Hitting a plateau or stall is one of the most frustrating things when it comes to losing weight. Here’s how you can jump-start weight loss and start seeing results again.
Are you stuck on a plateau with your weight and feel like reaching your weight loss goal is never going to happen?
Losing weight and getting down to your ideal size is not an easy task, but there are people out there who do it every day.
So if you make the commitment to work hard and practice a lot of self-discipline, you can reach your goal too.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best ways to jump-start weight loss for the quickest results possible.
Jump-Start Weight Loss – The Easy Way
Although the following tips are simple in nature, they really can work wonders for losing weight. These are great when you are starting out or for breaking through a plateau or weight loss stall to start shedding weight quickly again.
1. Clean Out The Fridge
If you want to jump-start weight loss, the first place to start is with your fridge. When you clean out your fridge, toss anything that is unhealthy, has no nutritional value or isn’t on your diet plan. If it looks questionable or isn’t on your diet plan, then throw it out. What’s left in the fridge should consist of fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and lean meats. This will help by reducing the amount of food you are tempted to eat when you are hungry.
2. Track Your Calories
Try tracking your calories on MyFitnessPal (or another app) to make sure they are on target with their goal number of calories per day. This can help you by knowing exactly what you are consuming in the day and not getting in anything extra. Fitness apps let you easily track everything you eat so you can make use of a variety of different foods in your diet.
3. Make Sure You’re Eating Enough
Not getting enough food every day will actually slow down your metabolism. If you’re not eating enough, try adding more healthy fats and protein to your diet. If weight loss has slowed down, you can also try adding other healthy snacks like veggies or fruit in. Bringing your calories back on point will kick your metabolism back up and you should start losing weight again.
4. Drink More Water
Something as simple as drinking more water is one of the easiest ways to burn more fat. A lot of times weight loss stalls can be caused by dehydration, so drinking at least 64 oz of water per day can jump-start weight loss in a quick and easy way. Water can also be a great way to stave off hunger because it keeps you feeling full.
5. Move More
Any increase in movement over your current baseline is definitely going to help. This could be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going for a short walk after dinner. If weight loss continues to slow down, make sure you are not exercising too much and losing muscle instead of fat. Burning up lean muscle mass is a sure way to slow down your metabolism to a crawl.
6. Try Different Workouts
Not getting weight loss results from your normal weight loss workout routine? Try switching up your weight training, cardio or cross-training and give yourself a fresh program to get back on track. You can even try changing up your weight training routine for a boost in results.
For example, if you normally do weight training using lighter weights and higher reps, try switching over to heavier weights for lower repetitions and see if that works. So if weight loss has stalled, switch it up.
7. Eat More Protein With Each Meal
This is a simple but effective tip that really works wonders. If weight loss is starting to stall, try increasing the amount of lean protein in each meal. The extra protein will help build lean muscle mass and also keep you feeling full for a long time after your meal.
8. Keep A Food Journal
Keeping track of what you’re eating during the day and how much can really work wonders to get the pounds dropping again. It’s extremely important to keep track of what you are eating because if you don’t, a weight-loss stall can really throw you off.
To use a food journal, simply write down everything that’s going into your body and how much. The better awareness you have of your food intake, the easier managing any weight loss stalls will be.
9. Add MCT Oil To Your Diet
MCT stands for medium-chain triglycerides and some consider this oil a weight loss miracle. Adding it to your diet is an excellent way to lose weight fast. first, it’s a good source of healthy fats, which will help you stay full longer so you won’t be as tempted to eat as much. The MCTs also have a thermogenic effect, boosting metabolism and therefore causing you to burn up more calories throughout the day. [1]
10. Eat More Vegetables With Each Meal
If weight loss has slowed down, add more veggies to each of your meals. These are great for jump-starting weight loss because they are low in calories and high in nutrients that any dieter needs, like fiber. The high fiber content will help to keep you feeling full for hours and make it seem like you aren’t even dieting.
11. Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting has been linked to weight loss success before but it has also been shown to help out when weight loss has slowed down as well. This technique is super simple to do. You simply don’t eat anything for a certain period of time between meals, such as 22 hours. The time spent not eating will help your body tap into fat stores for fuel. Then when you eat, do so normally. So if weight loss has slowed down, start intermittent fasting to get back on track fast.
12. Go Low-Carb
Last but not least, you can try going with a low-carb diet. Many people lose weight successfully on low-carb diets, so going low-carb instead of conventional low-calorie might just be what you need. Lower-carb diets work well in conjunction with any form of exercise, so the combination of the two will surely help you get over your stall quickly and with ease.
Final Thoughts: Ready To Jump Start Weight Loss?
The best way to jump-start weight loss when you reach a plateau or weight loss stall can be anything from changing your routine to eating more protein with each meal or trying out some new workouts.
You can also keep track of your intake in order to be aware of what you’re putting into your body. And if all else fails and the scale isn’t moving as quickly as it should, try going low-carb.
Any combination of the above tips will help you get over that stubborn weight loss stall so don’t give up hope just because something doesn’t work once.
Change things up until you find what works for you and then stick with it!
