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Have you ever experienced this scenario before? "I have successfully lost 15 of the 25 pounds that I want tolose, but now I am stuck at the same weight even though I amfaithfully controlling my food intake and doing my exercises.What happened? Is the diet not working anymore?" Yes, many women over 40 start off their weight loss programsfull of excitement and determination, and indeed you do see thepounds dropping off over the first few weeks. That's great, of course. However, the next thing you know is that your progress has cometo a dead stop... ....and you have just hit the dreaded weight loss "plateau." But don't despair -- you are _not_ the only one experiencingthis. Hitting a plateau is a common experience for most women over 40on a weight loss program. And it can be one of the most de-motivating things to happen. Thankfully, overcoming it is easy... IF you know the simplesteps you can take. Today, I'm going to show you some very simple and specific stepsyou can take to overcome your plateaus: 1. Be careful of the little things: It's easy to lapse intocomplacency over time, so I suggest that you keep a food diary.Writing down what you eat each day can help you to spot thosetimes when you might be taking in more food than you realize. Alittle snack here and there can (and will) add up to a lot ofextra calories. 2. It may not be the food: Sometimes, it's not the food per sethat is the cause of the plateau. For example, work or familystress may be the culprit instead. Stress can cause you to wantto go dig into that tub of chocolate ice cream. If you arefeeling stressed, it's important to acknowledge it right now,and go find some other forms of relief other than reaching outfor more (typically unhealthy) food. Go take a walk, listen tomusic or play with your dog instead! 3. Start off on the right foot: You got to eat something forbreakfast every day. Not only will you start the day with yourstomach feeling satisfied, eating breakfast actually kick startsyour metabolism so that you'll burn more calories throughout theday. 4. Eat more often: Instead of eating 3 big regular meals eachday, opt to have 5 smaller meals. After you eat, your bodyreleases the hormone insulin, which causes your body to storefat. The larger the meal, the more insulin your body releases.But smaller, more frequent meals keep insulin levels lower andmore stable. The less insulin you have in your blood, the morefat you burn, and the less you store. 5. Try water first: If you're feeling "hungry," try drinking aglass of water first before you go grab something to much on.Sometimes we confuse thirst for hunger, and end up eating morefood unnecessarily. If the water doesn't make that hunger panggo away, you can always grab something to eat later. And thebonus is that the water would have helped you to feel fuller, soyou don't have to eat as much! 6. Avoid snacks at night: After you've had your dinner, do notsnack or eat supper. And never ever eat just before you go tobed. Take it from Oprah -- she says that one of her secrets toher successful weight loss is that she does not eat anythingafter 7:30pm... not even a grape. 7. Try a weekly one-day "cleanse": Choose 1 day in the week tocleanse your system by taking only vegetable juices. And pleaseuse fresh vegetable juices if you can, and avoid the cannedstuff that are chock-full of sodium or added sugars! Apply these 7 simple steps and you too will be able to overcomethose plateaus easily. Copyright 2005 Tracy Le |
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