Weight Loss Plateaus – What Can You Do To Get Off A Diet Plateau?

So, you are on a plateau with your weight loss plan.

Congratulations for making it to this level!

You started out and made big strides.

Pretty exciting going from peak to peak huh?

Progress toward your goal weight is very exhilarating, especially when improvement comes fast.

It gets you to thinking you are going to have this weight loss thing down and it will be licked in no time flat.

Then…. your consistent weight loss sometimes peters out and the graph of your weight loss goes flatline.

Weight loss plateaus are something everyone should expect as the natural course of things.

With dieting and losing weight you can lose a lot of pounds on the first week, so you expect to lose the same amount the next week and the week after that, but that is not usually the way it works.

As time goes on you do not lose as much as fast.

The important thing is, you are going in the right direction and that you do not gain back what you lost.

Rather than being drastic about dieting, strive for lasting benefit through a lifestyle change of more exercise and healthier eating.

When you are in a plateau don’t lose heart.

The fact is that weight loss changes in your body are happening, just not as fast as you want it.

Do not worry about it.

What can you do when you are experiencing a weight loss plateau?

- Keep a positive attitude

- Stay motivated by listening to and reading about other weight loss successes

- Listen to and emulate those who have successfully traveled your path

- Do what you need to do to have what you want to have (read: stick with your diet and NEVER give up and go back to your bad eating habits)

- Enjoy the place you are at right now. You are changing your life and losing weight – be proud of yourself for sticking with it and caring about yourself

Often times we are progressing and do not even know it, and even when we see no results on the outside, there may be plenty of incubation going on inside.

Hurrying things along faster than their normal course may do more harm than good, like when you rip a cocoon off a butterfly, it will die.

The thing to remember is to not give up.

When you stay the course, your results will often unfold when we least expect it.

And then……Surprise! You have broken through your plateau!

What happens after that, will be another plateau. That should be no surprise……

With discipline and maybe a little obsession , you go from one plateau to another.

Sometimes in order to break through each plateau you need to be innovative and try new things.

Some changes could be:

- try a new workout

- begin interval training – great for weight loss and breaking plateaus

- do some innovative things with your diet – to jump start your weight loss again

If you are in a rut with your diet and exercise, changing it up will often lead to a break in that darn plateau.

Bottom line – plateaus are part of your life journey.

Embrace them rather than fight them and you will get to the other side of the plateau more quickly.

How do I know?

Because I lost over 50 pounds and have kept it off for more than 20 years.

And I have experienced my share of plateaus over the years – they are normal – they are not fun – but you can get through them to the other side and it is WORTH IT!

So go for it!! I am cheering for you every step you take!!