Let’s start with the facts.
- Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight.
- A weight loss journey can be tough. It takes consistency and dedication.
- Everyone’s journey is unique to them.
- A weight loss journey doesn’t end once you’ve reached your goal weight.
Though it may feel like the results of your weight loss journey are taking forever to reach, in actual fact, the longer it takes you to lose weight could actually benefit you. Slowly progressing toward your goal weight can help you to stay in control of the weight you do lose, which ultimately means you’re less likely to put the weight back on later down the line.
One of the hardest parts of a weight loss journey is sustaining the results you achieve. This becomes especially hard for people if they have chosen a diet that is unrealistic for them to maintain in the long run.
What does a realistic weight-loss plan look like?
Whilst every weight-loss plan is unique to the person it’s created for, it’s still highly recommended that you should aim to eat high-quality, nutritious whole foods, and do your best to limit your intake of sugars, trans fats, and processed foods. Everyone should try to be physically active, aiming for about two and a half hours of vigorous activity per week, as well as this you should look into ways you can increase your movement outside of the gym environment on a day-to-day basis.
With this in mind, a healthy amount of weight to lose is half a kilogram each week. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean you’ll always see the scale reflect this, even if you are consistently maintaining a calorie deficit and weight-loss training programme. What you are more likely to see is a 1kg drop one week, followed by a 0.5kg drop the next week. This is then likely to be followed by little to no weight loss for the following two weeks. I advise my clients to not let this mess with their mindset, and to look at the figures in a different light. If you were to take an average of what your weight loss was over a 4 week period, it should be close to 0.5kg each week.
Why do people plateau during their weight-loss journey?
It’s normal for your weight loss to either slow down or sometimes come to a complete stand still, especially if you haven’t made further changes on how you’re expending your energy, or if you haven’t made further reductions to how many calories you’re consuming.
As you lose weight, the number of calories you have to consume to be in a calorie deficit will have to decrease more, or, alternatively, you’ll need to find ways to increase your activity level to burn more calories. Don’t rush into making dramatic changes when you first see that you haven’t lost weight. Give yourself two weeks of seeing the same result before making further changes, and take into consideration how much you have lost over the previous weeks as mentioned above.
You have three areas you can work on to keep losing weight.
Increase your NEAT
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy you expend outside of exercising, e.g. walking, working, carrying out housework, etc. One of the most popular ways of tracking this expenditure of energy is by monitoring how many steps you do a day. Try to increase this number when you’ve hit a wall with your journey
Regularly going to the gym
Introducing small amounts of cardio at the end of your session is a great way to encourage weight loss. Start by performing 5-10 minutes at the end of one or two of your weight training sessions. Avoid adding cardio into every one of your training sessions though.
Being mindful about what you’re consuming
By eating less calories, you’ll place yourself in a calorie deficit. It’s really important to have some knowledge and understanding about the amount of calories you’re consuming on a daily basis. This’ll help you to determine if you need to increase or decrease the amount in order to achieve your weight loss goals.
How do you work out your personal calorie deficit?
- For someone doing minimal exercise
Your weight in kg x by 2.2 and then x that figure by either 10-12
- For someone who trains 3-4 times a week
Your weight in kg x by 2.2 and then x that figure by either 12-14
- For someone who trains 5-7 times a week
Your weight in kg x by 2.2 and then x that figure by either 14-16
Alternatively, you could bring your calories down by 100 from what you originally worked out at the start of your journey, and keep measuring your progress to see if you need to reduce this any further.
The reason why your weight loss may slow down or may plateau is because as you lose weight the demand to burn calories to keep losing weight becomes greater by you now being lighter, so don’t expect what you did to get from 80kg to 70kg to get you from 70kg to 60kg.
If you’d like to know more about how to create a weight-loss programme that you can sustain, and which will get you the long-lasting results, the Evolve team will provide you with the tools and guidance you need to progress towards your goals. You will be offered a free consultation where your chosen personal trainer will get to know you as an individual, your background, capabilities and what your goals are.
Get in touch with us today to find out more.