Fat Loss Q & A

Here is a good fat loss Q & A from my most recent article on T-Nation.


Q: When dieting down and finding that fat loss progress has stalled, how long a time period would be recommended for slightly ramping up caloric intake?

Would a week's time be sufficient to jump start the metabolism again? Or would more time be needed than that or, possibly,less?


A: If your fat loss has stalled (defined by caliper, girth, and scale) for 3 weeks then it is time to test a change in your program.

I would try to add an interval session to your training week and see if that gives you the boost you need. Otherwise add ~300 calories/d for 3 weeks and see if that gets you going again. If you start losing fat again don't drop your calories back down until your fat loss stalls again.

Of course you won't want to increase you calories like we've discussed until you've hit the lowest caloric intake you feel comfortable with.

So if you start at 3000 calories and eventually make it down to 2000 calories but then your fat loss stalls at 2000 calories, one of the things you can test is what happens when you increase to 2300 calories.


-Mike

Tags: fat loss, increase calories, weight loss plateau