weight. This is because under stress, our bodies go into fight or flight mode, and all of the energy directed towards non-life saving functions of the body get put on hold. First things first, look at the areas of your life that are causing you to overwhelm and see what you can do to lighten your load a bit. This could look like re-examining your commitments to make more time for self-care, asking for help from a friend or family member, or simply dedicating time to exercise and meal-prep each week.

7. Your Plan has Holes in It (or Doesn’t Exist)

Without a plan, it’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t! Many of us set out on a journey to lose weight without a really solid idea of how we’re going to do it! This is one of the top reasons for stalled weight loss.