Overcoming the Weightloss Plateau

How annoying is it when after losing the first 14lbs, you suddenly hit a brick wall and your weight loss virtually dries up. For many dieters it is the tipping point where they stop the train and get off - but it needn't be. Let's have a look at what causes a plateau, and how you can kick start your program again. When you start a new diet or fitness plan, you usually consume fewer calories but also burn more through exercise. 'Because you're expending more energy than you take in, your body turns those few calories for energy first, then you begin to burn stored fat quicker than before, when your calorie intake was higher.

However, like a finely tuned machine, your body settles into this new pattern of outgoing and incoming calories and gradually adjusts by burning fewer calories in order to safeguard its reserves.The result? Weight loss slows down as your body tries to retain fat stores so it can use its reserves as sparingly as possible.

It's at this point that you'll notice your eating and exercise efforts aren't producing results and that you can't seem to shift the weight any more. There is no exact science to just when this will happen - everyone is different. In my experience though, this will often come after losing between 14 and 21lbs. However, it can come at any time. Many body builders reach plateaus when trying to achieve % fat levels - the last 2 or 3 % is always the hardest.

So how do you overcome the weight plateau? As with everything to do with weight loss, it comes back to two areas: Look at your eating habits and change your exercise programme in a way that challenges your body.

Eating Habits;

Keep a food diary: If you've been following a diet plan for some time, you may be bored and your motivation for staying with it may be. Keeping a food diary, or a record of what you eat each day, will help you pinpoint situations where you might be indulging more than you realise and help you get back on track

Seek Support: Social support from a partner, slimming group, friend or website can provide essential help and emotional encouragement. And statistics show that people who have a support system tend to lose weight and keep it off, as they can share their diet ups and downs with others.

Revisit your goals: Are you trying to lose too much weight or shed the pounds too quickly? If so, your goals may be unrealistic. Dieters tend to lose most of their weight in the first few weeks, although most of this is water. After losing this initial weight, people tend to lose one or two pounds a week on average, which is still considered good progress (even a few pounds a month is good). Remember, if you are following a program that includes a decent exercise routine, you will be building muscle which weighs heavier than the fat you are shedding. Don't use the scales as your only guide to success - the tape measure will almost certainly show you you are still losing inches as your body reshapes. To put matters into perspective, one pound of body fat is equivalent to 500 calories, so to lose two pounds means cutting out 1000 calories, which is no small amount. Remember, you didn't put the weight on overnight, so you can't expect to take it off instantly either.

Be prepared: Always eat breakfast so you don't start the day feeling hungry, and make sure your environment complements your diet. This might mean taking smart snacks to work with you or filling your fridge with healthy foods so you're not tempted to eat things that might sabotage your diet.

Keep it varied: Some people find it easier to follow a monotonous, structured diet as there is little room to stray. However, others need variety to stay true to a plan. If you get bored easily, try looking at websites and books for new and interesting recipe ideas so you don't feel your diet is too tedious or depriving.

Eat little and often: Eating small meals frequently can help regulate your blood sugar and appetite. Also, as your body expends energy when digesting food, eating several mini meals a day can help boost your metabolism. Drinking water can also help fill you up and regulate your appetite. It's important to be sure you are getting enough water since many people can mistake thirst for hunger

Exercise:

As you start to get your nutrition and exercise right, your body will become more efficient and therefore you will need to change something to keep the calorie deficit occurring on a daily basis.
As you reach a good level of endurance fitness, the amount of calories you burn when say running or rowing, will essentially be far less then when you first started. As we improve, we develop an energy saving technique, which is great for our running or rowing performance but not so great in terms of burning calories. So, just keep your nutrition healthy and consistent and try one or more of the following suggestions to kick start your fat-burning potential

Weight training: The most successful way to achieve long-term weight loss/control is to increase the lean muscle tissue on our bodies and this is achieved through weight training. Whether you do a program in the gym or at home, use bodyweight, resistance bands, dumbbells, barbells or machines, it doesn't matter, as long as you fatigue the muscles so they respond and strengthen.The toning effect you achieve is great but more importantly, muscle tissue is alive and requires energy (calories!) 24/7 just to be on our body. It is because of this demand that muscle tissue increases the amount of calories you burn every minute, making it much easier to achieve a calorie deficit and subsequent body fat loss! So get yourself a resistance program, you could look to do a 30-minute workout at home prior to a run or alternate weight training days and running days.

Variety: With the way you train. Quite simply, make your body do things it's not accustomed to and it has to work hard and use lots of calories. Vary the type of exercise you do, exercise DVD's, classes, cardiovascular, weight training, circuit training combinations etc. If you give your body the same type of training you will only achieve the same result and the training becomes less effective, so spice things up!

Physical activity: Capitalise on the small things. Often we think the weight loss is achieved through exercise and nutrition and often we overlook what we actually do with our bodies for the entirety of a given day. Look at your daily routines and see what tiny changes you could make that would easily allow you to burn more calories through general activities. I.e. park further away from work/gym (why do people always try to park outside the door of a health club?!), cycle or walk to work if possible. Try an evening stroll after dinner 1-2 times a week if you don't already. Pump up the volume on your favourite music while you do the dishes, housework etc and get dancing; take the stars instead of a lift/escalator. These small things really DO make the difference because generally people's lifestyles don't encourage a lot of movement and we spend too great a time in a car, at a desk or on a couch.

Train more: If you train 3 times a week then consider 4 sessions. Whatever frequency of sessions you do a week, consider upping it, even by a mini session, a 30 min express workout!
Intensity: If you are enjoying your running or rowing, you could vary the intensities of your training sessions as this too will force the body to work harder and kick start your fat-burning potential. You could work at an intensity of 70-90% (or 8-9 out of 10 on a scale of your personal effort) for a lesser time 15-35 mins (you simply won't be able to train for as long at this intensity). The higher the intensity, the more calories that are burned in the session and the longer the metabolic rate remains elevated therefore using up more fat cells! Even though your duration is shorter you can still burn as many calories and actually burn more body fat in the following days.

Interval training: Alternatively, you could combine the above with a comfortable pace in a technique called interval training. Research suggests that females achieve the best cardiovascular improvements and body fat reduction through interval training. An simple example of this for running would be:

4 mins at 6-7 our of 10 in terms of self-rated effort2 mins at 8-9 out of 10 in terms of self-rated effort4 mins at 6-7 out of 10 in terms of self-rated effort2 mins at 8-9 out of 10 in terms of self-related effort4 mins at 6-7 out of 10 in terms of self-rated effort2 mins at 8-9 out of 10 in terms of self-related effort
In basic terms, you alternate between two different work rates which allows you to achieve calorie burning through intensity AND calorie burning through duration because the lower work rate allows you to partially recover and so train for longer.

Ideally try to incorporate all of the above into your exercise plan and you are absolutely going to be maximising your fat burning potential. It will allow you to get more consistency and continue with your great fat-loss success!

In my next post we look at exercises you can do at the office or around the home if you are a busy mum.

12 Killer Weight Loss Tips

Here are my 12 greatest tips for a sucessful weight loss program. I will be taking each one over the next few weeks and expanding on them - but if you are serious about losing weight, and increasing your energy levels - have a think about how you can impliment these into your program before you start.

Remember, thoughts lead to actions, and actions lead to success.

Don’t start your program unless you’re absolutely determined to succeed – Have the winners’ mindset

Know what your target weight is and set realistic weekly targets – remember a campaign is a series of small victories

Use visualization – visualize yourself daily at your target weight – buy yourself a new dress or trousers in the size you will be when you reach your target weight 9 or have your old ones dry cleaned)

Get your friends and family to actively support you, or seek the help of a weight loss coach or mentor

Find a plan that you are comfortable with – one that suites your lifestyle in terms of cost and time – but based on your new knowledge of nutrition and how the body reacts to weight loss

Drink 2.5lts of water a day to reduce the onset of detoxification, to prevent dehydration and to act as a natural appetite suppressant

Control hunger through increasing your protein consumption and reducing your carbohydrates. Replace regular snack foods with protein bars, or lean meat such as ham, chicken or turkey

Make your last meal of day no later than 8pm

Celebrate each and every milestone that you achieve on your way to achieving your target weight. You really can make losing weight a very positive and rewarding experience

Combine your dietary plan with an increase exercise program

Weight loss tablets may have their uses in jump starting your weight loss program, particularly if you are classed as clinically obese. However, for the majority of us, they mask the true reason for our weight – which is poor diet and lack of exercise – and any effects are very short lived. Wouldn’t it be great to find a pill that would burn your fat for you while you sat on the couch eating potato chips and ice cream, but such a pill just doesn't exist. My advice is to avoid them if possible, and cure the root cause of the problem.

Keep away from Fad diets that are very restrictive in their content. Any diet that severely restricts you from eating an entire food group isn't a good idea. Whether it's no meats or no carbs, these diets violate a key phrase in nutrition: the balanced meal. Also, eating just one kind of food can be pretty monotonous and boring — who would want to stick with it? Unfortunately, it is all too common to end our fad dieting, and find that we gain our pounds back just as a rapidly as we lost them ... plus a few extra.

Weight loss' secret weapon...Are you ready for this?

Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off. Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true magic potion for permanent weight loss.

Water suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.

Here's why. The kidneys cannot function properly without enough water. When they do not work to capacity, some of the load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But, if the liver has to do some of the kidneys work, it cannot work at full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat: more fat remains stored in the body and weight loss stops.

Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in extra cellular spaces (outside the cells).

This shows up as swollen, feet, hands, and legs. Diuretics offer a temporary solution at best. They force out stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns.

The best way to overcome the problem of water retention is to give your body what it needs - plenty of water. Only then will stored water be released. If you have a constant problem with water retention, excess salt may be to blame. Your body will tolerate sodium only in certain concentrations. The more salt you eat, the more water your system retains to dilute it. But getting rid of unneeded salt is easy - just drink more water. As it is forced through the kidneys, it takes away excess sodium.

An overweight person needs more water. Larger people have larger metabolic loads - Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism. Water helps maintain proper muscle tone, by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weight loss. Shrinking cells are buoyed by water which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient. Waters helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of - all that metabolized fat must be shed.

Again, adequate water helps flush out the waste. Water can help relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. Result? Constipation. But when a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function returns.

Drinking water is essential to weight loss.

How much water is enough?

On the average, a person should drink eight (8 oz.) glasses every day.

However, the overweight person needs one additional glass for every 25 lbs. of excess weight. The amount that you drink should be increased if you exercise or if the weather is hot and dry. Water should preferably be cold - it is absorbed more quickly into the system than warm water. Some evidence suggests that drinking cold water can actually burn calories.

When the body gets the water it needs to function optimally, its fluids are perfectly balanced. When this happens, you have reached the 'breakthrough point'. What does this mean?

Endocrine gland function improves. Fluid retention is alleviated as stored water is lost. More fat is used because the liver is free to metabolize stored fat. Natural thirst returns. There is a loss of hunger almost overnight. If you stop drinking enough water, your body fluids will be thrown out of balance again and you may experience fluid retention, unexplained weight gain and loss of thirst. To remedy this situation, you have to go back and force another breakthrough.

So there you have it - one of your best allies in the battle to control the bulge is good old water - drink and be merry!!

Check out the following clip - I wouldn't recommend this approach, but its mighty funny!!

Jenny Craig Review

Well maybe the real Jenny Craig isn't exactly like this..........

When it comes to popular diet programs on the market today, one of the most well known is Jenny Craig, especially since it has been made popular by so many celebrities. However, you may be wondering if it is a diet that works on more than just celebrities today. Well, let's take a look at this diet, who it works best for, all the pros and cons, the foods you get to eat, and how it is viewed by the medical community. Then you'll be better equipped to make a good decision on whether this is the right diet choice for you needs.

Jenny Craig Overview

The Jenny Craig diet has been around for some time and it started out in the early 1980's in the country of Australia. It wasn't until 1985 that it finally came to the United States. There are various levels of this system. The first one teaches you how to eat small portions of the food that you want, then later you learn how to increase your energy levels. Last of all, you learn to balance out the nutrition in your life to make sure that you lose the weight and keep it off. Different types of support are offered, including telephone support or you can even go for online support, or visit the offices for support in person.

Who it Works For

This is a diet program that works for people who like the ease of not having to cook for themselves. It also is excellent for those who need a bit of extra support to lose the weight. However, people who are not a fan of meals that are pre-packaged will probably not be a huge fan of this weight loss program.

Pros and Cons

Jenny Craig comes with various pros and cons just like any other diet. However, you have to take a look at them to decide if you are happy with the list of pros and cons that you find. Here are some of the pros and cons of using this diet to try to lose weight.

- Pro #1 - Food is Already Prepared - One great pro of going on Jenny Craig is that the food you are going to eat is already prepared. The foods are delivered right to your door, so you don't even have to prepare your food anymore. Many people love this because it takes the hassle out of trying to cook healthy foods.

- Pro #2 - The Plan is Easy to Follow - Another pro is that the Jenny Craig plan is really easy to follow as well. There are no points to remember and you won't have to worry about counting carbs or calories either, which makes it easy for you when you are trying to lose weight.

- Pro #3 - The Diet is Balanced - The diet is a fairly well balanced one as well, which is another pro. You get fruits, meats, vegetables, and more, so you won't feel like you are always being deprived.

- Pro #4 - You Get Personal Coaching - Personal coaching is what many people really love about this diet plan. You have a coach that works with you to help you reach the weight loss goals that you have set for yourself. This can be very helpful and help to keep you motivated and on track as you work on losing weight.

Of course there are some cons to this diet:

- Con #1 - The main ones is the expense - It Can Really Get Expensive. Since you have to buy the foods from Jenny Craig, it can get very expensive fast. You have to buy all your meals and even your snacks from the company, and they are not so cheap.

- Con #2 - Eating Out is Difficult - Eating out can get difficult as well when you are on this diet. You are not allowed to eat out and you definitely won't want to cart along your little Jenny Craig meal and ask someone at the restaurant to heat it up for you.

- Con #3 - Refined Carbs are High in this Diet - Another con is that the refined carbs in the Jenny Craig diet are quite high, which is really not great if you are trying to keep the pounds off.

Foods to Eat

When you are on the Jenny Craig diet, you only get to eat the meals that you purchase from Jenny Craig. While the meals usually have a nice variety, you may get tired of eating these prepared meals all of the time. It can get boring constantly eating out of a box, so many people are not thrilled with this option.

Opinions from the Medical Community

While people in the medical community feel that the portion sizes of the Jenny Craig program are great and that learning portion control is great, many wonder if it will last once people are no longer eating the meals that are not prepackaged for them. Also, people feel that people don't get the enjoyment they should out of eating, which means that this diet can be hard to stick to. Once people go back to eating normally, it can be difficult to keep eating the right way.

If you need any help with this article, please e mail at paul@onestopdietshop.net

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Crash Diets May Reduce Lifespan!! - That sounds Fishy!!

A recent article in the BBC News website commented on Scottish scientists having found that binge eating and crash dieting may significantly reduce life expectancy.

Researchers from Glasgow University observed that fish given a "binge then diet" food regime had a reduced lifespan of up to 25%. Their study compared the growth rate, success of reproduction and lifespan of stickleback fish.

They believe the findings could have implications for teenagers and children who follow extreme patterns of dieting. This is because they are still growing.

Prof Metcalfe said: "Applying this to humans, it would only occur in children and teenagers.

"But it would be for extreme switches in diet. Just skipping lunches would not have any effect, but if they had several weeks of one diet followed by several weeks of the extreme opposite, then there could be an effect."

Check out the full story here

Crash dieting is an extremely dangerous way to go about losing weight, and can lead to yo-yo dieting and a number of serious health problems. So before you decide to plunge into a crash diet, here are some facts that you need to know.

A crash diet is one of the most restrictive types of weight loss plans that you can follow. It involves drastically cutting back on the amount of calories and fat that you take in on a daily basis. Similar to a starvation diet, a crash diet is often paired with other methods of weight loss including extreme exercise routines and the use of diuretics or diet pills. Thousands of men and women follow crash diets every year in the hopes that they will lose a significant amount of weight in a very short period of time. However, crash diets are recognized by health care professionals and dieticians as being a very dangerous way of trying to lose the excess pounds.

If you follow a crash diet, you will probably notice that you do lose a significant amount of weight in the first week or so. Many men and women notice that they lose five pounds or even more during the first few days of their crash diet. However, this weight loss isn’t loss of fat, but instead can be attributed to the loss of water weight that happens during crash diets. This is because low-calorie diets cause the body to burn up excess glycogen, a type of glucose that absorbs excess fluid inside the body.

Additionally, weight loss during crash diets doesn’t continue for a very long time. Eventually, you will find yourself hitting a weight loss plateau, during which it will become more and more difficult for you to lose weight. The majority of crash dieters find that this weight loss plateau is followed by a period of weight gain. Many followers of crash diets even end up putting back on all of the weight they lost, along with additional pounds.

Your body can maintain this decreased metabolism for a number of months, or even years, after a serious low-calorie diet.

Crash diets are extremely hard on your overall mental and emotional health. Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood: you may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual when you are on a crash diet. Crash diets can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia

Low calorie diets tend to be very restrictive, and you will find that you will be unable to eat healthy foods. In fact, long-term crash dieting can result in serious nutritional deficiencies, as a result of eating a poor variety of foods.

As our friend the Stickleback will testify, if you are intent on losing some weight, it is best to avoid crash and yo-yo diets at all costs.

If you need any further advice on the content of this post please contact me at paul@onestopdietshop.net

Turbo Charge Your Weight Loss in Three Easy Steps

I came across this simple video on You Tube today by Craig Ballentyne who explains his top three tips for healthy and sustained weight loss:



The best things in life are always simple!!

So lets have a quick look at the three principles here;



1. Nutrition:

This is obviously all important in weight loss. Normal calorie intake for a Male is around 2,500 calories a day, and 2,000 for a female. For healthy sustained weight loss, this should ideally be reduced by to around 1800 for a male, and 1500 for a female. However, it is not just the calorific content that is important - it is the make up of the diet that is often the determining factor on the medium term success of your weight loss. There is most certainly a place in the healthy diet for both fats and carbohydrates, and diets that reduce both of these to almost zero are unhealthy and will lead to unsustainable results. The key to success with nutrition is understanding how each of these food groups work on the body, and a finding a diet that provide the correct quantity each day in a satisfying way - one that will provide you with enough energy and enjoyment and still hit your calorie targets for healthy, sustained weight loss.


2. Strength Training:

Strength training can provide up to a 15% increase in metabolic rate, which is enormously helpful for weight loss and long-term weight control. Strength training (also known as weight lifting ) is a necessary component of your triathlon routine. Including an increase in metabolism due to an increase in metabolically active muscles, strength training improves power, stamina and endurance for all types of triathletes. Strength training was once shunned by women who feared becoming "bulked up". Only a few men and women have the potential to add large amounts of muscle.

Strength training has a lot of advantages for women, and particularly for women aged 35 to 40 and older. By the age of 40, women generally begin to lose bone density and muscle mass. Strength training exercises can help you get on the right track. You may need some strength training equipment such as weights. Strength training will help us strengthen those muscles that we generally do not use in triathlon. I recommend strength training year round.

Strength training is probably one of the most important things you can do to build or maintain strong bones. During exercise muscles are challenged, to pull on their bony attachments stimulating bone formation.

Strength training will tone and build up muscles. Strength training can be as simple as carrying groceries and as graceful as ballet dancing. Strength training will build muscle while lowering your body fat.

Strength training is especially important for dieters. When you lose weight , up to a quarter of the loss may come from muscle, which can slow your metabolism. Strength training is a good way of improving ones balance because your muscles have to provide balance support for both your body and your weights that your using. You can incorporate even more balance work within your workout by doing single leg exercises, narrowing your base of support or using devices such as stability balls that challenge your state of balance. Strength training is extremely important and you can get results from as little as two or three workouts per week, with each session lasting 30-60 minutes.



3. Interval Training:

Interval training involves alternating short, intense bursts of activity with a recovery period ─ usually a slower, easier version of the high-intensity exercise. It is like strength training for your heart and lungs - it basically involves short bouts of intensive exercise followed by recovery periods. For example, repeat a series of 5-minute intervals of walking for 4 minutes then jogging for 1 minute for a total of 30 minutes

Interval training utilizes the body's two energy-producing systems: aerobic and anaerobic. The aerobic system allows you to walk or run for several miles and uses oxygen to convert carbohydrates from various sources throughout the body into energy. You really want to put a lot of effort into the interval portion of the workout. Interval Training Workouts can be very intense and therefore performed no more than 2-3 times per week

Interval training can be used in many type of physical activity regardless of the environment, irrespective of whether you are at home or at the gym. You can engage in any cardiovascular workout like stationary biking, running, rowing etc or other aerobic workout.

Interval training is based on subjective effort. Rather than insisting that you achieve a specific heart rate or running speed, it simply requires you to work at about 80% of your relative effort level for a short period of time. Interval training is only a part of a training program, not the whole program.

Start out slowly and gradually work into a full workout. As with any exercise program get a full physical check before you begin. Start by staying at this pace for eight minutes, and then slow down to a jogging/light pedaling intensity for eight minutes of recovery. As you get stronger, you can increase the length and number of intervals.

Interval training, done correctly, has been proven to be the most effective way to lose stubborn body fat.

So as Craig points out, a successful, and healthy weight loss campaign needs a great excersise and nutritional campaign.

If you need help or advice on anything in this entry, click here