The Dreaded diet Plateau

Exercising in a park in China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well just as I feared it seemed the dreaded plateau had hit. I'm down 75 lbs but the weight loss has slowed  a bit. I am always happy to lose 10 to 20 lbs in any given month so I am not going to complain. The best thing is not to obsess over it.

That means getting on the scale a few times a week not every day, because that can create a level of anxiety that will not speed the process up and make you feel like you're losing the battle on a daily basis.

This is in actuality far from the case and it is normal to hit a plateau. Reason? Well as your body drops the excess weight, it becomes lighter, and needs less food for fuel than it did so cutting back doesn't have the same effect anymore. Not to mention, your body isn't burning the same amount of calories any more to do the same activities. The heart doesn't have to work as hard, your muscles aren't being exerted as much and as such there's less metabolism taking place. Makes sense yes?..

Advice: Push through it, hold fast and increase your activities. This is probably the best time to increase, begin or enhance your exercise routine. The added activity should offset the slowed metabolism and get things moving again.. Remember with dieting, you do have to change up your routine..and your exercise should follow suit, keep your body guessing. Your body is smart it knows when you're suddenly depriving it of intake that it was used to and it will fight you, by storing the fat found in what foods you are consuming, especially if these foods have a high carbohydrate count. This is why low carb dieting works pretty well for many. Fat becomes the ready source of fuel for burning instead of the carbs, and the body does not get the chance to store it. Good to know. Good luck!