Cortisol Plateau page 3

[Tribal Rob]

It almost certainly isn't a cortisol plateau. It is almost certainly a calorie driven plateau. In that case, the only way to break through that plateau is to reduce calorie intake or increase calorie expenditure. Lifting weights and sprinting do almost nothing for calorie burn, they are only good for improving body composition through hypertrophy and a slightly better hormone profile. They can help ensure that if you gain weight you put on a greater percentage of muscle versus fat, and if you're losing weight they'll help you lose a greater percentage of fat than lean mass, but they do next to nothing for weight loss. What you'll have to do is increase cardio. If you jog, jog faster or longer. If you walk, increase how often you do it.

One of the easiest things you can do is remove some dietary fat. Simply trade in your ribeye for sirloin, cook in a lot less oil and only drink water or calorie free tea and coffee. Don't do things like blend butter in your coffee or add more than a tablespoon or so of cream, and of course, little to no sugar.

I don't normally like to call you on things as you tend to never shut up But in my case this is a complete load of crap, what works has stopped working due to IMHO chronic long term stress to my body due to lack of sleep. It is feck all to do with calories, fine so if I was commpletely starved I would lose weight, but that is not healthly either.

[manimal]

I would suggest to keep all activites but eat more for a week or two (maintenance calories or even little above). Maybe you'll gain some weight, maybe you won't, but it doesn't matter. After a week, still keep all activities but cut food drastically till next stall.

[magnolia1973]

Why not just take a month off- eat the good foods, move and ditch the scale and any workouts you aren't looking forward to. Give yourself a break, mentally, about your "healthy lifestyle". This doesn't mean go drink and eat McDonalds......Just relax things a bit.

I do kind of agree with Choco.... but after a month (or whenever), when you want to refocus on weight loss, take a good, critical look at your diet and make sure you haven't had calorie creep up, let inflammatory foods slip in etc. I know when I get stressed, my eating gets sloppy, even if it is primal. Those handful of almonds get big, and the coconut milk coffees get larger.

But really, when you are under stress the last thing you really want to do is be counting almonds....

[ChocoTaco369]

I don't normally like to call you on things as you tend to never shut up But in my case this is a complete load of crap, what works has stopped working due to IMHO chronic long term stress to my body due to lack of sleep. It is feck all to do with calories, fine so if I was commpletely starved I would lose weight, but that is not healthly either.

Hormones can play a role in body composition. In terms of weight, though, it is always and only caloric. Methods of estimating our total daily energy expenditure are very flawed, but it is absolutely impossible to lose weight without expending more energy than you take in.

What chronic elevated stress hormones can do is ensure that when you are losing weight, it comes from lean tissue (muscles, bones, organs) instead of body fat. That is very true. If you are highly stressed, it is very impossible to be losing weight while increasing your body fat percentage. If you are 140 pounds and drop 5 lbs of muscle without losing any fat, you'll have a considerably higher body fat percentage all while losing weight.

However, this is very rare. A lot of people like to blame hormones, but it's usually calories that are the issue. Poor lifestyle choices (poor diet, not enough sleep, shift work, micronutrient deficiencies, etc) just make it more difficult to sustain a deficit. A person eating whole, nutritious foods with a low stress job that gets plenty of sleep is going to have a much easier time maintaining a calorie deficit than someone working a high stress job, not sleeping well and nutrient deficient.

Why not just take a month off- eat the good foods, move and ditch the scale and any workouts you aren't looking forward to. Give yourself a break, mentally, about your "healthy lifestyle". This doesn't mean go drink and eat McDonalds......Just relax things a bit.

I do kind of agree with Choco.... but after a month (or whenever), when you want to refocus on weight loss, take a good, critical look at your diet and make sure you haven't had calorie creep up, let inflammatory foods slip in etc. I know when I get stressed, my eating gets sloppy, even if it is primal. Those handful of almonds get big, and the coconut milk coffees get larger.

But really, when you are under stress the last thing you really want to do is be counting almonds....

I'm a huge, HUGE fan of diet breaks. Do 4-6 weeks on, 1-2 weeks off. Let your body readjust to caloric maintenance (or even a tiny surplus) for a week or two to give yourself a break. You can't just keep starving yourself. That seriously can lead to metabolic issues. Counting calories IMO is not healthy because it leads to food anxiety and fear of eating in so many cases (including my own). IMO, find the foods that keep you full the best, limit your choices for a few weeks to cut calories comfortably, then enjoy yourself for a week to destress. Then, get right back on the wagon.

My ultimate "cut meal" - eggs and white potatoes. I really only eat 2 meals a day. If I want to cut like a beast, I'll make a 6 egg omelet with 2 medium grated white potatoes twice a day - one for lunch, one for dinner. That's only about 1,400 calories, you get high quality fat, protein and carbohydrate, it's very filling, very nutrient dense and incredibly healthy. Most people are going to lose a lot of weight on 1,400 calories a day, and that's pretty sustainable IMO. I do that about 3 days a week and eat normally the other 4. The big secret here is to not add fat. I can easily cook an omelet in a cast iron pan with 1/2 teaspoon of the grassfed ghee I render myself. I also bake the white potatoes as hash browns on ungreased (or lightly sprayed with olive oil) aluminum foil on a pan. There is plenty of good fat in the eggs, no need to add more.

[sbhikes]

SB, if you're constantly "killing" yourself in the gym on a regular basis you may be pushing yourself too hard and actually stifling your gains. You may think that it's "no pain, no gain," but oddly enough, science has shown repeatedly that sometimes "no pain" is PRECISELY what you need to gain. That's the basis of my recommendation in this thread.

The Deload Week: What It Is, How to Do it, and Why It Might Help You Get Stronger | Mark's Daily Apple

A deload week or two can help muscles regenerate, recoup, recover, and you often times come back even stronger. I made a few PRs myself in the gym a week after I hadn't been once and was struggling with plateauing gains before then. It can also, ironically, be just what some people need to rekick their weightloss into gear for much the same reason.

I've already done several deloads plus I scaled back to 2x a week. No matter what, squats are really hard and deadlifts are really heavy.

[Drumroll]

I've already done several deloads plus I scaled back to 2x a week. No matter what, squats are really hard and deadlifts are really heavy.

Agreed on both.

That doesn't mean that a deload can't still be useful and healthy from time to time. I think we should never underestimate the time our bodies need to recover. I'd rather give it more time than it needs than not enough, personally.

Better over-prepared than under-prepared.