Why You Hit a Weight Loss Plateau in Sri Lanka and Exactly How to Break It

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You were doing so well. In the initial month, the weight was decreasing continuously. You felt motivated. You did what you planned to do. People started noticing.

Then, about month two or three, all came to a halt. The scale has been stagnant for three weeks. You are having the same food. You are doing the same workouts. Nothing is different – only the outcomes have entirely vanished.This is referred to as a weight loss plateau. It occurs to nearly all people. And it is not your fault. But to be able to break through it, the only way is to understand why it happens.

The Reason Your Body is No Longer Losing Weight

The human body is designed to survive rather than make it look slim. By continuously eating less and doing more, your body will eventually take notice and adjust. It gets more efficient- it consumes fewer calories to engage in the same activities. It holds on to fat stores more tightly. It decreases some of the hormones that aid in burning fat.

This is a perfectly normal adaptation. It preserved the life of our ancestors when there was a shortage of food. It is not concerned with your fitness objectives.

The outcome is that the calorie deficit, which was effective in month one, does not provide a deficit in month three. Your body has re-adjusted. Your metabolism is reduced to correspond to your decreased food intake. The same inputs that previously yielded a result now yield nothing.

This is annoying, but can be resolved. All you have to do is define the inputs.

The 10 most frequent reasons Sri Lankans reached a Plateau

Your portions of rice have returned to their upward position. This is the first secret cause of weight loss halting in Sri Lanka. During the initial weeks of dieting, the majority of individuals are cautious about portions. After two months, the spoon is a little fuller. The plate is slightly larger. The additional 200 to 300 calories per day which you never felt has totally obliterated your deficit. This occurs to nearly everybody.

Rice is another food that is rich in calories. One medium portion of white rice- approximately two heaped spoons- has about 200 calories. The amount of most Sri Lankan meals is usually two to three times this. One of the quickest steps to re-initiate weight loss is to switch to a smaller plate and measure the amount of rice you are eating with a cup instead of just estimating the quantity of food eaten.

Not only has your body lost muscle, but also fat. When you lose weight just by eating, not by eating enough protein, a large part of the weight loss is due not to fat but to muscle. A smaller muscle will result in a slower metabolism, since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue even at rest.

Unless you have been eating less, but not focusing on protein, your metabolism has likely plummeted. It is not optional to include extra protein in the form of eggs, fish, tempered dhal, soya and chicken in all meals at this stage. It is the greatest change that you can make to your diet.

You are performing the same workout on a weekly basis. Your muscles are very good at adapting. The same thirty-minute walk or the same workout routine at the gym that was challenging in week one has become easy by month three. The number of calories burned by your body doing familiar movements as compared to doing new movements is significantly lower.

In case your exercise has not been modified within the past six to eight weeks, your body has become accustomed to it entirely. Something has to change, whether you add a new exercise, increase your weight lifting, add an extra cardio workout, or change the form of exercise you do (walking to jogging intervals).

Cortisol and stress are conspiring against you. As mentioned in an earlier post, the chronic high levels of cortisol due to the daily stressors of Sri Lankans that are discussed in a previous post actively trigger your body to store fat around the belly. The reason why many Sri Lankans who are on a dieting program and exercising regularly cannot lose belly fat is simply that their cortisol levels are consistently high.

When this is like you, then the cure is not increased exercise. Better sleep, more movement rather than hard training and the active process of eliminating stress triggers wherever possible.

You are not taking sufficient water. Dehydration is prevalent in the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka. In the case of mild dehydration of your body, your body conserves water as a protective mechanism. This water retention is reflected on the scale and can conceal actual fat loss that is actually in progress on the bottom.

The amount of water being consumed by many Sri Lankans is much less than the recommended 2.5 litres of water per day. Simply by shedding the retained water, you can literally see the difference on the scale within one to two weeks by increasing your water intake, particularly in the morning and before meals.

How to Get out of your plateau

Do not panic. Do not reduce your calories drastically. Consuming significantly less than what your body requires sends an even greater signal of starvation and slows down your metabolism even further.

Rather, make one or two specific changes at a time and allow them two to three weeks to demonstrate results before making any other changes.

Begin by weighing your portions and eating them correctly for one week. Take a rice measuring cup. Utilise a food scale if you possess one. The vast majority of people are truly amazed at the fact that they are eating so much more than they think.

Include protein in every meal. Should breakfast be merely string hoppers with lunu miris, then put in two boiled eggs? In case lunch is rice and curry, add a piece of fish or more dhal. When dinner is slight, have a handful of roasted grapes as a snack.

Change your workout. In case you have been following the same routine, change it entirely and follow it for two weeks. In case you will perform only cardio, introduce two weight training sessions. In case you are just lifting weights, include interval walking. The fat burning can usually be re-initiated by the shock of a new movement.

Sleep more. Dilute any episode of whatever you are watching at night and sleep 30 minutes earlier. Most people are not aware that sleep influences fat loss more than the other way around.

The Bottom Line

A weight loss plateau is not an indicator of failure. It is an indication that your body is healthy and intelligent. It has also adjusted to your new lifestyle. You must now change your strategy to keep ahead of it.

Little, clever adjustments outsmart major limitations every time. Patience, consistency and persistence.

Plateau is used to mean that your body has caught up with you. Change one thing, wait and remember that all the people who ever arrived at their goal had to push through just this moment.