Overcoming The Diet Plateau

Let's take a moment to talk about weight loss and more importantly about overcoming the diet plateau. One of biggest problems with any diet is staying motivated. You are doing great in the beginning and the pounds start to drop off. Your clothes are starting to fit better and you are feeling great.

When it happens, not only do you notice, but so do the people around you. You start getting comments about how much better / thinner you look from family members and friends. This reinforcement along with the dropping numbers on the scale, spur you on to victory. Then, one day, the numbers stop falling. You are still thirty pounds from your goal and the scale refuses to budge. Now what?

One thing that shouldn’t be done is giving up. Look at it this way: You aren’t losing weight, but you aren’t gaining weight either. Plateaus are experienced several times over the course of a weight loss program. In the beginning, weight loss is steady because it’s new to the body. Your increased metabolism and decreased caloric intake work to shed those pounds. Water loss accounts for at least the first ten pounds of weight loss. As your body works to adjust to your physical activity, more calories are burned which translated into more weight lost. Plateaus come when the body has become accustomed to the routine.
Don’t stress. Giving up will put you right back at square one.

First of all, throw out the scale (if it was expensive, just pack it away in the back of the garage). You may have heard this before, but it’s true: Muscle weighs more than fat. If weight training has been a component of your weight loss program, then as the muscle mass increases so will your weight. You may still be losing fat, but the weight of the increased muscle balances everything out.

To jump off of your current plateau, examine your diet and exercise program. If your fitness routine hasn’t changed since the beginning, consider making a few changes. Try a new activity. If you’re used to aerobics five times a week, switch to the treadmill or an elliptical trainer. Muscles need to be challenged on a regular basis in order to grow.

If the exercises are still a challenge, then consider what you are eating. If you’ve been having a free day more than once a week you could be taking in too many calories. Go back to what you were doing at the start of the program. Keep journals for a couple of weeks to track what works for you and gets the scale moving again.

Remember, change one thing at a time. When you change something, give the change a full thirty days, and then check the results. Weight loss isn’t easy, but it is rewarding to reach your goal. Keep at it!

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