You’ve probably experienced this before. You are fully committed to your weight loss journey. You’re eating better, consuming the right portions, switching sodas for water, sleeping 7-8 hours every night, and meeting your exercise goal. You are seeing favorable results as you are losing weight. Suddenly, the days go by, and your weight loss slows down. You are stuck! You aren’t even losing half a pound even though you are still doing your part. So, what is happening?
You are most likely going through a plateau in your diet. This happens because the body gets used to eating the same thing and doing the same activity. The metabolism adjusts to those changes and slows down. This is normal because weight loss is not straightforward (1). But what should you do to overcome it and keep losing weight?
1. Don’t give up! Keep going!
According to our Entalla nutritionist, Sabrina Hernández-Cano, the first thing to do when hitting a plateau phase is to be firm on your goal and not give up. If feeling disappointed for not losing weight makes you return to your old habits, you’ll gain back what you’ve already lost and have the same health problems you had before or worse!
Your mindset is key to overcoming that emotional state and moving forward with your goal. If you can overcome the plateau period, you will successfully resume your weight loss process. To support your goal, Entalla's nutritionist shares 7 strategies scientifically proven to help achieve it.
2. Eat more protein throughout the day
This simple change helps reduce appetite and improve metabolism by producing more PYY hormone, which helps you feel full faster and reduces food intake (2). It also helps burn more calories by 20-30% as it forces the body to use more energy.
Ideally, you should consume around 20 to 30 grams of protein in every meal to support metabolism. 1 ounce (by weight) of protein contains about 7 grams of actual protein. This means that a chicken breast or a salmon fillet weighing 4 ounces would meet the necessary amount. Or, with a cup of Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or a Santo Remedio protein shake.
3. Increase fiber intake
Studies show that 36 grams of fiber a day help you feel full longer. Although fiber is also a source of carbohydrates, it does not increase insulin levels like foods low in fiber. Not increasing glucose levels as quickly helps speed up your metabolism. Having a high fiber intake also helps cut about 130 calories.
If you consume more fiber throughout the day, your metabolism is more active (3). It is best to consume at least 25 grams to 36 grams per day. That's why, our Super Slim Café, Skinny Yummy Gummy, and Will Pow(d)er all contain fiber to support your daily intake.
4. Reduce carbohydrates
When the food pyramid we know was developed, the idea was that people get their carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, which are the perfect combination of carbohydrates and fiber. However, most people get it from simple carbohydrates, like white flour and processed products.
By reducing simple carbohydrates, there’s an immediate positive impact on your body and health because it helps reduce your appetite, lower insulin levels, and decrease calorie consumption. Plus, studies show that reducing calories lowers body temperature and lengthens life (4). It also relieves your pancreas, thus decreasing the chances of developing diabetes.
5. Switch up and increase exercise routine
The body gets used to certain exercises. Try switching up your routine to help burn more calories. This can help increase muscle mass, which is precisely responsible for burning calories. The more muscle mass you have, the faster you’ll lose weight.
Additionally, exercise improves your mood, which helps you stay motivated on your goal, and reduces emotional eating, the main cause of excess weight. It only takes 20 minutes a day of weights or resistance exercises to feel the change. You can also burn up to 800 calories a day doing daily activities, such as taking the stairs and walking more, driving less. (5)
6. Practice intermittent fasting
Although many consider it somehow extreme, there are clinical studies that prove the effectiveness of this system by increasing weight loss by up to 8%, since among other benefits, it speeds up metabolism and reduces all levels of laboratory tests such as sugar and cholesterol.
Studies show that going about 16 hours without food gives more time to process triglycerides and other fats, helping stabilize the body. (6)
7. Drink more water
Studies show that increasing water intake increases metabolism by 24 to 30%. Drinking 16 ounces of water has been shown to increase metabolic rate by 30%, as well as immediately increasing thermogenic effect and energy expenditure. Therefore, drinking about 67 ounces a day (2 liters) could help burn about 400 calories (7). Water also detoxifies, hydrates, and controls food cravings.
8. Reduce stress and get enough sleep
Sleeping less than six hours a night slows down metabolism and, along with stress, increases the ghrelin hormone, which causes impulse eating. However, getting enough sleep decreases cortisol, which causes abdominal fat, and helps you make better decisions regarding your diet (8). That is why Entalla includes meditation to help keep the mind calm and control stress. Santo Remedio has a product Sleep Bundles to support you. Plus, we now have Melatonin Gummies available to improve your sleep cycle and wake up feeling refreshed.
As you can see, feeling stuck or hitting a plateau phase is a normal process. Nobody loses weight constantly. The key is sticking to the 5 Entalla pillars: rest and control stress, water, exercise, healthy eating, and the support of the right supplements, to overcome it and continue moving forward. You can do it!
Let's be healthier together.
Your Santo Remedio team
References:
1.Gurpreet Sarwan; Anis Rehman. Management Of Weight Loss Plateau. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. 2021 Oct 29. PMID: 35015425 Bookshelf ID: NBK576400
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576400/
2.Samantha L Price, Stephen R Bloom. Protein PYY and its role in metabolism. Review
Front Horm Res. 2014;42:147-54. doi: 10.1159/000358343. Epub 2014 Apr 7
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24732932/
3.Thomas M. Barber, Stefan Kabisch,4,5 Andreas F. H. Pfeiffer, Martin O. Weickert. The Health Benefits of Dietary Fibre. Nutrients. 2020 Oct; 12(10): 3209. Published online 2020 Oct 21. doi: 10.3390/nu12103209
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7589116/
4.Ju Young Kim. Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. J Obes Metab Syndr. 2021 Mar 30; 30(1): 20–31. Published online 2020 Oct 27. doi: 10.7570/jomes20065
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8017325/
5.Levine JA. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Dec;16(4):679-702.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1521690X02902277?via%3Dihub
6.de Cabo R, Mattson MP. Effects of intermittent fasting on health, aging, and disease. N Engl J Med. 2019;381:2541–51. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1905136.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1905136
7.Michael Boschmann, Jochen Steiniger, Uta Hille, Jens Tank, Frauke Adams, Arya M. Sharma, Susanne Klaus, Friedrich C. Luft, Jens Jordan. Water-Induced Thermogenesis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 88, Issue 12, 1 December 2003, Pages 6015–6019, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-030780
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/88/12/6015/2661518
8.Eiji Takeda, Junji Terao, Yutaka Nakaya, Ken-ichi Miyamoto, Yoshinobu Baba, Hiroshi Chuman, Ryuji Kaji, Tetsuro Ohmori, Kazuhito Rokutan. Stress control and human nutrition. Review J Med Invest. 2004 Aug;51(3-4):139-45. doi: 10.2152/jmi.51.139.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15460899/
