By: Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
Are you trying to lose weight but have seemed to hit a plateau? It can be frustrating when things have stalled, and you do not see any results from your efforts. To help you get things revving again and get you closer to your goal weight, here are five weight loss hacks that you can start implementing today to get things rolling.
Give these weight loss hacks a try and see how quickly you can get yourself and your results back on track. We even have a bonus hack at the end that you won’t want to skip over!
Disclaimer: It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program to ensure you are healthy enough to do so.
Try These 5 Weight Loss Hacks to Break Through Plateaus & Stalled Results
Sick of not seeing results? You’re not alone. Feeling stuck or that your results have plateaued happens to the best of us. But there are things you can do to break through these walls and get your results and progress back on track.
Below are a handful of weight loss hacks you can try if your results have stalled out.
1. Focus on Drinking Water
Water makes up a considerable percentage of your body (around 60%), and becoming depleted and dehydrated can have a negative effect when you aren’t paying attention to your fluid levels. There are also a whole host of other issues that can arise from not drinking enough water throughout the day.
In order for your body to function optimally, water is needed. Every organ in your body demands proper fluid, and when it does not have enough, things can start to go haywire, organs could begin to shut down in some cases, hormone levels get thrown out of whack, and your metabolism takes a nosedive.
Related Article: Extreme Muscle Growth Through Hyperhydration? I’ll Drink to That!
What you want to do as the first of our weight loss hacks is to focus on drinking more water. It’s that simple, and there’s no straining or real work needed to do this. What you want to do is carry a water bottle around with you everywhere you go. When it’s empty, fill it back up. Not only will this help keep you hydrated, but it can prevent you from drinking sugary beverages as well as helping you stay full between meals by adding volume in the stomach to trick the brain.
2. Keep Track of Your Food Intake
What could be one of the best weight loss hacks of all time is keeping track of your food intake. You may fall into this category, but it’s incredible how many people are trying to lose weight but have no idea where their calories are at the end of the day. Weight loss is a numbers game. Either you are in a surplus or a deficit. One will help you lose weight, while the other can cause you to gain weight. You don’t know what you don’t know, and if you aren’t tracking your food intake, you’re at a huge disadvantage.
If you know you need 2,000 calories to maintain your current weight, you want to consume fewer calories than that number daily. Some people will say to lower calories by 20% (which in this case would put the individual at 1,600 calories), while others will be a little more conservative and start by only reducing around 250 calories each day (putting them at 1,750 calories).
The problem with putting yourself into a deficit is that you’re going to need to play with the numbers. 250 calories might not be enough to see any real change on the scale. Therefore, maybe the 1,600-calorie marker is a better option? You simply need to play around and gauge your results, but at the same time, make sure you are tracking everything you eat.
Utilize a free app like MyFitnessPal to ensure you are on the right path. Sure, it might be a pain at first, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature, and you don’t even think about it because it takes next to no time to plug in your meals.
3. Include More Protein and Vegetables in Your Plan
When you look at how many calories are in each gram of protein and carbohydrates, you’ll find both provide you with four calories per gram. Fat, on the other hand, will give you nine calories per gram. Clearly, you’re able to consume more protein and carbohydrates in your diet (more than double when compared to calories from fat), which can help you stay full and satiated longer.
That said, one of the weight loss hacks you can implement is to consume a large amount of green leafy vegetables. These tend to contain a high amount of water and are low in calories and total carbohydrates, which allows you to eat a higher volume while not piling on the calories.
Protein has many uses. Not only can it help you stay satiated longer, but protein also helps build lean muscle tissue. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate is. So, on top of hitting the gym hard and resistance training, try to consume around one gram of protein per pound of body weight each day to provide your muscles with enough protein and amino acids to rebuild the torn-down muscle fibers from your workouts.
If you’re looking for a delicious way to increase your daily protein intake, check this out!
4. Lower Your Stress Levels
Yes, it’s easier said than done. We all live chaotic and hectic lives. But the one thing everyone should focus on (whether you are trying to lose weight or not) is lowering stress levels. This can be accomplished by taking time out of your day to breathe, meditate, sit in a quiet room and read a book, or even hit the gym and crush a workout to vent.
No matter how you plan on reducing stress, this is one of the weight loss hacks you absolutely need to focus on. When you are stressed, your body releases a stress hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol can increase a hunger hormone called ghrelin. When ghrelin levels are elevated, you could insert the word “hangry” into the picture. You’ll eat anything and in any quantity until you’re stuffed. Clearly, doing such will cause you to potentially gain a significant amount of weight if not controlled.
Find your preferred way to reduce stress and implement it every day (the key is consistency).
5. Get More Sleep Each Night
The average American does not get enough sleep at night. The recommendation is to get a minimum of seven hours of quality sleep. To clarify, that’s per night, not per week (sorry to burst your bubble).
Unfortunately, far too many people are up late at night working, watching Netflix, hanging out with friends, (insert whatever you do late at night that doesn’t allow you to get enough sleep), and before they know it, the alarm clock is going off saying it’s time to get out of bed.
One of the weight loss hacks you can implement is putting a schedule together and sticking to it. If you need to be up at 6am so you can get ready for work, that means you need to be in bed and asleep by 11pm to get a full seven hours of sleep. Getting in bed at 11pm isn’t going to be good enough, especially if you have a hard time falling asleep. Therefore, you may want to get to bed at 10pm to ensure you’re asleep by 11pm.
Related Article: 5 Ways You Can Get a Better Night’s Sleep Starting Tonight
When you don’t get enough sleep, your energy the next day is dragging, which can cause you to have terrible workouts, you’re less productive at work, and the same hunger hormone that was mentioned above (ghrelin) increases, which can cause you to be hungry all day long (which many people will go raid the vending machine at work to satiate their craving).
Use the five weight loss hacks mentioned above and try implementing them into your daily life. If done correctly and consistently, you may notice your weight loss starts ramping up again, and the number on the scale is trending downward.
BONUS HACK!
If you were to come to this article regarding weight loss hacks, one of the strategies you’d expect to see would be something to do with cardio, right? Well, while that’s not wrong, we wanted to go with a less obvious choice. On top of cardio, there’s a bonus hack we need to mention.
Changing up your cardio may help you break through plateaus in your weight loss, but MuscleSport CardioBurn can give your metabolism a swift kick in the pants to hurry it along.
MuscleSport CardioBurn is your cardio companion in that it can provide extreme thermogenesis, and while it’s ideal for use before cardio sessions, it also has the ability to cause smooth, all-day energy to keep your performance and productivity elevated.
CardioBurn is a thermogenic weight loss catalyst with powerful ingredients to help you burn fat, while the addition of BCAAs helps prevent muscle breakdown. Unlike some other thermogenics, MuscleSport CardioBurn does not cause cold sweats, a loss of focus, or shakiness from overstimulation.
Leverage the power of MuscleSport CardioBurn with the five weight loss hacks mentioned above to ignite your metabolic rate and achieve the results you’re looking for!