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 underreport 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.
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
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.
Positive Central has permission to post this
article by the American Council on Exercise.
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