Plateaus happen. They suck. It’s just a fact of life for any type of fitness or weight change goal; however, this does not mean all is lost. No! By understanding plateaus, what they are, and why they happen, you will then know how to move past them.

What is a plateau?

A plateau is a point of training where you are not making any more progress towards your goal. This is usually for weight loss, where you will lose weight fine, and suddenly your weight hits a number and doesn’t move from it. It can even go up. This can also happen when you are trying to gain weight or muscle similarly.

Why does this happen?

The dreaded plateau happens when the amount of energy you spend is equal to the amount of energy consumed. Your body has adapted to its new demand, so it will be more efficient in conserving its resources during the day. This means your body will need less energy to run it. It will not need to work as hard during your regular activities. When your food consumption and activity levels are the same, progress may slow. If you eat 1,500 calories a day, then burn 1,500 calories that day; with no difference, the number on the scale will remain the same.

Now, if you consume 1,500 calories and burn 1,800 calories, you have created a deficit of 300 calories. If done regularly, this can cause some weight loss. The same thing happens the other way, too. If you consume 1,800 calories and only burn 1,500, you will experience a weight gain as you consume more than your body needs.

What can you do about it?

Fortunately, this is something that can be fixed. You can fix this by adding an extra element to your program. For example, if you eat 1,500 calories a day, try to burn 2,000 calories each day. By burning that extra 500 calories a day each week, you will have burned around 3,500 calories, which is about one pound. If you flip those numbers to consume 2,000 calories and burn 1,500 calories, you will have a surplus that can cause weight gain.

To break past that plateau, you need to burn more than you are consuming again. This applies even if your diet stayed the same and you continued to follow it. Your body has adjusted and needs to have things mixed up to challenge it again and work harder again to get you out of that rut. Another thing that could cause the plateau is consuming too many calories during the day and not quite burning all of it off. To fix this, you can monitor your diet closer with a simple calorie counter app or pen and paper to see what you are eating in a day.

Summary

A plateau at some point is normal, but by knowing what causes them, you can make the needed adjustments to get you back on track. The best way to do that now is to check your caloric intake against the calories burned during the day. If you are consuming and burning the same amount of calories, you may not notice a change on the scale. If the weight goes up, you’re likely consuming a little too much, and vice versa for weight loss. Hope this helps! Have a great day!