Staying on your diet when the scale doesn’t move
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your weight loss program never hit a plateau?
What if every week you lost those 2 pounds even if you cheated a bit?
Reshaping your body, losing inches requires some determination to stay on track. If you’ve tried a number of different diets, gone on a quick diet, or even tried the wonderful weight loss pills, your body’s metabolism takes time to recover. Every time you restrict calories, your body assumes that you cannot eat again and your metabolism slows down. If you’ve been extreme in your diet, you may have severely damaged the glands that regulate your metabolism.
It can happen to anyone. A man who lost more than 100 pounds actually had a plateau that lasted for six months, before the pounds and inches started to drop again! (He was determined to stay with his plan no matter what.) Most people will not experience such a stubborn plateau. Here are some tips to help you
plateau time.
Key point: muscle weighs more than fat! Especially if you exercise with weights as part of your routine, you are building muscle. So you may see slower weight gain or loss, but your clothes fit better!
Find other ways to measure your progress:
Inches / Body Measurements: dress size, waist, hips, neck, chest or bust, arms, fit with favorite clothes. Are you starting to see some abs again?
Performance: more endurance during exercise, doing them at a higher level, jumping higher, walking longer, running faster, playing a sport better
Mood and Attitude – Rate energy level, rate attitude and perspective, track how often you feel very sleepy during the day, rate your confidence level
Health: blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar level, food cravings, sleep quality, skin tone, even how nails and hair look.
Intangibles: how you look, the compliments you receive, how others respond to you. The self confidence that comes from knowing that you are being proactive in your life and taking control of your health.
Some quick tips to break the weight loss plateau:
1) Don’t cut calories. It’s tempting when weight loss slows down to lower your calorie count even further. Whose! Cutting calories to a low level will slow down your metabolism even more.
2) Vary your calorie count. Alternating days. If you eat 1,200 calories on Monday, eat 1,500 on Tuesday, 1,200 on Wednesday, and so on. Do this for 1-2 weeks. Your metabolic rate will increase.
3) Increase raw fruits and vegetables in your diet to 50%. This will help detoxify your body and get your metabolism “off”.
4) Vary what you eat. If you eat mostly fish and chicken, try lean pork and beef. Try new vegetables. A varied diet is important.
5) Change your exercise.
Whatever happens, stay the course! Plateaus are not fun, but they are a good sign that your body is changing, healing, and rebuilding itself. A plateau means that your body is adapting to become the new you! You are forming lifestyle habits that will keep you at a healthy weight. Get together with friends who will cheer you on. Avoid trigger foods. Be patient. The plateau will come to an end and the weight will begin to fall. You will always be glad you “fought back” by surviving the plateau.