2 Steps For Overcoming A Weight Loss Plateau - 1 Will Surprise You

Have you found that, despite early successes in the initial weeks of your weight loss efforts, you have now hit a wall? The scale isn't budging and the measuring tape shows no decrease in waist size?

Weight loss plateaus are quite common, especially to those on "diet" programs and the like. Diets almost always help you lose weight fairly rapidly at first. But this quick weight loss is temporary at best. Diets as we know them are doomed to fail. Why? Because diets more often than not don't promote a true lifestyle change. They expect extreme measures, from calorie counting, to restricted calorie menus, to even restricted food choices like liquid diets.

These are not things you can maintain for the rest of your life. Your mind and your body will rebel and you will either hit a wall, or give up completely. The plateau is a warning sign that it's time to overhaul your lifestyle. A fit, healthy lifestyle is full of variety, from the foods you eat to the activities you do. Here are two steps for overcoming a weight loss plateau.

1) Kick the habit and stop counting calories

Fit, healthy people do not count their calories, so why should you? Do not live like a fat person. Live like a fit person instead. Fit people do not restrict their calories. Instead of eating less, they focus on eating high quality, largely unprocessed and whole foods that overweight people tend to shy from. Restricted calorie diets slow your metabolic rate, which is exactly the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. Eating nutritious, wholesome foods more often throughout the day keeps your metabolism humming at a high rate. Also realize that if you feel you absolutely need to count calories then there's a good chance you're likely eating the wrong kinds of foods.

A successful lifestyle change to a fitter, healthier body requires you give up the tired old dogma of calorie counting adored by the weight loss industry. You'll burn fat more easily when your metabolism is charged with good quantities of healthy food. Stick with three small meals and 2-3 light snacks a day and you'll give your body the fuel it needs to have a strong metabolism. Doesn't this sound better than counting calories for the rest of your life? Remember, live like a fit person, not a fat person.

2) Exercise more than you are now

If you love to be lazy, then I'm afraid to tell you that truly effective weight loss can only be realized when you exercise. Since we're now living like a fit person, then we know that variety is best to keep our bodies guessing so that our fitness gains never plateau. This means engaging in all sorts of activities, from walking to cardio interval training, active indoor and outdoor pursuits to weightlifting. A fit person earns his or her leisure time. If you're not earning yours then it's time to get moving. You'll increase your metabolic rate and your lifespan, from one feel-good workout to the next.

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