The Dreaded (fat loss) Plateau

When it comes to consistent training with the specific goal of fat loss, we all hit it – the dreaded plateau.
This is where your progress either slows significantly or comes to a screeching halt, even though you are still working out as hard as ever and watching what you eat.
As obnoxious as it is, this is even more common the closer you get to your goal.
Let’s explore some possible reasons and solutions to get you through this frustrating time and keep you moving towards your goals.

While I applaud your determination and stick-to-itiveness, you need a break.  Our bodies are amazing, in fact so amazing that they adapt with lightning speed.  This means if you are hitting up hours upon hours of workouts per week, your body is likely getting very accustomed to it.
Take a week off.   
Yes, one whole WEEK.  You won’t gain weight in a week, and if you do then you need to recheck your diet.  Lower your carbohydrate intake a smidge during your week off if you are worried about it.  This will give your body a bit of time to reset, rejuvenate, and it’ll likely refresh you mentally as well.  Do some leisurely walking, take some yoga, do some work on your foam roller, and forget everything else.

I realize this sounds about as conducive with losing weight as taking a break does, but trust me on this one.
This ONLY applies to people that have been dieting and eating LESS than their daily, maintenance calories for an extended period of time in order to lose weight.  This goes back to adaptation.  Your body will eventually adapt to eating lower calories and the weight loss will either slow down or stop completely.  I advise for every 3-4 weeks of low calories, you take the next week to boost them back up a couple hundred calories per day.
For example:  Let’s say during week 1, week 2, and week 3 you consumed 1500 calories per day (this is NOT a recommendation – just an example).  You’d want to take the fourth week and consume about 1800 calories per day.  Then start back over the next week with 1500 calories per day again.

Not a fan of “shit loading”.

This doesn’t mean eat pizza or ice cream.  It means continue consuming clean, natural food, just a bit more.  This should help reset your metabolism, replenish your body, give you an energy boost and get the ball rolling again.
Remember, when you are eating below maintenance calories, you have to have somewhere to “go” when the weight loss stops.  You can’t keep lowering your calories every time you plateau or pretty soon you’ll be eating 500 calories per day, and we all know that can’t happen.

Another method similar to this is a single “refeed” day.  Once every two weeks, on one day only, you’ll  bump up your calories significantly by an extra 500 – 1,500+ calories.  I personally do not make good progress by “shit loading” (which is basically oinking out on pizza, ice cream, pie, etc) for a refeed, or having a big nasty weekly cheat meal.  Both of those are very detrimental to my progress, but they may work for you. 
I am a big fan of clean(ish) refeed days if your focus is fat loss.

This speaks for itself.  Switch your workouts up.  If you aren’t strength training yet, why on Earth not?  It is a key component.  Push/pull HEAVY stuff.  This will give you a metabolic boost, improve bone density, make you stronger, help you look better, etc.

Too much cardio WILL make you look like this!

Imagine your body like a car, and fat is your “fuel”.  If you are doing an obscene amount of cardio, you have turned your body into a hybrid, fuel efficient car.  This sounds great, but it is not.  This means you can do hours and hours of cardio per day and burn practically NO fat because your body is so used to it.  NOBODY NEEDS 3+ hours of cardio per day unless you are training for an endurance event (ie, marathon) and if that is the case, burning fat is not your top priority.

Want more bang for your cardio buck?  Run hill sprints, jump rope, pull the sled, push the prowler.  Period.