Everyone who has ever tried to lose belly fat has faced it…

The dreaded fat loss plateau.

And it can truly be a game changer.

Weight is coming off quickly, motivation is super high … early on in the weight loss game, it can almost feel "easy."

And then suddenly, weight comes to a screeching halt.  Interestingly, depending on the person and often the personality in how they react to stressful situations, this plateau can go one of two ways.

• It can set a person back where they quickly revert to old habits and put weight back on.

OR

• It can be the "kick" to a fat loss jumpstart and get you into high gear to once again get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Now keep in mind plateaus are normal and are to be expected.  We always describe fat loss like stairs — there will be some weeks where it drops, then others where it stabilizes.  While weight comes off more quickly the heavier a person is; weight loss never looks like a slide, where it just continues to go down and down, day after day, week after week.

So here are a 4 effective "bust through your fat loss plateau" strategies. 

1. If you bite it, you must write it. Writing down what you eat and drink works.  Do you have to do it forever?  Nope.  But it works.  And usually as a person is trying to lose weight, they start strong and then portions start to increase over time and you let a little slack out.  Going back to a food journal helps reel things back in.
2. Ramp up your workout intensity.  We wrote earlier about report on study out this month that just 5% of the population exercises vigorously on a daily basis.  Enough said — walking is great for general movement, but there needs to be more intensity than that several times/week to truly lose belly fat.
3. Think small.  Small, baby steps, go a really long way.  Don’t look at the big picture, but look at what simple, baby steps will help you get to that big picture down the road.  Think about the progress and steps of how to get to your outcome — not just look at the outcome and wish you were there.
4. Go back to basics.  As we are making solid fat loss progress, it’s easy to get a little "arrogant" and try to test the grounds for just how many glasses of wine, how many sweets, desserts, larger plates of pasta, etc can be eaten while still making progress.  Go back to what worked from the beginning … tighten up those reins a bit and then watch your progress continue.

 That’s it — 4 simple strategies to break through any plateau.  The key is to not let a set back side track you, where you quickly resort to old habits.  Stick to the plan.  If you don’t have a plan, create one and get right back on it.  Those sticking points are the exact reason we created the 21 Day Fat Loss Jumpstart – it is the plan to save you the time from planning!

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Losing belly fat isn’t impossible.  But there surely are some "tricks" that can make it more simple.

The thought of dieting to lose belly fat is crazy — who wants to focus on everything you CAN’T eat?

Instead, these belly fat blasting tricks are focused on all the simple, positive things you CAN do to still lose belly fat FAST!

Ready?

1.  Decrease the size of your plates — switch up your dinner plates for smaller, snack plates.  Same with your bowls.  Guaranteed you’ll eat less.

2.  Use smaller serving utensils and eating utensils.  Ever tried eating with chopsticks?  You go much more slowly — same idea when your fork or spoon is smaller.  And when you can’t serve with a shovel, you’ll get "bored" more quickly and ultimately eat less.  

3.  Use candles — heck, who doesn’t want a candelight dinner — particularly when doing so can help slash belly fat!  And it’s not because you’ll eat less to impress your date, it’s because research shows that those who eat in a nicer setting practice more portion control.

4.  Serve individual portions, not family style — when you have the option to go back for seconds and thirds, you will (think Thanksgiving).  

5.  Brush your teeth — well, hopefully you’re doing that now — but do so immediately after each meal (and snack) to incinerate belly fat.  More food, or dessert, won’t sound so appealing with minty fresh breath (and your company will like it too).

6.  Eat with your non dominant hand – seriously.  Go ahead and try.  It’s great for your mind, but will also slow down the speed you eat, which correlates to less belly fat in the long run.

7.  Surround yourself with positive, active, healthy people –  1 simple strategy is is sure to keep belly fat at bay.  Research shows WHO you spend time with will dictate fat loss success.

As you can see, these 7 simple belly fat breakthroughs couldn’t be easier.

These are each baby steps.  I didn’t say don’t eat X.  I didn’t say go out and start running now. When added together, these will all help you reach your ultimate goals … lose belly fat, maintain that healthy body, and have more energy than 6 year old child on a sugar high.

What do you have to add?  Share your belly fat busting secrets in the comment section!

A friend of ours is a business coach in the fitness industry. 

He teaches others how to take their businesses to the next level. 

A lot of what he talks about — running a successful business — applies to what we do: teaching people how to lose weight and reach their fitness goals.

Recently in his daily newsletter he talked about getting better.

Directly from Pat Rigsby’s newsletter (which you can find on this site):

"You’re either getting better or worse. Every day. There is no status quo. If you’re not progressing – you’re losing ground."

While he was applying this to the business of fitness, it can be directly applied to fitness and fat loss as well.

While we encourage people to look at the big picture, each decision made throughout the day will ultimately play a role in your success.

Every meal.  Every snack.  Every day.  All of these add up.  So while it’s important to remember that one meal isn’t going to "make or break" permanent success, very often one splurge can cause a negative downward spiral. 

Same goes with training.  I was riding with a friend the other day and we were talking how easy it is to get out of the daily habit of exercising — a few days of not training makes it harder and harder to get back into it. 

So think back to what Pat suggested in his newsletter.

"You’re either getting better or worse.  Every day…"

Apply these 5 strategies to reach your physical goals. 

1. Decide what you want to achieve (e.g., lose 10 lbs)
2. Determine when you will hit that landmark (e.g., pick a reasonable date of when you will achieve that)
3. Write down the steps needed to achieve that weight loss goal (e.g., eat breakfast daily, eat veggies with each meal, train daily, etc)
4. Practice the habits needed to achieve the goal (e.g., everything written down from step 3 above)
5. Work daily to achieve the goals … "every day…if you’re not progressing, you’re getting worse."