Intermittent Fasting Plateau
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Have you found it challenging to change your body weight even after several intermittent fasting techniques?
Forget about getting frustrated when you hit a weight loss plateau. Do you know you can improve your weight loss journey by following a few insightful steps? Although it may not be as easy as expected, it is worth it if you want to reduce body fat.
You don’t have to worry if your fat loss journey has stagnated for a while now. Our article will show you how to enjoy losing weight without affecting your eating window.
To bring everything into perspective, we will help you to understand what a weight loss plateau is and how you can efficiently manage it to improve your fat-burning process.
What Is an Intermittent Fasting Plateau?
Sometimes you work hard to achieve your fat loss goals, but it just doesn’t work out. You even go as far as improving your exercise habits and calorie intake, and it just doesn’t seem to work out.
Initially, the scale drops as you continually lose weight. Now, however, nothing seems to work, and you are stuck at a particular point without reaching your weight loss goals. Once you no longer experience weight loss, even after religiously carrying out your weight loss routines, you hit a plateau.
While it is discouraging to hit a fat loss plateau, you can work your way to achieving your dreams if you keep at it. You must note that it is common to experience a fat loss plateau at some point in your weight management journey.
Although it is common to experience a slow loss in weight during your weight loss journey, most people still feel surprised since they exercise regularly and eat carefully. However, you need to understand that even the best weight loss routines usually hit some dramatic lows at some point.
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How Does a Weight Loss Plateau Make You Not Lose Weight?
It is common to experience a drastic drop in weight during the first few weeks of your weight loss journey. This drastic body fat loss is due to your body’s need for energy when you cut down on calorie intake. Since the body does not get enough calorie supply it usually enjoys, it turns to your body’s glycogen storage to supplement the deficit. While your body gets the extra calories it needs to run, it keeps depleting your glycogen storage. Note that glycogen is stored in your body as adipose (fats).
Since your body keeps converting the stored fats to energy for your body, soon enough, there are not enough calories to supply the energy, and you lose weight. Also, since glycogen partly comes from water, converting the glycogen to energy releases water. Before long, your body burns too many calories than you consume. Hence, your body can no longer store calories, and your total body weight reduces. However, you must note that water weight loss may not last. It is also important to note that you lose some fats and muscles as you lose weight.
While it feels good to achieve your fat-burning goals at this point, you must note that muscles also help to regulate the rate at which your body burns calories. As you lose weight, your body’s metabolic switch gets affected. You will experience a decline in metabolism, which results in burning fewer calories.
At this point, it could feel like you are no longer losing weight, and it might cause some panic. However, you need to note that your slower metabolism slows your weight loss, which is normal. It does not matter if you maintain or improve your eating habits. You will still not lose more body fat. Essentially, when the calorie intake equals the calories burnt, you will experience a fat-burning plateau.
You will have to leverage moderate-intensity workouts or desist from consuming more calories if you want to lose more weight. While working on your eating window is excellent, it is advisable to leverage more physical activity for your intermittent fasting routine to have more effect.
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How to Overcome Your Body Weight Plateau
Once you experience a plateau, the first thing on your mind is to give up. Do not fall for this old mind trick. Instead of giving up on your eating window and exercise plan, you can do certain things first. You should ask yourself to see if you are satisfied with your current weight or want more. If you still want to lose more weight after an honest conversation with yourself, it is best to adjust your fat-burning program.
You should follow these steps to lose weight and get past your intermittent fasting plateau:
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Reconsider Your Strategy
You need to check the records of your weight loss process to evaluate what you did right and where you need to improve. If you usually consume larger portions, get less exercise, and eat more processed foods, it would be best to implement a calorie restriction with frequent exercises to steer away from a weight loss plateau. Additionally, research shows incorrect eating patterns can invite a fasting weight loss plateau.
Cut Down on Your Calorie Intake
Another efficient way to reduce fat storage is to maximize fat loss by cutting down on calories consumed. You can further reduce your calorie intake so far as it does not take you below 1200 calories. Less than 1200 calories may cause a calorie deficit, leading to more hunger and an energy deficit than you can handle.
Although some argue that going below 1200 calories is an excellent way to burn fat, it may also lead to overeating if you are not disciplined. Hence, avoiding going below 1200 calories is best to enhance your fat-burning mode.
Improve Your Exercise Routine
Increasing your fasting period or controlling your calorie intake may not be enough to help you get past your fasting plateau. Hence, it is essential that you also rev up your workout routine if you want to maximize fat loss. Exercising helps you to burn fat while building your muscles.
Ensure that you combine vigorous and moderate exercise activities so you can easily lose more weight. Also, do not contest your workout routines. Instead, spread out your habits to cover all the days of the week to properly improve your sleep quality and have a better effect on the weight scale.
To enjoy a better intermittent fasting experience while dealing with a fasting plateau, it is best to leverage about 300 minutes of workout weekly. Also, add more exercises like lifting weights to help you burn more calories and overcome that stubborn fasting plateau.
Load Your Day With More Activities
One of the best ways to overcome your fasting plateau is to partake in activities outside the gym. You can increase your overall health by increasing the amount of physical activity you take part in daily. You could opt to take walks or jog instead of using your car. Alternatively, you could do more yardwork or partake in vigorous spring cleaning to boost your body’s metabolism.
Prioritize Quality Sleep
Quality sleep is underrated by most people looking to overcome fasting plateaus. However, it is essential to always wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the day’s activities. While it may not seem like it, fewer sleep disturbances interrupting your sleep-wake cycle usually leads to solid and consistent energy levels that last all day. How can you get in sync with your body’s sleep-wake cycle to help you overcome your fasting plateau?
Ensure that you do not go to bed past 11 pm. Also, it is best if you do not consume any food two hours before your bedtime. In addition, limit or eliminate your body’s exposure to electronic devices a few hours before bed. Additionally, you must not exercise three hours before your bedtime.
Another essential factor to consider is your sleeping environment. Ensure you sleep in a dark and quiet environment to enjoy a high-quality sleep experience. While it is impossible to get the perfect sleeping conditions, at least try to get some near-perfect sleep to help activate your fat-burning mode.
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Reduce Your Eating Window
Another way you can overcome your intermittent fasting plateau is by remodeling your fasting period and shortening your eating window. While the 16:8 ratio (16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating) works best for most individuals looking to maintain muscle and lose fat, this method may not positively affect your weight scale. If you have hit an intermittent fasting plateau using the 16;8 models, you can switch to a 17:7 or 18:6 fasting period to see if you can significantly affect your fat stores.
Ensure to remain consistent in your food intake and fasting period. Like physical exercise, the more days you practice intermittent fasting, the better off you will become with your body measurements. If you consistently practice the recommended intermittent fasting period, your body will turn on its metabolic switch and prevent your muscles from storing fat. Try to fast for about five to seven days a week if you want to see better results.
Leverage Fat Burning Exercises
Exercise is as important as your fasting window. Although most people tend to pay more attention to their eating period, it is good to consider weight loss exercises. Note that your exercise during each fasting window may differ for your body to burn fats efficiently.
During your fasting window, it is best to go with low to moderate portions of exercise like recreational biking and walking or other deliberate exercises like yoga and tai chi. These deliberate walking exercises help your body trigger its fat-burning mode while fasting. Consequently, your body moves past the intermittent fasting plateau and burns more calories for energy.
If you are in the eating period, it is best to engage in non-strenuous movements immediately after eating. These non-strenuous movements stimulate your body to use your body’s fats as an energy source. This lowers the post-diet glucose levels in your body. It would help if you also threw in some cardio workouts during the day.
It would also help to incorporate resistance and strength training into your IF schedule. Remember to stay consistent and to participate in these exercises at least four or more days weekly before your dinner diet or before breakfast to boost your weight loss plan.
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Use Exogenous Ketones
It would help if you also made necessary adjustments to your hormonal issues by consuming exogenous ketones to help you escape an intermittent fasting plateau. These ketones help your body attain ketosis while running off ketones as an energy source. Thus, exogenous ketones can help create a healthy lifestyle by balancing your hormone levels. Using ketones prevents falling short of your fasting period since the body gets used to running off ketones.
Remain Patient
Always maintain a patient outlook when you hit a fasting plateau. Instead of giving up on your diet and exercise routines, you can re-evaluate yourself to see why you have had the same results since losing weight. Check if your clothes fit and if your body measurements change within this period. Also, examine your sleep patterns, physical activity, and diet to make many necessary adjustments.
Remember that your weight scale may not reflect body fat loss, especially if you exercise regularly. Additionally, remember to stay hydrated while dealing with weight loss plateaus. While waiting may seem challenging, you will reap the dividends if you do not give up on your fasting days, diet, and exercise routines.
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Do Not Allow Your Weight Loss Plateau to Become an Avalanche
If you have tried all you can to shed some weight and it won’t come off, consult your doctor for advice. Alternatively, you can leverage the help of a registered dietician to get other tactics for overcoming your weight loss plateau.
If you cannot get rid of more calorie intake or increase the rate of physical exercise, you may want to re-evaluate your intermittent fasting weight loss goals. You may need to revisit your weight loss goals because it is pretty challenging to burn more calories if you are unwilling to give up some food choices. Also, you need to understand that not all calories get shed by partaking in fasting, hence the need for exercise.
Another thing you must not forget is that you have already lost weight, only that you have not reached your goal yet. It would help to appreciate your lost weight and maybe check if you set unrealistic goals. You can review such goals if you notice that you set unrealistic goals. You can then work your way towards the newly set ones. While it is not commonly stated, losing weight takes care of some health issues.
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Conclusion
An intermittent fasting plateau is the worst place to be if you want to lose weight. However, it is not the end of the road, as there are several things you could do to help you out. The first thing you can do to help you move past your intermittent fasting plateau is to refuse to give up. Giving up only ensures that you will not get to your weight loss goals.
Instead, you can keep a food journal to monitor the foods you eat, the exercises you partake in, and other activities. We have also outlined several tips to help you overcome your fasting plateau. You can leverage these tips to help you get past your intermittent fasting plateau stage.
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