How do you keep losing weight when you stagnate?

Some time ago you decided to go on a “diet” and you were very excited because the first few weeks you lost a lot of weight, but as the months went by you lost less and less and it was very difficult. You didn’t understand what was going on? You were doing just as well as at the beginning, weren’t you?

Don’t worry, if you find yourself in this situation let me tell you that what is happening to you is normal and what you have to do is help your metabolism to work more efficiently.

Why do you stagnate in your weight loss?

Before starting a healthy diet you take in X number of calories of not very good quality. By cutting back a little on the number of calories and getting them to be of better quality, you start to lose weight as your body is used to the way it was before and needs the same energy as before.

After a while, your body readjusts and gets used to the new normal and on top of that it has already lost a lot of weight so now it doesn’t need to burn as many calories to do the same functions. This means that your metabolism has slowed down and is saving energy because you are putting less calories into it.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at the different factors we can modify to counteract this stagnation and continue losing weight.

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Main factors to counter stagnation

Take each macronutrient in the time slot you need it.

• If you are a person who trains, on training days try to take at least half of the carbohydrates (CH) before or after training. Always maintain the necessary amount of protein and lower the fats. On days when you don’t train or train lightly try lowering HC and raising fats.

• If you are a more sedentary person try lowering HC (rice, potato, sweet potato, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, legumes) for a week and evaluate.

Introduce them in the main meal and cut them out for the rest of the day.

In the morning snack as well as in the afternoon snack, include vegetables that contain fiber, proteins and fats. If you want to eat fruit, make sure it is one with less sugars.

Don’t always be in a caloric deficit

Metabolism slows down and fat loss can be complicated when you are in a continuous caloric deficit.

To prevent this from happening, every 2-3 weeks do a full reload day by increasing HC and lowering fat (keep protein the same). Try to do the refueling day on your most intense training day to increase your energy and improve your insulin resistance.

Another option is to have one free meal a week by increasing the calories in that meal. A free meal does not mean a whole day off.

A third option if this does not work for you either is to take a break for a week every 2-3 months and in this break use the calories from a maintenance diet instead of a caloric deficit.

The purpose is not to get the body used to always the same thing, we need stimulation.

If you do this carbohydrate reloading well you will notice many benefits such as:

• increase in the satiety hormone (leptin)
• replenishment of glycogen stores for higher intensity training and less muscle loss
• will help you psychologically and improve adherence to the plan.

Physical exercise

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If you did not do sports

If you don’t exercise and feel stuck in your diet, it’s time to start. Sport will help you burn more calories without cutting back on your current food intake.

In this aspect is also important progress, ie, as you get used to and do not cost you, go increasing repetitions and load progressively.

A very common mistake in people who want to lose weight is that they do only cardiovascular exercise, being more important and essential strength training (exercises with weights, with your own body weight …).

The ideal is to combine strength training with cardiovascular exercise (brisk walking, running, elliptical, cycling, etc.).

Last but not least, increase NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), i.e., increase routine actions not considered physical exercise that help you burn calories daily, such as climbing stairs instead of using the elevator, walking to work or anywhere for short distances instead of using the car, shopping on foot instead of buying online, etc.

If you were already doing sports

Include one more strength session per week.

In your cardiovascular exercise sessions do at least once a week HIIT (high intensity interval training) exercises varying intensities and heart rate always within your own limits. This can triple your results compared to traditional aerobic workouts.

Adequate rest

This is another of the most important factors if you want to continue losing weight.

A pleasant rest, adapting to circadian rhythms, causes a better physiological functioning, that is, it helps to improve glucose tolerance without causing peaks that consequently increase the feeling of hunger. Two star products that can come in handy are Herbalife’s Restore and Niteworks.

This rest is not the same for everyone and depends on the particular needs of each individual, although as a general rule it should be between 7 and 9 hours.

I would also like to mention how necessary fasting during these hours of rest is for cell autophagy (cellular cleansing and regeneration). According to studies, 12-14h is enough and it is when the greatest benefits are obtained.

Have you ever noticed that on a day when you have not slept you feel hungrier? This happens because we secrete a hormone called ghrelin that increases the level of appetite. However, lack of sleep lowers the levels of another hormone called leptin, which is responsible for sending us signals that we are satiated.

Summary: with lack of sleep you find yourself hungrier, less satiated at the end of your meals and with little energy for physical exercise, another important point as we have already seen to continue losing weight.

Minimizes stress

You may have heard many people say: “pouff, I’ve lost so many kilos because of the stress I’ve had”. Let me tell you that this is not normal, since stress plays a trick on the metabolism and our habits.

In stressful situations, the cortisol hormone increases and results in the storage of excess fat.

Let me explain it in a simpler way, cortisol causes the body to produce sugar because it thinks it needs extra energy for the muscles and brain (imagine you are in the jungle and a lion appears, adrenaline and cortisol are triggered to give you the energy you need to run and survive).

Cortisol is responsible for us seeking out foods high in sugars, fats, high in calories and high in flavor, what we know as the “cravings” to reduce stress and anxiety, and leads us to lose control.

Cortisol also increases insulin, which lowers blood sugar sharply and causes us to have an appetite.

One way to reduce stress is to exercise, as it releases other hormones such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins, which are responsible for reducing stress, improving sleep and having a better mood.

Include vegetables in all your meals, especially green leafy vegetables.

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In the Herbalife diet as in any other healthy diet, vegetables should be the basis of this diet for all the nutrients they provide such as vitamins, minerals and fiber. Although many people think that we feed on shakes, this is not so.

The green leafy ones have few calories, in addition to a high water and fiber content. Even if you eat a large amount, you will hardly increase the calories in the dish, and at the same time you will feel very satiated.

Some of the minerals they contain are magnesium, iron, calcium or potassium. A low level of magnesium, in particular, can hinder weight loss.

On the other hand, thanks to its high fiber content, it will make us feel more satiated and reduce the absorption of sugars and fats in the blood, while we will go to the bathroom better.

Therefore, vegetables and more green leafy vegetables will help to continue losing weight.

Consume enough protein

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient (I recommend personalized protein powder). This means that we must include it in every meal since a low protein diet produces a feeling of appetite and with it, the poor perception of need for foods high in sugars, fats and calories.

A high protein diet in weight loss will protect you from the risk of suffering rebound effect and for the digestion of proteins you need to spend more calories.

Another important point is that it protects you from the loss of muscle mass, just what we need in a weight loss plan, since we want to keep the muscle and the weight is lost from the fat.

Be careful with salt and try spices.

Salt (sodium) is an important mineral in our diet but its abuse can lead to serious health problems such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is essential to limit daily consumption to less than 5g (one teaspoon) and not to over-praise foods, as they themselves contain salt.

At the same time, salt influences by favoring fluid retention, which leads to increased swelling.

Other ingredients that you can use to flavor foods and reduce salt consumption are spices such as garlic and onion powder, curry, parsley, oregano, pepper, etc.

Dare to try and you will see how you notice the results.

With perseverance everything comes

You must always have a defined goal in mind and set smaller short-term goals that you know you are capable of achieving. For example, be able to drink 2 L of water a day if you do not do it or do 30 minutes of exercise daily, you will be putting other bigger goals.

Make an action plan and write it down, keep it visible so you know where you want to get to. The important thing is not to do a lot in a short time, what really works is to do things little by little, progressively and steadily.

Don’t be in a hurry. There is a saying that I like very much and we can apply it in this sense: “what comes fast, goes fast“. So do not want to lose weight quickly because then the rebound effects appear.

Enjoy the process because there are no shortcuts to success.