Overcoming an exercise weight-loss plateau
A lot of people exercise for the sole reason of losing weight. When a person starts exercising, it’s easy to shed bodyfat and gain lean muscle, but over time, weight loss and muscle gains typically plateau. When you lose bodyfat, you’re smaller everywhere, even your organs are smaller, which means you are burning fewer calories because a bigger, inactive person always burns more calories than a smaller fit person when doing a similar activity, like walking.
To see more muscle gains, you can’t do the same activities, or lift the same amount of weight. Switch up the exercises, make them more difficult so you’re burning more calories, and lift heavier weight. If you’re exercising twice a week, double it, but don’t do intense exercise more than five days a week; your central nervous system needs a stress break!
Hours of exercise won’t show on your physique if you’re eating more calories than you’re burning. If you really want to lose that excess bodyfat, accept the realization that you’ll have to consume fewer calories. Little changes here and there can make a big difference, like using a teaspoon of almond butter in your smoothie instead of a tablespoon, using zucchini noodles instead of wheat pasta, having a ½ cup of rice instead of 1 cup, and drinking diet soda instead of regular soda (although, I’d prefer everyone drink water).
Believe it or not, the biggest hurdle to weight loss is being stubborn, and not accepting the truth that to lose extra weight and change our body shape, we all need to work harder, and eat less.
