You have been losing a few pounds now and then. Seeing the weight drop makes you even more motivated to keep with your weight loss program. Then, it happened. You meet one of the greatest enemies of several weight loss plans -- the weight loss plateau.
Without changing anything to the plan, you suddenly aren’t losing the pounds anymore. You have been consistently watching your diet and have been religiously following your exercise schedule. Still, the scale has not budged an inch from the last time you weighed yourself a few days ago.
The typical immediate response is a feeling of despair and depression, which usually makes you feel like binging on an entire bag of chips- of course this will not only delay you from making any progress it will also add on a few extra pounds. Remember that while worry can keep you busy, it will not lead you anywhere near your objective.
Staying Positive
The best thing that you can do is to follow these simple steps to get through a weight loss plateau:
1. Target the formation of muscles. You need to add strength training to your program to convert the fats to muscles. The addition of more lean mass can increase metabolic rate.
2. Make changes. Your body has already adjusted to the routine and has now established a way for it to balance your calorie intake and calorie expenditure. By changing daily calorie consumption yet still maintaining the same weekly figures, you will be more likely to continue losing weight.
3. Eat more yet eat less. You need to break your meals to several smaller mini-meals. If you eat 3 heavy meals every day, the body will recognize that there will be at least 5 hours before the next meal. To prepare for this “starving” period, it will try to store food in the form of fats. Eating frequently, yet in small amounts can help you lose weight continuously.
4. Weight loss plateaus can be caused by water retention in the body. To avoid this, stay away from salty foods and reduce carbohydrates. Also, ensure that you drink plenty of water every day. Some people make the mistake of not drinking enough water to steer away from water retention. This is a mistake. Once the body detects the lack of water, it adjusts to keep most of the water it has, and this makes a bigger water-retention problem.
Weight loss plateau happens even to the most diligent dieter and exerciser. You need to be more realistic when making your goals and setting your plans. The important thing is that when you hit your plateau, you know what to do.
- Prev:Getting Started With Your Weight Loss Diet
- Next:For Sale - Overweight Body Will Consider Trade For Thin One