What people think:   When you hit a sticking point during weight loss, it’s due to a stalled metabolism

What the reality is: Plateaus are a sign that your metabolism is doing its job

When trying to lose weight, most of us have hit the dreaded sticking point — when the scale won’t budge, your clothes aren’t getting looser and frustrations begin to rise. This is the time many people quit (because it’s “not working”) or pig out because they “might as well anyways.”  It’s the perfect time to re-evaluate your eating and exercise plan, and consider: How much weight have you lost so far?

“As most people find out, they can lose 10% of their bodyweight before it becomes more difficult to lose another 10%,” researchers say. “At about that point, the weight won’t come off as fast as it once did.”

There are two reasons why: First, you’re smaller, so your metabolism is matching the “new” you; second, your body thinks it’s starving, and as a result, thyroid hormone levels drop and your resting metabolic rate may drop 10%—25%, so you aren’t burning as many calories in a day as you were. And here’s what most of us forget: When we lose weight, we become lighter, meaning the amount of calories we burn in everyday activities drops as well. Eventually your metabolism adjusts to your new, smaller body.

WHen you hit that plateau, you have to bust through it.  Here’s some ways to increase your metabolism and kick start your weight loss once again.

1- Train with Weights

Weight training is shown to increase your EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption) effect which leaves you with a raise in your metabolism for up to 48 hours after your training.  Weight training can also increase muscle tissue which metabolically active and burns calories even while at rest.

2- Do High INtensity Cardio

high intensity cardio is like weight training, taking you into an anaerobic zone of training.  This creates an oxygen debt and produces the same epoc effect as weight training, which leaves you with an elevated metabolism, even after your workout is over.

3- Change your calories

We all know how we have to keep changing things up in the gym in order to keep our body guessing.  Well, the same goes in the food department.  Our body is really good at adapting and if we’re eating the same amount of food/calories each day, our body will try to slow the metabolism to adapt to it.  By changing your calories regularly, you’ll be able to keep your body guessing and it won’t be able to adapt/plateau.