1. Exercise
Ok, first thing’s first: while you already know that you don’t need to exercise to lose weight with intermittent fasting, it is fantastic for your health. And although research confirms that the role of physical activity in weight loss is minimal, it also shows that exercise and/or increased physical activity is key for weight maintenance. And when you combine exercise with dietary changes like intermittent fasting, is incredibly effective for breaking through a plateau.
2. Extend the Fast
If you’re really struggling to shift those last few kilos and you feel up to it, trying a longer fasting window is definitely worth the effort. And you’ll see the effort reflected on the scales. The longer you can stay in a fasted state, the more likely you are to enter a fat burning mode or ‘ketosis’. Longer fasting windows will keep your insulin levels lower throughout the day, preventing you from storing fat, and fewer bigger meals (and less snacks) will ensure your hunger levels remain lower too. Last (but not least) the shorter your eating window, the more satisfied you’ll feel after your meals (meaning you’re less likely to overeat – and more likely to enjoy your food too!)
3. Add Weights
In terms of weight maintenance and especially weight loss during plateaus, anything that increases your basal metabolic rate (or BMR) is a fantastic thing. Aside from intermittent fasting, there aren’t a lot of things that will impact your metabolic rate, but weight-bearing exercise and weight training is one of them. Basically, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn in your everyday life. So anything that’s going to build muscle is a good thing.
You can easily increase your weight-bearing exercise levels by simply carrying and lifting more heavy things. It’s as simple as that. Opting to carry the shopping to the car instead of using a trolley, grabbing that heavy paper box out of the bottom cupboard at work, moving pots by yourself instead of asking hubby, and reaching up for things instead of getting your taller kids to do it for you are all great ways to gradually and incidentally increase the amount of weight bearing exercise you do. Bonus: weight bearing exercise is fabulous for keeping your bones strong as well.
We’ve got some good tips on easy weight-bearing exercises that you can do at home over on this blog post: https://go.superfastdiet.com/ten-minute-tone-up/
4. Focus on Nutrition
You need proper nutrition to keep you healthy, give you energy and to keep your metabolism functioning optimally. As much as we talk about calories to the newbies, you’re a Master Faster now, and you need to feed your body and mind with maximum energy and maximum nutrition. Konjac noodles and miso soup aren’t going to get it done. And if you’re extending your fast to help drop a couple of kilos, you need to eat even cleaner and focus on nutrition even more, especially on those fasting days.
The key vitamins that women aged 19-50 in Australia are most likely to be deficient in, which are imperative for metabolism and energy are:
Iron: increase your intake of red meat, shellfish, sardines, seeds and leafy veggies
Iodine: increase your intake of seaweed, plain yoghurt, eggs and fatty fish
Vitamin D: get enough sunlight, increase your intake of fatty fish and egg yolks
Thiamine: increase your intake of nuts, pork and beef, lentils, beans and green veggies
5. Consider Clean Fasts
The definition of a clean fast is when you consume only non-caloric beverages and no food during the fasting window. While for newbies, we recommend what we like to call ‘dirty fasting’ – where beverages that contain calories such as cappuccinos, miso soup and so on are fine during the fasting window – for Master Fasters like you, who are looking to power through a plateau, we can recommend a clean fast every now and then to help kick those last few kilos. A clean fast that eliminates any calories, like those in miso soup or milk, can make a big difference.
Megan Ramos, intermittent fasting coach and the co-founder of IDM program explained it to us like this: “Things like milk in tea or coffee, really does tend to slow down weight loss, because any kind of protein or calories will cause an increase in insulin levels and prevent you from experiencing autophagy. The thing about autophagy – when it comes to weight loss – is that it can potentially help you get rid of any loose skin that you might have. What we see with patients who do a lot of clean fasts is that they tend to lose weight faster and they don’t have a lot of loose skin. So we think that by doing water fasting you actually get into this state of autophagy that might help get rid of any loose skin and keep you nice and firm.”
6. Choose Your Cheats
The thing we love about the SFD life is that we can fast on some days and feast on others. And it is the intermittency of this diet that keeps metabolism revved up. But if you’re trying to break through a plateau, it’s worth taking a look at what you’re consuming on feast and cheat days.
One of our Master Fasters, Rosie, was able to break through her ‘last few kilos’ plateau by just dropping her second Starbucks on the weekend, and rather than having ‘indulgence’ meals Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, she made Sunday a ‘healthier choice cheat day’ instead.
She revealed to us how she did it: “It felt like it would be hard to begin with, because I love my weekends,” said Rosie. “And I love not having to fast on the weekends too. But it was actually quite a small change. Instead of having two big Starbucks lattes on both Saturday and Sunday, I had a black coffee instead and just one on each day. This cut out about 400 calories per day – or 800 each weekend – which took me a big part of the way to that 3500 calorie deficit that’s required to drop a pound of fat!”
“I also love my takeout (as most of the Super Squad know well) and I used to have it all weekend – but I swapped my Sunday night meal to a chicken and salad style meal made at home, instead of takeout like Pad Thai or burgers, and that made a big difference too. My advice is to choose the cheats you really enjoy – and really enjoy them! You might decide to moderate your alcohol intake a little – if you like a little bit of everything, or perhaps, if you must have those few (or few more) wines, then you might choose to have a stirfry or salad with them, instead of the big bowl of fries.”
“For me, that second latte both days was unnecessary, and the third night of takeout was nice, but ultimately unnecessary too. It’s all about choosing what matters most to you. And if kicking those last few kilos matters, then you can do it. You just have to make a few little tweaks.”
And those are the top five ways that you can break on through to the other side, Master Fasters! Let us know how you go with kicking the last few kilos. We love sharing all of this journey with you: your struggles, successes and even your so-so days. Remember to hop into the Members Only Facebook group to share your experiences with other Master Fasters who are at this point in the journey too. You’ve got this! X