Avoid Diet Plateaus
A diet plateau is that point at which no matter what you do, you cannot seem to lose any more. If you have currently hit a weight loss plateau, there are a number of things that we can help you with to get going again on your road to successfully reaching your ideal weight.
What Causes Plateaus?
The reason is that the human body works hard to keep energy intake and output in balance. In other words, your body does not like to lose weight! After your initial weight loss, your progress will slow down and eventually stop even though your exercise and food intake is consistent. The bottom line is that the very efforts you make to burn more calories may eventually slow it down.
The Solutions
At My Weight Doctor®, our physicians have the experience to help you get over your weight loss obstacles. If you ever stop losing weight, our dedicated medical providers have many tools to get you losing weight again, including:
- Adjusting Medications and Dosages to get your Metabolism Moving
- Prescribing Plateau Busting Injection Boosters
- Recommending Temporary Meal Replacement Therapies
- Reanalyzing your Blood and Metabolism to make sure you are getting the right treatment at the right time!
Stay Motivated
You may feel stuck, but you're probably still losing weight - just not enough to register on the scale. Remember that for each pound you want to lose, you need to cut at least 3,500 calories - and if you don't want to eat less, to lose the same pound you'll have to add about ten extra hours of brisk walking or the equivalent.
Put Up Some Resistance
Increasing physical activity is particularly useful for moving beyond a plateau, because exercise both uses calories and builds muscle. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate, which is why working out with weights or doing some kind of resistance training can be especially helpful. In fact, increasing your muscle mass as you lose body fat can compensate for the decline in metabolism induced by weight loss.
Increase Your Protein
There is evidence that shows that shifting fat and carbohydrate calories to protein calories may help stabilize your metabolic rate during weight loss. But don't overdo it - keep your meals balanced and follow your meal plans.
Zig Zag Your Routine
Many experts claim that surprising your body with a change in diet, workout or both can jostle you out of a weight loss rut. The science is pretty thin here, but the advice is reasonable because variety can keep you interested. Instead of constant dieting, you might try alternating calorie-cutting days, for example, with less-restrictive maintenance days. Switch to a new type of exercise. Alternate aerobic workouts with light weight training. A change may be just what you need to get the progress rolling again.
If your motivation is flagging, write down all the reasons you originally wanted, and still want, to lose weight. Look at the list every day. Also let friends and family know what you're up to, and ask for their support.
A plateau is an opportunity to reassess whether further weight loss is worth all the work it will take - and to reconsider whether you may, in truth, now be at a perfectly healthy weight and don't need to go any lower. If you do choose to stop where you are, turn your focus toward maintaining what you've achieved and keeping your body in good shape. Remember, eating well and being physically active are good for you. Do a little of both every day, and you will be a total success!
To learn more about Medication Therapies, click a link below: