Weight-loss Plateaus and Pitfalls
It's kind of like running into a wall - that feeling you get when, after a few months on a weight-loss program, you suddenly stop seeing results. This is called hitting a plateau and it is not uncommon. In fact, unless you continually update your program to reflect the changes your body has already experienced, you can almost be guaranteed to plateau at some point along your journey toward reaching your goal weight.
Weight-loss Woes
The first thing you should do upon hitting a
plateau is try to determine the cause. Could you be eating more calories than
you think? Research shows that most people under report the number of calories
they eat - it's not that they're lying, they just don't know how to make an
accurate assessment of how much they're eating. And even if you're eating less
calories than before you lost the weight, you could be eating just enough to
maintain your current weight at your current activity level. It is important to
keep in mind that as you lose weight, your metabolism slows down because there
is less of you to fuel, both at rest and during activity. So, while a diet of
1,800 calories per day helped you lose a certain amount of weight, if you've
hit a plateau, it could be that 1,800 calories is the exact amount you need to
stay at your current weight. Do a quick 3 day assessment of measuring all your food intake and see if you can cut some calories, sugars or carbs.
Exercise Your Options
This leaves you with two options: Lower your
caloric intake further or increase the amount of time you spend being
physically active. The first option is less desirable because you may not be
able to get sufficient nutrients from a diet that is very low in calories, and
it is difficult to stick to it for very long. It is much better to moderately
reduce calories to a level that you can sustain when you reach your goal
weight. The same is true for exercise. Trying to exercise for several hours per
day to burn more calories is a good way to set yourself up for failure. Not
only does this type of regimen require an enormous time commitment, it is hard
on the body, making you more susceptible to injury and overuse syndromes. To
help balance the intake with the expenditure, a good rule of thumb is to
multiply your goal weight by 10 calories per pound, and add more calories
according to how active you are. Again, be realistic. Don't attempt too much in
an effort to burn more calories. Instead, aim for 30 minutes of moderate
activity most of the days of the week and, as you become more fit, gradually
increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions. Choose
activities that you find enjoyable, whether that be in-line skating, step
classes or even mall walking. Another means for getting you off the plateau is
strength training, which has been shown to be very effective in helping people
manage their weight because the added muscle helps to offset the
metabolism-lowering effect of dieting and losing weight. Muscle is much more
metabolically active than fat; therefore, the more muscle you can add, the
higher your metabolism will be.
Get Off The Plateau stop feeling trapped
If you've stopped losing weight, the key to getting
off the plateau is to vary your program. The human body is an amazing piece of
machinery, capable of adapting to just about any circumstance or stimulus. By
shaking things up a bit and varying your program by introducing some new
elements, you'll likely find yourself off the plateau and back on the road to
progress in no time.
Wear a pedometer, fitbit or body bug.
The bands tell you how active you are throughout the
day. The major benefit of using a pedometer, fitbit, or body bug is the
information it gives you on your activity levels. Make it a game to walk more or move more then you did the day before.
Complete a body cleanse
Periodically, it is important to do a body cleanse. I do one every two months and it last about three days. During my cleanses I drink lots of lemon water, limit the calories and eliminate carbs, dairy and sugar completely from my diet. This cleanses your body and restarts your metabolism. You should not do a cleanse more than once every two months.You can also do a mild colon cleanse and remove all the sludge from your colon.Colon Cleanse We all walk around with between 5 and 25 pounds of poo in our gut depending on your diet and how healthy you are. I personally have IBS-C so my dr has suggested when I have a problem to use magnesium citrate, it can be bought over the counter and takes about an hour to start working for me. But if you would like to try something more natural, this blog post has some great ideas that I will be trying myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment