People who are seriously involved in strength training and CrossFit, among others, sooner or later face stagnation in the achievement of athletic performance, known as the “plateau effect.” What it is? How to overcome a strength plateau? Why does it occur, and most importantly, what to do if you encounter it? You will find answers to these and other equally important questions in our article.
General information
Before we move on to solving the problems associated with strength stagnation, it is necessary to define what it is. The plateau effect is an adaptive reaction of our body, during which the growth of certain physical parameters - mass, strength, endurance - stops.
When we considered the questions, we found out that our body works heterogeneously. Any training upsets his scales, which he strives to balance. When we train, we launch a powerful , which is compensated by super-recovery. In the first month, this is characterized by an increase and improvement in the quality of neuromuscular connections. Then the energetic tuning of our body occurs, and only then the microfibrillary tuning.
The body reacts in a similar way to critical changes in nutrition. This is why, after leaving super extreme diets that do not cover the cost of weight loss, we are faced with excess weight gain, which often overwhelms all our efforts. That is why the editors always recommend moderate exercise and smooth changes regarding the current nutrition plan.
Why do we remember about anabolic-catabolic scales? The thing is that every time any change is physical stress, be it lifting a barbell, a new diet or less sleep. And the body reacts to each of these factors with adaptation mechanisms. However, over time, our body adapts so much to a certain type of stress that it turns from stress into routine.
The simplest example. If you have never exercised and stick to a certain caloric intake all your life, your body will not change for years (with the exception of age-related changes that cannot be corrected). In the case of loads, the body simply gets used to their increase, and after the next execution of a typical exercise, it simply does not have the need for super-recovery.
Causes
Sometimes situations arise when the body is simply unable to launch super-recovery mechanisms.
The reasons are different:
- Overtraining. When stress far exceeds the body's ability to recover.
- Genetic limit. Some people are naturally thick, others are thin, and others are strong. All this is related to somatotypes. A person’s somatotype is just one of the genetic characteristics, a trait that is predetermined by various genetic characteristics. Be it the stomach's sensitivity to a certain amount of food, the ability to synthesize a certain amount of testosterone, the rate of protein synthesis, the amount of cholesterol that can be processed by our bodies, and a variety of other factors. The genetically determined plateau effect is your bar. There are ways to overcome it - with the help of special medications or by constantly experimenting with nutrition programs, but without taking androgenic hormones, you will not significantly expand it.
- Accustoming muscles to certain types of load. Due to the nature of their sport, CrossFitters encounter this type of strength plateau the least often. But bodybuilders who have been practicing the same programs for years are at risk.
- Incorrectly selected training complex.
- Periodization plateau. This is one of the most interesting types of plateaus, which is associated with the addiction of muscle tissue. The thing is that the longer we shift the scales to the side, the stronger the body counteracts. However, if the spring is temporarily released, the catabolic effects will cease within one month. And this will become a new point from which the athlete can continue to grow.
- Depletion of nutritional reserves. It’s not without reason that they say that nutrition is 70% of the result in any sport.
The plateau effect also occurs when losing weight. Weight loss slows down or stops altogether due to the optimization of the body's resources to new conditions.
Types of plateau
There are several main types of plateaus, each associated with certain factors:
- Power plateau. It is most often encountered by athletes involved in speed-strength sports.
- Energy plateau. It occurs extremely rarely, since endurance training always proceeds more smoothly and with greater effort.
- Weight loss plateau. We examined it in detail in conjunction with various nutrition plans. It is characterized by a decrease in the rate of weight loss due to or incorrect counting.
All types of plateaus are associated with the reasons described earlier. But the question arises - how to overcome the plateau effect and continue to progress towards your goal? First of all, it is necessary to determine the cause. If it is a nutritional deficiency, eliminate it. If these are adaptive mechanisms of the body, then create a shocking load. It is quite possible that you will have to radically change your training style and forget about the barbell for a while, focusing on the horizontal bar.
How to overcome a plateau?
Methods of overcoming a plateau are based on leveling the harmful effects on the body, which does not allow the catabolic scales to move, with the correct determination of the type of the plateau itself.
| View of the plateau | Cause of occurrence | Control method |
| Classic power plateau | Two approaches: either accept it or stimulate your body. Testosterone stimulants are a good place to start. This should help overcome the plateau and continue development. | |
| Power plateau | Changing your approach to training. Maximum shock to muscle tissue without overtraining by changing your training program. | |
| Dietary strength plateau | Diet mistakes | Changing your meal plan. Checking your current diet for protein and carbohydrate levels. Adjustment is possible by adding additional sports nutrition to gain muscle mass. |
| Drying | There is no need to overcome it. It is enough to maintain a normal balance of strength capabilities in relation to mass until the end of the course. | |
| Periodization | It is a consequence of muscles getting used to current loads. Changing your approach to training. Maximum shock to muscle tissue without overtraining by changing your training program. | |
| Hormonal | Two approaches. Either accept it or stimulate your body with testosterone drugs. | |
| Classic energy (endurance plateau) | The limit of genetic possibilities | Changing your training plan. Replacing pumping with high-intensity aerobic exercise. |
| Energy (endurance plateau) | Incorrectly selected training set | Changing your approach to training. Maximum shock to white fiber muscle tissue without overtraining by modifying your training program. |
| Dietary energy (endurance plateau) | Diet mistakes | Changing your meal plan. Checking your current diet for protein and carbohydrate levels. Adjustment is possible by adding additional sports nutrition. |
| Energy (endurance plateau) during drying | Drying | Increasing the intensity of endurance-style exercise. Adding a huge amount of cardio. |
| Periodization energy (endurance plateau) | Periodization | Temporary change in approach to training. It is possible to work in a power style throughout the entire period. |
| Hormonal energy (endurance plateau) | Hormonal | Come to terms with it. |
The plateau effect often occurs when you don't combine training and nutrition correctly, or don't get enough sleep. If you reach a genetic limit, we recommend that you do not carry the process to fanaticism, but try to try to develop other qualities. So, for example, when you reach a strength plateau, try changing the percentage of fat in your tissue downward. In the future, when you return to your original weight, you will in any case become stronger. There is no limit to perfection, and you can improve your performance and form indefinitely, simply by using different areas of activity.
CrossFit copes with this task better than anyone else, the loads in which are so varied that it is physically difficult to reach a plateau in any set goal.
Conclusion
And finally, I would like to answer one of the most frequently asked questions among athletes: how long does the plateau effect last if it is not overcome? If you do not overcome the plateau effect, it will last forever, since this is a new balancing point in the state of the body. To continue to lose weight/gain muscle mass/increase strength, you need to continue to shock the body, change the load and eating style.
The best assistant for such purposes will be microperiodization, which allows you to achieve several goals at once, practically without changing the overall training plan. For weight loss - it can be. To achieve new strength qualities, you can change your training style. And to achieve the effect of overcoming the energy plateau, it is enough to increase the flow of energy.
Has the needle on the scale frozen and your weight stubbornly does not decrease? The fact is that losing weight slows down your metabolism. Here's what you need to do to compensate for your decreased metabolic rate.
Everyone who has at least once lost weight has encountered a phenomenon called a plateau - this is when you continue to eat right and do not reduce physical activity, but the weight remains the same. It is during this period that breakdowns and disappointments most often occur. We found 12 ways to help overcome the plateau effect when losing weight.
12 ways to overcome the plateau effect
1. Cut carbs
"Low-carbohydrate diets promote weight loss"– this is what the authors of a large-scale study say. They followed a group of people for about a year and found that those who ate 50 grams or less of carbohydrates per day lost more than those who followed traditional weight loss diets.
The point is that limiting carbohydrates leads to a "metabolic advantage", which causes the body to burn more calories. Plus, you eat less without feeling hungry or uncomfortable.
SUMMARY: Low-carb diets help control hunger, promote a feeling of fullness, and promote long-term weight loss.
2. Increase your workout intensity
With weight loss, your metabolism slows down. Strength training helps to accelerate it and also helps maintain muscle mass. This is important because muscle is a major factor in determining how many calories you burn while active or resting (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
Other types of physical activity that prevent a slow metabolism These are aerobic exercises and intense interval training. If you're already working out, take 1-2 extra days a week or increase the intensity of your workouts.
SUMMARY: Doing exercise, especially strength training, offsets the decrease in metabolic rate that occurs during weight loss.
3. Analyze your diet
We tend to underestimate the amount of food we consume. In one study, obese people reported eating about 1,200 calories per day. However, a detailed analysis of their food diaries for two weeks showed that they consumed almost twice as much as they reported.
SUMMARY: Tracking your calorie intake will help you figure out if you need to adjust your diet to start losing weight again.
4. To overcome a weight loss plateau, increase your protein intake.
If your weight loss has stalled, increase the amount of protein in your diet. Digesting proteins requires 20-30% more calories than burning fats or carbohydrates. Protein stimulates the production of hormones that help reduce appetite and give a feeling of fullness for a long time, and help maintain muscle mass.
The more weight you have already lost, the slower you will lose it. If your starting weight was 80 kg and you are losing 1% of your body weight (about 1 kg) per week (0.5%-1% is a healthy fat burning rate). Next week we count 1% from 89 kg - the loss will be about 900 g. The lower your weight, the smaller its further reduction.
It is important not only the total amount of proteins per day, but also their inclusion in each meal. Metabolism experts recommend that adults consume at least 20 to 30 grams of protein per serving three times a day. It boosts metabolism, reduces hunger and prevents muscle loss.
SUMMARY: Increasing your protein intake boosts your metabolism, reduces hunger, and prevents muscle loss.
5. Manage stress
It has been proven that Chronic stress often inhibits weight loss, so it is very important to learn to control your emotions. Muscle relaxation and deep breathing help you find balance.
SUMMARY: Increased cortisol production associated with stress can affect weight loss. Stress reduction strategies can promote weight loss.
6. Eat more fiber
Increasing your fiber intake can help overcome the weight loss plateau effect. Fiber slows down the movement of food through the digestive tract, which keeps you feeling full longer, thereby reducing the number of calories you consume.
SUMMARY: Fiber promotes weight loss by slowing down the movement of food through your digestive tract, reducing your appetite and the number of calories you get from food.
7. Give yourself a fast day
A loading day is needed to “shake up” the body. It’s as if he’s coming out of economy mode and starting to work actively again. On such a day, you can eat a large amount of carbohydrates, but completely limit the consumption of proteins and fats. And it’s also important that it must be an excess of one product. The body dramatically increases metabolism. The next day, you return to your previous diet.
True, such a carbohydrate jump can be a disaster for people with diabetes., so this recommendation is not suitable for those who suffer from this disease.
SUMMARY:Give yourself fast days to speed up your metabolism.
8. Drink water
Research has shown that p High water can increase metabolism by 24-30% within 1.5 hours after drinking a 500 ml serving. Drink water 20 minutes before meals and you will eat less.
SUMMARY: Drinking water can help boost your metabolism.
9. Get enough sleep
Sleep is extremely important for good mental, emotional and physical health. Lack of sleep leads to weight gain by lowering your metabolic rate and changing levels of hormones that stimulate appetite and promote fat storage.
To overcome the plateau effect when losing weight and support the body, try to sleep 7-8 hours a night.
SUMMARY: Lack of sleep can affect weight loss by decreasing your metabolic rate and altering hormone levels.
10. Lead an active lifestyle
While working out is important, other factors also affect the number of calories you burn per day. For example, your metabolism speeds up when you change your posture and do other physical activities. This is called NEAT - everyday thermogenesis without training.
Research has shown that NEAT can have a major impact on your metabolism, although this may vary depending on the individual. An easy way to increase your NEAT is to stand up more often or work while standing occasionally. According to one study, people who stood rather than sat during the workday burned about 200 extra calories on average.
SUMMARY: Increasing NEAT can help increase metabolic rate and weight loss and overcome the weight loss plateau effect.
11. Eat vegetables with every meal
Vegetables are an ideal food for weight loss. Most vegetables are low in calories and carbohydrates, but are rich in fiber and beneficial nutrients. Diets high in vegetables tend to produce the most weight loss.
SUMMARY: Vegetables are rich in important nutrients but low in calories and carbohydrates. Including them in every meal can help overcome the weight loss plateau effect.
12. Don't focus on weight
When you're trying to lose weight, the number on the scale becomes part of your daily life. However, it is important to understand that the number on the scale is not the only indicator of progress, because it does not reflect changes in body composition.
When you exercise regularly, you build muscle, which is denser than fat and takes up less space in our body - the fat goes away, but the weight remains the same due to muscle mass.
The cause of the plateau phase may be fluid retention in the body. This is often due to hormones or too much salt in the diet.
SUMMARY:Your weight may not reflect fat loss. Focus on how you feel, your size and how your clothes fit.
The plateau effect when losing weight is a normal phenomenon that everyone goes through. Love yourself, respect your body and you will succeed. published.
If you have any questions, please ask
P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption, we are changing the world together! © econet
The term “plateau effect” refers to a break in weight loss. Weight loss stagnation can last from several weeks to months. Nutritionists call this period the process of the body’s natural adaptation to the changes that have occurred: changes in diet, new physical activity, weight. Experts urge you to perceive a plateau during weight loss as a normal phenomenon and not to panic.
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Mistakes when losing weight
Usually, after observing the plateau effect, those losing weight stop the diet or try to intensify their weight loss efforts. However, experts warn against such actions. A bet on sudden weight loss is not only wrong, but also dangerous, and failure to lose excess weight at this stage will subsequently lead not only to the return of lost kilograms, but also to their increase.
Switching to a more restrictive diet can cause self-poisoning of the body due to the loss of necessary water and electrolytes (potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, chlorine). They are needed to maintain muscle and nerve function.
A temporary stop in the weight loss process (plateau effect) should be perceived as a normal physiological reaction of the body. After adapting to new circumstances, excess weight loss can continue successfully.
Reasons for the plateau
Experts suggest first understanding the causes of stagnation, and only then eliminating the mistakes made.
The bases for the plateau can be very diverse:
- In the process of losing weight, a weight is reached that nutritionists call habitual (the person losing weight has been at this weight for some long time).
- The diet did not provide the amount of calories necessary for normal metabolism (daily intake is less than the desired result, multiplied by 30).
- The diet does not contain a minimum - 0.5 g of pure protein per 1 kg of weight and 40 g of healthy fats.
- A mono-diet is practiced.
Nutritionists say that improper eating patterns, used for more than two weeks, lead to a slowdown in metabolism.
Ways to overcome stagnation
You should analyze your diet and make the following adjustments if necessary:
- Be sure to consume the right amount of protein at every meal (up to 30 g of pure protein). When it is digested, metabolism increases by 20-30%. Protein preserves muscle tissue. It becomes thinner in the process of weight loss and slows down the metabolism because of this. As a result, weight loss stops.
- To eliminate the plateau effect, monitor your daily fiber intake - at least 30 g. Soluble plant fibers are especially important. They reduce the calorie content of food and slow down its absorption.
- Use food swings to break plateaus. Either add another 250 kcal to the daily calorie intake, or reduce it by the same amount. This will break the stereotype in the body’s perception of the process of losing weight.
- Use an alternative method - abstaining from food for 8-16 hours. According to experts, fat is burned this way, but muscle tissue is not damaged.
- Carrying out a loading day is another method of shaking up the body. Once a week you need to eat 40% more than usual. It is recommended to increase the calorie content of the diet with lean meat (grilled) or fish.
- Use fasting days. Experts advise that if you have a diet high in fruits, dried fruits, and honey, combine it with a meal of chicken or fish, and also eat vegetables or fruits on a protein diet. You can’t get less than 600 kcal on such a day and do a lot of physical exercise.
Change in physical activity
When training to burn fat, you need to force as many muscles as possible to work. The higher the intensity of the exercise, the more energy is consumed. During physical activity, glucose is first used, then glycogen - animal starch in the muscles and liver, and only after that - fat. This must be taken into account when training. Running, swimming, aerobics, and fitness give a good effect to achieve this goal.
- Change sets of exercises more often to avoid addiction.
- For an untrained person, at the first stage, observe a gradual increase in physical activity.
- Add new exercises to the program.
- If necessary, choose a new type of fitness, replace exercise classes with Pilates or yoga.
- Do cardio in the morning or simple exercises before breakfast.
- Provide muscle activity throughout the day.
Muscle activity called NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) also has an effect. Experts believe that simply moving around indoors, sitting periodically with a very straight back, fidgeting in a chair while sitting, standing, can significantly increase metabolism. At the same time, muscle tissue is preserved during weight loss.
According to experts, you can burn half as many calories while sitting than lying down, and if you fidget in your chair while sitting, your caloric expenditure increases by 94%. If a 70-kilogram person just lying awake on the sofa spends 80 kilocalories per hour, then standing – 110 kcal.
Additional methods against stagnation
Various methods can help you get rid of the plateau effect when losing weight. Among them, you can choose those that are more suitable for a particular person. General recommendations:
- Practice bath procedures or baths for weight loss after strength training. At the same time, the body receives additional stress, its need for oxygen and nutrients increases. During thermal procedures, fats are burned, and the skin becomes firm and elastic.
- Replace coffee with green tea. This drink, along with caffeine, which is necessary to increase metabolism, will provide the body with the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). This substance greatly speeds up metabolism.
- Give up alcohol. It slows down metabolism and leads to fat deposition in the liver.
- Normalize sleep. If proper rest lasts less than 7 hours, stagnation in weight loss occurs quickly, and it is more difficult to overcome it.
- Controlling more than just your weight. With proper weight loss, fat decreases and muscle tissue even increases (this is important for health). That is, light fat will replace heavy muscles. Experts recommend monitoring the process not only with scale readings, but also with centimeters.
Currently, a considerable number of girls regularly go on various diets and go to the gym in order to acquire a fit and slender figure. For many of them, the problem they face during training is relevant: “When I play sports, my weight stays the same.” Why is it not always possible to lose extra pounds with the help of a variety of diets or exercise? Sometimes it happens that after some time the body weight is fixed and does not move from a dead point. The weight stays the same - what to do? This article will talk about why the scale needle stops when losing weight. What is this connected with, how to find out the cause of this phenomenon and what to do if the weight stays the same. So, more details.
Plateau effect when losing weight
In order to get rid of excess weight, there are currently a large number of different diets. At the very beginning there is a good weight loss effect. But often there comes a point at which the body stops responding, and weight loss does not occur. Nutritionists know this phenomenon as the plateau effect. There is no need to stop the process of losing weight. This phenomenon is quite common. It is possible to force the body to get rid of extra pounds in fairly simple and accessible ways. Many girls wonder why, when dieting, the weight stays the same and does not go away. The main reason for this phenomenon is considered to be slow metabolism. This process usually begins in the first week of weight loss and can last several weeks.
Everyone's reaction to diet is different. As a rule, when a person begins to eat less, the body reacts to this in a negative way. At the same time, instead of weight, energy consumption is reduced. First of all, excess fluid in the body is eliminated, and only after that fat deposits are burned. So, the weight stays the same - what to do? The answer to the question posed is simple - continue the program you started.
Weight stays the same - reasons
A large number of different biochemical processes occur in the human body. In order to function normally, it needs energy through breathing, cell division, heart contractions, and maintaining muscle tone.
With major changes in normal life activities, the body begins to experience stress. There are main reasons for stopping weight loss. One of them is reducing the caloric content of food. With this phenomenon, their consumption is also reduced. If the body is comfortable and the reduction in caloric intake occurs gradually, then it will respond adequately to this. And the metabolic rate increases. It is the gradual reduction of calories in the diet that increases the activity of hormones that are responsible for the breakdown of fats.
Another possible reason for stopping weight loss is failure to maintain the correct ratio of fats and carbohydrates in food. Therefore, nutritionists recommend that those losing weight include a variety of cereals in their diet and consume them as often as possible. In addition, it is very important to balance your diet so that the body gets what it needs:
- Amino acids.
- Omega-3 fats.
- Vitamins.
- Minerals.
Serious physical activity can also become an obstacle to losing weight. With food restrictions and intense training, after the first week the result is almost invisible. Because with excessive physical activity, fat breakdown does not occur. Energy is consumed due to the intake of carbohydrates.
Glycogen stores
With moderate activity, glycogen reserves will be sufficient for a day of complete fasting. Provided that at this time there was no energy intake from food, the breakdown of fats begins. It is possible already with a 10-15% food deficit of the daily norm. Only after 5 days from the start of the diet does the process of fat breakdown begin.
Earlier weight loss occurs due to the following factors:
- Excessive fluid loss. If excess fluid was present in the body tissues, it will disappear very quickly with increased physical activity, which accelerates lymphatic drainage and blood flow.
- Lack of nutrition. If the body does not receive any energy at all, it will immediately use up all the glycogen during the day and then begin lipolysis. But at the same time, metabolism will slow down and calorie consumption for physiological needs will significantly decrease.
- Use of diuretics. These drugs help you lose weight on the first day of the diet. However, lack of fluid in the body can lead to serious complications. One of them is blood thickening, which increases the risk of thrombosis leading to heart attacks and strokes.
Other Possible Causes
It is very important to analyze your situation in time, find out the reason why your weight stays the same when losing weight, and eliminate it. What other options are possible?
If your weight stays the same and your volume goes away, then the reasons for stopping weight loss may be the following:
- Fluid retention in the body.
- Pathological conditions.
- Poor nutrition.
- Excess calories in the diet.
- Metabolic slowdown.
Often, people who want to lose weight make the following mistakes in their diet:
- Unaccounted calories. Eating nutritious snacks or desserts can have a significant impact on your results. In addition, when counting calories, you should take into account sugar, the oil in which food is prepared, and a few spoons of any dish eaten during snacks.
- Recalculation. Don’t forget that the calorie intake rate decreases as you lose weight, so losing 5 kg is already a good reason for recalculation.
Why does weight stay the same when losing weight? The cause may be fluid retention in the body. If there are bags under the eyes, this means that swelling needs to be eliminated. The causes of this phenomenon include the following pathological conditions:
- Lots of salt in the diet.
- Heart and kidney failure.
- The second phase of the menstrual cycle, which takes place under the predominance of the hormone progesterone.
- Taking certain medications - oral contraceptives, corticosteroids, antidepressants.
Diseases that lead to weight gain
Many athletes tend to downplay the importance of diseases that prevent a person from losing weight. Strict restriction in food helps to lose excess weight, but can also lead to adverse consequences for the human body. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose and begin treatment for the following diseases that can cause weight gain.
Hypogonadism
This disease consists of insufficient production of sex hormones in the human body. This condition is often accompanied by female and male infertility, as well as decreased libido.
Hypothyroidism
This disease is a decrease in the production of thyroid hormones. As a rule, patients experience fatigue, hair loss, dry skin, slow heart rate and other symptoms.
Kidney and heart failure
With renal failure, there is a decrease in the amount of urine, as well as swelling of the face in the morning.
Heart problems are usually accompanied by swelling of the legs in the evening, shortness of breath, and a feeling of lack of air.
Diabetes mellitus type 2
The disease often manifests itself in increased thirst and appetite, as well as the production of excessive amounts of urine.
How to overcome the problem?
It is very important to understand that the plateau effect is a temporary phenomenon, in which you should not immediately give up. If you have a goal and work correctly to achieve it, then your body weight will definitely decrease. If the weight stays the same - what to do? In order to defeat the described effect, you should adhere to the following rules:
- It is necessary to exclude those diseases that can contribute to weight gain.
- Limit salt consumption if you are prone to edema, since its excess provokes the accumulation of excess fluid in the human body.
- There is no need to limit yourself in fluid intake. You should adhere to your individual drinking regime. It is advisable to drink up to two liters of water per day. If there is not enough fluid, the breakdown of fats will not occur quickly. In addition, it should be remembered that drinking water can significantly dull the feeling of hunger for some time.
- Instead of strength exercises, you should choose dynamic loads. These include the following: cycling, running, aerobics, swimming.
- It is advisable to increase cardio loads.
- You should move more and visit the pool.
- It is advisable to maintain a 10 to 15% calorie deficit in your diet.
- As a rule, weight loss does not occur during menstruation, so this is also important to take into account when losing weight.
In addition, you need to give your body rest, because in addition to vitamins, nutrients and minerals, it needs walks in the fresh air, enough sleep, and a positive emotional mood. A positive mood helps a lot in losing weight, so you should imagine yourself beautiful and light in a new look.
Fasting days
The weight stays the same - what to do? Nutritionists recommend arranging fasting days for three days if the weight does not budge for more than three days. During this, it is advisable to drink a lot of green tea, as it contains many antioxidants that speed up metabolic processes in the body. Green tea should be drunk without sugar.
Supply system
You should create a menu that is balanced in the composition of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It is better to avoid dairy products during the diet, since they are difficult to digest by the body.
People who are minimally overweight lose weight much more slowly than those who are obese. Therefore, you should be patient and try to responsibly follow all the rules for losing weight, and also get up in the morning with a joyful and positive attitude.
In addition, oat bran perfectly improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. When consuming them, fat burning will be more effective, since this is facilitated by the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Losing weight should not provoke stress, so you should adhere to a nutrition system that is without very strict rules and quite comfortable. In addition, it is important that the diet includes a review of the foods that are consumed daily.
The process of losing weight takes a long time and requires significant effort on the part of a person. At first, the achieved result pleases the person, but after some time, weight loss may stop.
This effect is called a “plateau”, and when such a problem occurs, it is recommended to learn about the main reasons for stopping weight loss and ways to combat them.
What is the plateau effect?
The plateau effect when losing weight is usually understood as the cessation of weight loss for no apparent reason. In this situation, despite all the efforts of a person in the form of strict diets and increased physical activity, body weight remains constant. This situation is explained by the fact that over time the body gets used to increased stress and dietary restrictions and reacts to stress by stopping the weight loss process.
Many reviews contain confusion about the concepts of “plateau” and “slowing weight loss.” At first, weight loss is easy in most cases, which is largely due to the removal of excess fluid from the body. A person can lose up to 2 kg per day, especially if he previously had swelling. Fats that have been gained recently, are loose in structure and have not had time to gain a foothold in the body are burned more easily; they easily respond to physical activity, diet and are easily lost. Over time, it becomes more difficult to remove every extra kilogram, since it is much more difficult to “melt” old fat deposits.
Changes in the rate of weight loss are called deceleration of weight loss. A plateau means a complete stop in mass change over a long period of time. At the same time, the body does not react in any way to exposure in the form of a strict diet or grueling exercise. The danger lies in the fact that a person gives up in such a situation, which can result in failure of the diet, refusal to exercise and the nullification of all previously achieved weight loss results.
The main reasons for the plateau effect
The plateau effect when losing weight is associated with the body getting used to the regime of restrictions. As a result, he establishes new rules of balance and stops responding to all external influences by losing weight. The situation is aggravated by the fact that after losing weight there is no need to maintain metabolism at the same level. A person reduces the amount of calories consumed, while burning them during training and the body stops working. Blood moves along a shortened path and metabolic processes decrease significantly, which leads to a lack of weight loss results.
You can avoid stopping weight loss if you exclude the following reasons:
- very strict diet;
- insufficiency of fats and proteins in the body, as a result of which muscles begin to burn and the need for energy is reduced significantly;
- long-term use of mono-diet or abuse of fasting days;
- drinking alcoholic beverages, which are always high in calories and lead to fluid stagnation.
Instructors say that if no significant changes in weight loss are observed within 1 month, then it is necessary to look for the reasons for the appearance of the plateau effect and take serious action. This situation is described by many people who are losing weight, confirming the presence of a pause in weight loss for 2 months. Today, there are several basic strategies for losing weight.
The plateau effect: the main mistakes of losing weight
Reviews of people losing weight call for dietary restrictions, which is wrong. You should not go on a strict diet and force yourself to literally starve. With such actions you can achieve a very short-term result, but in the future the plateau effect will worsen and it will be almost impossible to force the weight to shift in the desired direction. It is worth remembering that it is impossible to endlessly reduce the level of calories consumed. Maximum restrictions can lead to the opposite effect and the body will begin to store a significant part of the incoming nutrients in reserve.
It is worth remembering the right psychological attitude. Feelings of anger and worries about the numbers on the scale negatively affect the functioning of the entire body. Depression often becomes the cause of a breakdown and a person begins to “eat” his failures, which is fraught with the appearance of new kilograms gained.
The main mistake of those losing weight when the plateau effect appears is refusing to exercise due to their supposed ineffectiveness. Instructors say that fixing weight at a certain value for 1.5 months should be perceived as a positive thing. At the same time, the body remembers and records a certain weight, which means it is difficult to gain weight in the future. One of the main rules in losing weight is to achieve stability and long-term results.
How to overcome the problem?
There is no universal way to overcome or avoid the plateau effect, so finding an effective method will require experimentation. All of them can be divided into two main groups:
- make adjustments to your diet;
- diversify and “break” the usual training regimes.
Nutrition
In order to move the weight from a dead point, it is necessary to create a kind of stress for the body, to force it to get out of the “frozen” position. By doing this, you can arrange a loading or fasting day for yourself. In the first case, the daily calorie intake is exceeded by an average of 25%, that is, by 400-500 calories. This technique will “deceive” the body, an increase in calories will signal that there is no need to accumulate reserves and the fat burning process will resume. At the same time, you should avoid fatty and unhealthy foods.
You can overcome the problem in another way and arrange a fasting day, providing food with a calorie content of 1,000 to 2,000 calories with a further return to the normal diet. Such a shake-up for the body should not be repeated more than once a week.
You can experiment with the following options:
- make changes in meal times before and after exercise;
- arrange a “swing”, eating food with a calorie deviation within 250 up and down, alternating them by day;
- change the traditional diet, shift the time of main meals;
- introduce new, previously unused foods into your diet.
You don't have to reduce the number of calories you eat to get the effect. It is enough to change the nature of the diet, for example, move away from the protein-carbohydrate diet and try the “swing” diet.
Workout
How to overcome the plateau effect when losing weight:
- change the nature of training - a radical change in the training program, the inclusion of new types of exercises, taking advantage of previously unused types of exercise in the form of yoga, step aerobics, kickboxing and other types of techniques;
- switch to outdoor activities - variety in the form of jogging, skiing and skating, cycling and walking;
- use high-intensity interval training - such exercises are considered one of the most effective, the burning of fat deposits increases significantly, the increased metabolic rate persists for several hours after training;
- take advantage of bathing procedures, visiting saunas - the effect of thermal procedures is to create a deficiency of oxygen in the body, which restarts metabolic processes and causes it to increase calorie expenditure;
- connect cosmetic procedures - lymphatic drainage, anti-cellulite massage, body wraps have always been considered the best helpers in the process of losing weight.
Instructors advise changing the nature of your workouts in order to overcome the problem of the plateau effect when losing weight. For example, get away from strength training and switch to using free weights.
You can experiment with the number of repetitions and approaches when performing basic exercises to force the body to respond to innovations.
This method will allow you to avoid the main mistake of novice athletes in the form of using the same training program for a long time.