I have been getting some interesting questions lately on weight loss daripada pembaca blog saya:

1. Berat badan tidak berubah tetapi kenapa baju dah longgar?
2. Saya sudah berjaya turunkan berat badan sebanyak 7kg dalam 2 bulan pertama but sejak itu saya sudah sampai plateau dan berat badan tidak berubah. Kenapa ye?

Both are excellent questions. Lets take a look.

Question 1: Berat badan sama tetapi baju dah longgar

This often happens to those yang mula giat aktif dengan latihan pemberat ataupun weight training yang mengalakkan pertumbuhan otot. Lagi-lagi apabila menggabungkan program dengan pemakanan yang baik, semanan cardio dan weight training.

…muscles are more dense, look better but because the are more dense, they carry more weight than fatty tissues…

Muscles are more dense, look better. Hence give you that slimmer and toned look. Tetapi because the are more dense, they carry more weight than fatty tissues. So your body weight tidak berubah kerana adanya otot baru. In my opinion, its not a certain weight that you should aim for but yang paling penting is that you are happy with the “new” you.

Question 2: How to Beat Weight Loss Plateau?

Kenapa berat tidak turun lagi selepas diet 2-3 bulan? Thats a the read question sebelum kita dapat lihat penyelesaiannya. Its really simple: Weight loss bergantung kepada adanya calorie deficit, iaitu di mana kalori masuk (makanan) tidak melebihi kalori keluar (calorie output).
So lets say you start a diet today. You lose some weight and maintain this diet (in the hopes that it will continue to help you kurangkan berat badan…but oh no it reaches a plateau. Why? because as you lose weight, you keperluan kalori seharian (daily calorie requirement) will decrease as well. Up to a point where you calorie intake is in equilibrium with your “new” calorie needs.

Why? because as you lose weight, you keperluan kalori seharian (daily calorie requirement) will decrease as well.

Knowing this, following are 5 tips to help you break that stubborn plateau:

1. Cut more calories. This is decrease the “calories in” portion of the equation making your body lose more weight.
2. Increase cardio exercise. This makes your body burn more calories. Hence increasing the “calories out” portion.
3. Start weight training Muscles require more fuel to burn. More fuel equals more calories being burnt.
4. Watch the fats Fats a packed with calories. 1g of carbs or protein contain 4 calories. 1g of fat contains 9 calories! More than double. Its all about the calories baby!
5. Eat more often What? Makan lebih? Tak gemuk ke? hahaha no lah. here we mean that you should consume 5-6 smaller meals per day. This will help your body be more active (boost your metabolic rate). More active means more calorie being used.