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You can no longer lose fat? Don't panic, here's something to help you see things more clearly

You've started, your goal is clear: refine your figure and say goodbye to your love handles. The beginnings of your "diet" project went wonderfully, the first kilos were easy to get rid of. Today, you feel that there's no real progress, you're stagnating. Don't panic, we will explain the main reasons for this stagnation and how to put an end to it.

1. The "Everything, right away"

The mistake often made before starting a diet, a dietary rebalancing in order to lose fat, is to see too big. You have to move forward gradually in this quest for slimming. The key is to be able to remain realistic and to set yourself achievable goals according to your physical abilities. The more days go by, the more efficient and determined you will be, the more your body will respond positively. So avoid the "everything, right away" and go step by step. At the same time, your mind must follow. Being psychologically prepared for change and especially wanting it will do a lot of the work. Body and mind must be aligned.

2. Obsession with the scale

There's no point in weighing yourself ten times a day, counting your calories at every turn and obsessing over the numbers that diet apps show you. The important thing is the interest you will show in your caloric intake, making sure to respect the balance between carbohydrates, lipids, proteins ingested and to create a caloric deficit. But more importantly, you will have to listen to your body, not frustrate it, there is nothing like it to destroy all motivation. Remember that, even if the scale does not indicate weight loss, you may have lost fat and at the same time gained muscle mass. Don't give up on this damn machine, it doesn't always give good advice.

3. Quantity before quality

It's a very bad idea to drastically reduce your daily food intake. Sure, if you only drink water and eat apples for a week, you'll lose weight, but you'll also create deficiencies. The body, as explained above, needs energy and therefore a sufficient calorie intake, a vitamin and mineral intake, but also a fat intake. Fat is essential for its proper functioning. Note that it's the muscles that use up the most calories. If they're not fed enough, they weaken and lose their volume. Between your diet being too weak and your muscles being lost, you won't get far on the road to rebalancing. Choosing your diet while taking care to consume only healthy, unprocessed products as well as unsaturated fats allows you not to eat less. Quality before quantity and not the other way around!

4. The comfort zone

Your workouts are regular, you often go to the gym but nothing changes, you no longer lose fat. In fact, your body has become accustomed to your training, it has adapted to a certain level of requirements, now you have to challenge it, increase the intensity of the effort. In this way, you get out of your comfort zone and (re)give your muscles something to work on.

5. Excessive cardio

You have to exercise your cardio to burn calories, this is no longer in doubt. But to burn effectively, favor what is called "interval training". This is a form of high-intensity cardio during which you alternate between effort and rest: 30 seconds of exercise, 30 seconds of rest, and this for about twenty minutes. With this type of session, three times a week, you can be sure to lose fat!

This is no a magic recipe or miraculous fat loss, but rather valuable advice to avoid getting stuck at certain stages of your diet and to continue to progress, always respecting your abilities.

(MH with AsD - EVG - Source: Justine Gallice Fitness - Illustration: Unsplash)