Burning more calories than you consume through food is one of the key principles of weight loss. Most of us accomplish this through a combination of exercise and diet, but over time, we might start to notice that weight loss has slowed or even stopped.

This can happen for a variety of reasons, but one is that your body has simply become accustomed to your workouts. Therefore, they aren’t as difficult anymore, and you burn fewer calories when “going through the motions.”

If that’s the case for you, then tweaking your workouts to burn more calories can help you get back on track to steady, measurable weight loss.

Add more strength training to your routine. Cardio burns calories when you’re working out, but otherwise does not change your metabolism. Strength training builds muscle tissue, which burns more energy around the clock – even when you’re sleeping.

Have more fun with your workouts. When you don’t enjoy your workout, you’re tempted to quit a few minutes early or even convince yourself that you’ve “earned” ice cream or some other treat afterward. When workouts are fun, and don’t feel like a punishment, you stick with them longer and don’t feel tempted to compensate for your misery by eating more.

Get more sleep. Believe it or not, you can actually impair your calorie burn by not resting enough! That’s because a lack of sleep throws off your hormone balance and impacts the way that your body stores calories in fat cells. Prioritize getting eight hours of sleep each night, and your workouts will become more impactful.

Shorten your workouts. Yes, really! If you’re trying to power through difficult, hour-long workouts, you’re probably sore and resist much movement throughout the rest of your days. Shoot for shorter but more frequent workouts. You won’t wear yourself out, and you’ll be more active around the clock. Shorter bursts of activity can boost your heartrate and metabolism at intervals throughout the day, too.

Change your routine. Make it more challenging, switch up your route, add a new move, increase your weight resistance… Do something that makes your body work just a bit harder than usual, and you’ll see results.

And of course, remember we’re here to support you. If you’ve hit a weight loss plateau, call us to schedule and appointment. We’ll help you get back on track.