Part 6: How To Overcome Plateaus
When talking about overcoming plateaus or troubleshooting fat loss, it really comes down to two major factors. These are your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and NEAT. (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)
After a certain period of extended dieting, it’s not unheard of for your body to try to conserve its resources and slow things down. The body will do this more so as a survival mechanism, this is when you may notice you have an urge to sit instead of standing and less likely to fidget. As a result, your daily non exercise activity will start to go down, the main important thing to know what this means in terms of your daily energy expenditure.
Along side this you also have your BMR. BMR which is tied to your bodyweight, for example a 90kg person will always have a higher BMR than a 50kg person. If you see decreases in your NEAT and BMR over a period of dieting, you may get to a point where your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is now the same or a lot lower then your energy intake, this can be a big reason why these results will tend to plateau.
Another big aspect that needs to be considered is your exercise activity thermogenesis, (EAT) again this is not unusual as you go through an extended period of dieting because you start to lose your intensity when training in the gym. Due to this it can result in your performance and could potentially suffer dramatically, meaning that your EAT level will start to decrease.
Fortunately, there are strategies that you can use to help you overcome this plateau period.
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Diet Breaks –
Increasing calories back up to a maintenance level for 1-3 weeks depending on the time frame. This will allow you to rebuild your natural inherent survival mechanisms that have now down regulated your NEAT & BMR by increasing your bodyweight a bit more.
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Refeeds –
This strategy is more psychological, but may help to refuel training an increase performance.
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Tracking Steps –
This is a very simple way to track NEAT, its not unusual to notice your NEAT decreasing over time because you are not tracking it. Useful tools to use are a pedometer or any daily step counter, you want to aim for baseline numbers of 8,000 – 10,000 steps.
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Track Calorie Intake –
Over time people can get lazy and will add in more food here and there. It definitely helps to spend a few days/weeks tracking your intake religiously. You don’t have to do this long term, but it is useful to add in every so often to see how much food you are consuming.
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Sleep-
Impairment in sleep over a long period of time will disrupt how easy it is for your body to burn fat.
