Have you ever experienced a time when you’ve steadily been losing weight/inches and then it just comes to a stand still?! If this rings a bell then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate. These 7 tactics are a good starting point to help you break through the plateau.

Keep An “Honest” Food Diary

This is a proven technique for weight loss. When an “honest” food diary is kept it forces you to keep an accurate account of what food you eat including portion sizes and all the other little indulgences you have here and there that could very well be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

Get More Sleep

There’s clear scientific links between sleep deprivation and weight gain. It messes up your hormones resulting in an increased appetite, cravings, poor workouts and a decrease in overall energy expenditure. So make sure you get your Zzzzz

Eat More Frequently

And no that was not a typo! Though counterintuitive, increasing the frequency of meals can kickstart weight loss. Skipping meals can lower your metabolism and cause your body to hold onto calories by storing them as fat. Whereas, eating small, but frequent healthy meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism firing. Your blood sugar levels will also be more stable and so you’re less likely to raid the pantry cupboards.

Change Your Workout Routine

If long bouts of steady state cardio and/or doing the same old routine aren’t producing the goods then it’s time for a change as your body isn’t responding. High-intensity interval training (HIIT), is a form of cardio that involves alternating sets of intense exertion with brief recovery and has been shown to burn more fat in a fraction of the time than traditional cardio. The whole idea is to shock and re-boot your system to get it losing weight again.

Increase Protein Intake

Consuming protein has been shown to lead to more fat loss. Healthy protein sources combined with resistance training significantly improves overall body composition.

De-Stress

Stress increases the body’s production of the hormone cortisol, which has been linked to both weight gain and increased appetite. Other side effects of too much stress include poor sleep and digestive problems, both of which will derail your body’s ability to burn fat.

Timeout

If you’re doing everything correctly, and have been doing it for a long time and you’re not losing any weight despite all your hard efforts there’s a possibility your body has shutdown. If you’ve over dieted/over trained your body will be tired, stressed and will fight back. Timeout could be exactly what’s needed to re-set your system.