Portion control? Check! 6-8 glasses of water? Check! Active lifestyle? Check! So what’s the problem?!

Unfortunately, when our bodies adjust to a routine, weight loss (or muscle gain) stalls. Usually people try something new one at a time, for example, they might eat less food for a week. Eventually, after trying new things for months, they find the solution. It’s a simple plateau busting method, but very slow.

Instead of wasting time, try lots of new things at once! Yes, you won’t know what broke the plateau, but so what? As long as the weight loss starts again, who cares? Besides, what breaks one plateau won’t necessarily end another. Choose one new method from each category below (Food, Drinks, and Fitness) and do all three methods for a day. Change your methods EVERY DAY for 7 days. Daily shocks to your body means it’ll have no choice but to bust the plateau in record time!

Food:

• Check your calorie counting/portion control accuracy – don’t eyeball it! Use measuring cups, scales, calorie trackers, etc.
• Eat more/less calories or portions.
• Eat more/less carbs.
• Eat more/less fat.
• Eat more/less protein.
• Eat more vegetables and fruit.
• Change your meal frequency e.g. go from 5 meals a day to 2.
• Change meal times.
• Refeed over maintenance, but don’t binge eat!
• Eat at your maintenance range.
• Do calorie cycling e.g. 1800 cals on Mon, 1300 cals on Tues, 2100 cals on Wed, etc.
• Do macronutrient (carbs, protein, fat) cycling e.g. 30g carbs today, 140g carbs tomorrow, etc.
• Eat healthier options i.e. unrefined, natural food.
• Eat unhealthier options i.e. refined, processed food.
• Try new recipes.
• Do Intermittent fasting. Don’t break the fast by overeating!
• Do Intuitive Eating. Don’t stop calorie counting and start overeating!

Drinks:

• Drink more/fewer glasses of water.
• Drink colder/hotter water.
• Drink water more/less frequently.
• Spice up your water e.g. add lemon.
• Have less/no fruit juices.
• Have less/no alcohol.
• Drink during workout sessions.

Fitness:

• Workout more/fewer days a week.
• Workout for longer/shorter durations.
• Split your workout session e.g. work out twice a day for 20 mins each.
• Do more/less intense workout sessions.
• Do new exercises.
• Start strength training/increase the resistance.
• Change your strength training resistance: dumbbells, exercise bands, kettlebells, exercise balls, body weight.
• Do Interval Training/High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)/High Intensity Training (HIT).
• Don’t exercise.
• Walk/cycle/rollerblade to work or school.
• Run errands and do chores faster e.g. vacuum the house quicker.

If you don’t bust your plateau in 7 days, keep repeating the cycle with new methods until the plateau ends. While other people spend months busting their plateau, you’ll end it within 7-31 days. Good luck, and keep fighting! Your body won’t win this battle unless you let it. Successful weight maintenance requires careful planning so you’ll be prepared for what’s to come. Click here to see what other problems you’ll encounter on your weight maintenance journey.