I know I do.
You ever wonder why your weight loss efforts plateau?
In my honest opinion, not that I have conducted scientific studies on it; I believe it's because we think we eat less than we do and work out harder than we do. And reality is the complete opposite. We eat WAY more and work out way less.
{Food}
Ways to combat this are really paying attention to portion size. Flip that package over and see how many crackers, cookies, Tbsp of peanut butter are in a serving.
You are drinking your calories away. Sodas, juices, smoothies, lattes, alcohol they all have large amounts of calories in them. You may be surprised to realize if you drank more water how the weight would come off.
Salads. Oh salads. The ultimate "diet" food right?! Well, it can be provided you didn't load it up with a bunch of dressings, sauces, cheese and croutons At this point it starts to lose its diet factor and moves into the "should have just ate the cheeseburger" realm.
Write down what and WHY you are eating. This is three-fold.
1. It helps check mindless eating and grazing. If you have to write down "I ate 3 goldfish." You may stop yourself from grabbing them. You may be surprised to know how quick tastes and bites add up fast!
2. Writing it down allows you to see what you have consumed all day and shows you it is most likely more than what you thought you were eating based on your calorie plan.
3. Writing down the WHY helps curb emotional eating and can allow you to find other ways to deal with stress, sadness, boredom and even celebration.
{Exercise}
Pay attention to your workout. Our bodies are highly efficient and while that 1 mile run use to get your heart pumping and your sweat on, it may no longer be pushing you the way it once did. Push yourself and keep your workout fresh and different. If you keep your body guessing it has to work harder, which equals greater calorie burn.
Just like our quick tastes/bites of foods around us add up, so can sneaking in extra exercises.
*Park further away
*Take the stairs instead of the elevator
*If you have little kids and they beg you to hold them, toss them in the air a few times or do a few squats while holding them. Or just plain run around with them at the park.
*Jog the shopping cart back to the cart corral.
* Do some squats or lunges while brushing your teeth.
*Dance around your kitchen while you make dinner.
*Get creative...
I know some of these see hokey, but exercise is cumulative and it all adds up to a lesser you.
{Other reasons}
1. Medications. Sometimes you may be on certain drugs that just keep you from losing. If you have tried everything else, then it's time to consult your doctor and talk about meds.
2. You aren't eating enough. If you are killin' at the gym and really watching what you eat, your body very well may think it is starving. Again our bodies are very smart. If your body is in starvation mode then it will fight to hold onto all the fat it can. You will feel weak and tired because your body is running at minimal metabolic rate in order to conserve.
3. Check your clothes. Does the scale say one number, but yet your clothes are looser?! Well then you may be at the point you are "replacing" fat with muscle tone! I use the term loosely because fat can't actually turn to muscle. But if you are bulking up your muscles it will start burning your fat off. So don't always listen to the scale, but rather to the mirror.
Do you need a kick start to achieving your weight loss goals? Click here to see my site about products that can help get on the road to health. Notice I said get ON the road. They are not to be the entire road you travel.
What are ways you avoid the plateau?
You ever wonder why your weight loss efforts plateau?
In my honest opinion, not that I have conducted scientific studies on it; I believe it's because we think we eat less than we do and work out harder than we do. And reality is the complete opposite. We eat WAY more and work out way less.
{Food}
Ways to combat this are really paying attention to portion size. Flip that package over and see how many crackers, cookies, Tbsp of peanut butter are in a serving.
You are drinking your calories away. Sodas, juices, smoothies, lattes, alcohol they all have large amounts of calories in them. You may be surprised to realize if you drank more water how the weight would come off.
Salads. Oh salads. The ultimate "diet" food right?! Well, it can be provided you didn't load it up with a bunch of dressings, sauces, cheese and croutons At this point it starts to lose its diet factor and moves into the "should have just ate the cheeseburger" realm.
Write down what and WHY you are eating. This is three-fold.
1. It helps check mindless eating and grazing. If you have to write down "I ate 3 goldfish." You may stop yourself from grabbing them. You may be surprised to know how quick tastes and bites add up fast!
2. Writing it down allows you to see what you have consumed all day and shows you it is most likely more than what you thought you were eating based on your calorie plan.
3. Writing down the WHY helps curb emotional eating and can allow you to find other ways to deal with stress, sadness, boredom and even celebration.
{Exercise}
Pay attention to your workout. Our bodies are highly efficient and while that 1 mile run use to get your heart pumping and your sweat on, it may no longer be pushing you the way it once did. Push yourself and keep your workout fresh and different. If you keep your body guessing it has to work harder, which equals greater calorie burn.
Just like our quick tastes/bites of foods around us add up, so can sneaking in extra exercises.
*Park further away
*Take the stairs instead of the elevator
*If you have little kids and they beg you to hold them, toss them in the air a few times or do a few squats while holding them. Or just plain run around with them at the park.
*Jog the shopping cart back to the cart corral.
* Do some squats or lunges while brushing your teeth.
*Dance around your kitchen while you make dinner.
*Get creative...
I know some of these see hokey, but exercise is cumulative and it all adds up to a lesser you.
{Other reasons}
1. Medications. Sometimes you may be on certain drugs that just keep you from losing. If you have tried everything else, then it's time to consult your doctor and talk about meds.
2. You aren't eating enough. If you are killin' at the gym and really watching what you eat, your body very well may think it is starving. Again our bodies are very smart. If your body is in starvation mode then it will fight to hold onto all the fat it can. You will feel weak and tired because your body is running at minimal metabolic rate in order to conserve.
3. Check your clothes. Does the scale say one number, but yet your clothes are looser?! Well then you may be at the point you are "replacing" fat with muscle tone! I use the term loosely because fat can't actually turn to muscle. But if you are bulking up your muscles it will start burning your fat off. So don't always listen to the scale, but rather to the mirror.
Do you need a kick start to achieving your weight loss goals? Click here to see my site about products that can help get on the road to health. Notice I said get ON the road. They are not to be the entire road you travel.
What are ways you avoid the plateau?
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