Secrets Of A PT: How To Beat The Weight Loss Plateau

The weight loss plateau is likely something that everyone trying to get in shape will come up against at some point. As you lose weight, your metabolism declines, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did at your heavier weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a?plateau.?We ask personal trainer Damian Hall how to move past this.

There are a number of reasons why you may reach a weight loss plateau. Firstly, fat loss is not linear, so it never drops at the same rate every week. Be mindful that your body is quite happy having some weight on it and that it will often fight to keep weight on. I always ask my clients the following before their assessments each week as there’s usually a reason why their weight loss has stalled, any it’s likely down to any or all of these things:

Nutrition And Nature Play A Part?

Ask yourself and be honest, are you eating stuff you shouldn’t? Menstrual cycles will also affect weight gain as will lifting weights; doing this will cause weight loss to slow as you are adding mass onto your body but it won’t show on the scales.?Eating too much can naturally cause your weight loss to stall as we need to be in a calorie deficit to lose body fat and on the flip side, eating too little will cause you metabolic rate to take a nose dive. As this is your most efficient calorie burner it’s crucial we keep it full of nutrient-dense food. Finally, some can deal with inflammation or water retention through eating food that they are intolerant to. This is quite common so we have protocols to deal with this. It can be anything from eggs to cauliflower!

Your Training Routine Is Very Important

I would always’recommend starting any fitness regime with guidance from a professional. If you’re trying to keep up your weight loss, be mindful of the following:

• Are you’mixing up your training sessions? Doing the same thing over and over?will yield?the same results
• Are you?training at the correct intensity? Not working hard enough? It’s’difficult to push yourself on your own.
• Are?you doing the right?things in your exercise programme? If you are not doing the best exercises, you need to fire your trainer and find a new one, especially if you do not see the results you want.

As well as being our fitness pro, Damian Hall is the founder of Complete Personal Training. If you have any questions for Damian to answer, tweet us @image_magazine and use the hashtag #imagefitpro.