Weight Loss Plateau

"I'm having trouble dropping weight."

Not an uncommon phrase to hear as a trainer. Here is how it usually goes:

Mr Bob arrives desiring to lose weight... He begins to lose weight... He continues to get stronger... His clothes are fitting looser... Mr Bob is really happy with his progress... Except for one thing:

"My weight stopped going down? How do I get through this plateau?"

Well Bob. First thing is first. What are you using to measure your success? ..."I weigh myself every morning."

Step 1. Let's stop doing that. 

Bob, how would you rank the quality of your food intake each week on a scale of 1-10? ..."Maybe a 6-7? I do good during the week but I mess it up over the weekend."

Step 2. This weekend, be intentional with what goes in your mouth. Remember all I asked was quality of food, not how much. 

Oh, Bob, how much water are you drinking currently per day? ..."I do pretty good, about 60 oz per day and I have to use crystal light otherwise my water won't taste good."

Step 3. Increase your water to an even 100 oz per day. You have two choices, add crystal light, or don't. Flavor your water if you want, but remember our talk about quality food. Skip the crystal light, fill your water jug up with berries, and citrus, leave it in the fridge and pour from that as you need it.

How about rest? Are you getting enough rest? ..."I get about 6 hours of sleep each night, but it's getting better. But I feel like I need to workout 5-6+ days a week otherwise I will get fatter."

Step 4. Rest is crucial to results. We can be corny and say, "You can't spell results without rest", but we are adults. So let's not. You are seeing improvement, keep it up. Remember less should be more. Get adequate sleep, fuel your workouts properly, and refuel after them. 

Lastly... Bob, how much was that scale you stand on each day? ..."Oh it's really nice, it syncs to my fitnessbit watch and cost me a couple hundred dollars."

Step 5. Gadgets are cool, but they are even better at making you feel like crap. Don't measure your success on a toy that is designed to measure numbers, not success. Remember your non scale victories. 

Bob, your body is going through changes. You were sedentary for a long time. You are leaps and bounds ahead of where you are. This change is a journey, not a sprint. If you want sustainable you have to own these little things for life. It seems hard because we all want it NOW. But give it time. In a few years you will be even further and a few years after that you will be a completely different person. 

Learn from Bob. Be happy with where you are, don't rush or overthink where you are at right now. But most importantly Bob was not scared to come talk to me and get the help he needed. That in itself is a BIG jump forward in progress.

Stay Strong,

Kris

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