Stuck in your weight loss? Read THIS

Today we’re talking about something nobody likes. DISCOMFORT.

Humans go to great lengths to prevent being uncomfortable, but nothing keeps us from moving forward MORE than our tendency to avoid being uncomfortable.

If you’re not moving forward, that usually means you’re in the same place. Now, this isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes you feel content where you are – it’s comfortable there. This is called maintenance. The thing is many times, you want to be somewhere else. And staying in the same place goes from content to STUCK.

One of the more frustrating parts of feeling stuck in your weight loss is not being able to point to the reason. I’m eating well. I’m exercising.

But here’s the thing, every action has an outcome.

If you put water in the freezer, it’ll freeze no matter how you feel about it.

Signs of a weight loss plateau

In terms of your weight loss, you may feel stuck at the same weight for weeks, not really knowing what’s going on. But there’s no other way around it – if you’re maintaining weight, it means you’re taking in exactly the same amount of energy you’re expending. Ie, you’re not at the caloric deficit you should be to hit your goal weight.

Here’s what a weight loss plateau is NOT:

• Your weight remains the same, BUT you can see clothes fitting differently, which points to muscle gain. This means that, even though the number on the scale is not moving, your body composition is evolving. Muscle is lean mass, so you may weigh the same when you gain muscle despite your body getting leaner.
• You notice that exercises that used to leave you panting are now easier. This points to increased resistance and strength, which improves your overall cardiovascular health and your body’s ability to adapt.

A weight loss plateau is a point in your journey when your body stops responding to what you’re doing, so you see no progress. During a plateau, you feel generally stuck – not just on the scale, but your clothes feel the same, your measurements or strength haven’t changed, and you’re feeling sluggish.

These are the most common causes of a weight loss plateau

• You’re doing the exact same every day – same meals, same workouts. Your body is designed to adapt to circumstances, so keeping everything the same throughout your weight loss journey will lead to progress in the beginning, but you’ll soon get stuck.
• You don’t feel challenged when doing an exercise. Again, your body is meant to adapt to challenges. In exercise, this is called progressive overload, which means gradually increasing the difficulty (weight, reps, intensity) of your workout to keep your body challenged as you progress. I often see this when clients work out at home since they tend to have limited equipment, but even something as simple as using resistance bands or a jump rope can transform your fitness.
• You’ve loosened up with meals and snacks, so you’re not exactly sure how much you’ve eaten. As your body loses weight, its caloric needs change, so it is essential to calculate your macros regularly. FOOD is FUEL. In order to progress in your weight loss journey, you need to ensure that you’re giving your body the FUEL it needs to put in the effort of a workout, but also to REPAIR itself afterward, which leads me to…
• You’re resting too much or not resting enough. Muscle breaks down during exercise, and it recovers and grows during rest. I get it – we’re all busy juggling all the things, but sleep and recovery are essential in your progress.

Sometimes, you may be hitting all the goals on paper, but your body and its needs have changed. 

How to overcome a weight loss plateau

Your brain is WIRED to avoid discomfort, but your body is also really good at adapting, so if you really want to break through the plateau, I’ve got news.

What you did the first time around likely won’t work this time. The weights you lifted when you started, the meals you ate to drop the first few pounds. If what you did 15 pounds ago is no longer producing the results that you want, we have to shift things some. That’s what we do with 1:1 coaching… our advice to you is NOT the same in this program. We are CONSTANTLY trying to help you troubleshoot and make some shifts, depending on the outcome.

Shifting things to break through your plateau may look like…

1. Adding intensity to your workouts – perhaps sprints instead of steady-state cardio, a dance class, or kickboxing!
2. Tweaking your macros for a period of time to get things moving.
3. Feeling a bit hungry every now and then.
4. Waking up early to ensure you get that workout in.
5. Meal prepping extra carefully so you’re not tempted to get junk food while everyone around you is.

Most people are creatures of habit. They’ll do anything to prevent feeling uncomfortable. BUT MYLFs are not most people.

We are built for MORE. With us, discomfort triggers a sense of pride within us. 

YES! I am uncomfortable…this means I am CHANGING! I am WILLING to look at the output and change the input because what I am CURRENTLY doing has me stuck.

Whether you’ve got your foods on point or you’re struggling a bit to create a deficit, something’s gotta change for you to break through that plateau. It’s going to take being PHYSICALLY uncomfortable sometimes. You are going to feel hungry some days and need to remind yourself that you have enough nutrients and stored energy to sustain you.

Maybe you’ll be on a meal plan of chicken breasts and egg whites for a while, trying to hit your macros. Maybe you’ll have to make one more stop to get whole foods while everyone else gets takeout. Maybe you’ll finish a workout DRENCHED in sweat and out of breath because you haven’t gone on a run since high school.

These things are UNCOMFORTABLE.

You know what else is uncomfortable? REMAINING STUCK. Remember, I am not the one telling you that you are stuck. YOU feel stuck because YOU want to be somewhere different.

Feeling disappointed with yourself because you hit the snooze button and missed your workout AGAIN… THAT is uncomfortable.

So today, I ask you to choose your discomfort. Do you want to choose the hard path that will create an easier, more fulfilling life? Or do you want the shortcuts that’ll lead to a hard life where you’re constantly stuck and dissatisfied?

The first step is yours to take.

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