Plateaus and Pitfalls

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Plateaus and Pitfalls
4
Mon, 06-26-2006 - 10:34am

This is definitely worth a read for anyone struggling with plateaus!!


Plateaus and Pitfalls: Overcoming Weight Loss Obstacles
by Renee Cloe
ACE certified Personal Trainer


I’m eating a low-calorie, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. I’m exercising 5 times a week. I’m doing everything right and I’m still not losing any weight. Why not? That’s the million dollar question asked by plateau campers everywhere. They seem to be doing everything right… and yet it’s not working. There are several factors that can trip up your best weight loss efforts. If you can identify and conquer them, you’ll be well on your way to long-term leanness.


Let’s start with your exercise program. Been doing the same thing for a while? Getting bored maybe? When your routine becomes ho-hum, your body quickly adapts to it and your results are less dramatic. So, if you always do the same aerobic activity at the same intensity, or you always do the same circuit of weight machines in the same order… Stop that!


To keep seeing results you need to present yourself with new challenges. It’s important to try new things, choose activities that you genuinely enjoy, and exercise at an intensity that challenges you. Whether you’re trying something new or just spicing up the old routine, you want to achieve a gradual and progressive increase in intensity. This might mean incorporating an occasional hilly route into your bike rides, intervals of slow jogging into your walks, adding some free weights to your machine workout, or signing up for a spinning class instead of reading magazines on the stationary bike. Just keep it interesting. Boredom and complacency can unravel your best-laid plans.


Weight training is the cornerstone of a lean body and a fast metabolism. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body burns throughout the day. If you’ve been doing tons of cardiovascular activity, but slacking on the weights, that could be one of your sticking points. On the flip side, if you’ve been faithfully pumping iron but you can’t get shed the fat; perhaps a little more aerobic activity is in order. The two modes of exercise compliment each other. The weights strengthen and tone the body, and the cardio defines it. Together with stretching, they form the basis of any well-rounded program.


The other critical factor in successful weight loss is, of course, your diet. The old bodybuilding adage is that success is 80 percent diet and 20 percent training. In other words, you can have the best training routine around, but if you’re not eating right, your results will still be minimal.


Take a good hard look at the way you’ve been eating. Have you been taking in too many calories? Too few? Do you diet and deny yourself all day only to binge at night? Are you consuming an overabundance of highly processed carbohydrates? Is your protein intake adequate for your size and activity level? Have you perhaps gone overboard by trying to eliminate all fat from your diet? Do you eat large quantities of "good" foods without ever feeling truly satisfied? Can you remember the last time you ate a fresh vegetable?


If your results with a traditional low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet have been less than stellar, you may want to do some research into Paleolithic nutrition, The Zone, or the Mediterranean diet. These diets are based on an adequate but not excessive amount of lean protein, an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, and small amounts of monounsaturated fats like those found in nuts, seeds, and olives.


Whichever eating plan you choose be sure to adjust it accordingly depending on how you feel and how your body responds. Don't ever blindly follow a rigid "diet" based on someone else's rules and guidelines. Be flexible and focus on small positive changes. Balance, moderation, and common sense are key.


I just copied the article, but there are suggestions on the page too.
Find it here: http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/plateaus.htm

~IslandGirl





School's out for summer!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Mon, 06-26-2006 - 11:41am

Thanks IG!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Mon, 06-26-2006 - 10:45pm

Thanks islandgirl! Very good info ... hopefully it will help me move on from plateau-ville!


iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2006
Tue, 06-27-2006 - 8:39am
Thanks IG....{waving hand in air} this one was meant for me! I am slowly losing, but hit the plateaus! This one is a keeper!!! Thanks for the encouragement from the article...I feel a little more normal now, knowing it happens to ALOT of people!! :)
Have a great day!
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
Tue, 06-27-2006 - 11:15am

I like this article too! Really need to work on getting some weight training in. What I'm curious about is that if the muscle is burning fat is that all over body fat or in that area? For example if your working your lower body does it burn lower body fat? lol


I'm guess it's over all body fat because I've heard over and over again you cannot spot reduce.

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