About three years ago I lost over 100 lbs by reducing my
caloric intake to 1500-1800 per day and exercising for 1
hour everyday. The weight seem to just roll off of me.
I was within 35 lbs of my idea weight and hit a plateau. I
stayed there for over a year. I tried everything imaginable.
I varied my workout types & times. I tried different food
but nothing worked. I stayed at that weight for over a
year.
Then I started gaining weight at a fast pace. 10 lbs in one
week 5 lbs the next. My weight just seem to skyrocket until
I had gained about 50 lbs in four months. By the time I had
gained 40 I quit trying as hard to maintain a healthy
lifestyle.
I sought my doctor's help. He had no answers and didn't
think it was a problem. He attributed it to hereditary and
lifestyle (I am a law student and work full time). I tried
to tell him I was doing everything I did before but he
didn't seem concerned about it.
I changed Doctor and he ran a blood profile on me which
revealed nothing. Thyroid ok/blood sugar ok etc.
Now, I am back to exercising everyday and eating healthier
but I have not lost a single pound. I have tried to eat
every three hours (usually fruit)/ protein diet etc.
I am very leery of the herbal/diet pills but nothing seems
to work. Any suggestions would be helpful.
HELP
DEAR HELP,
Weight loss can be tricky because of the problem you
just described. We can become victims of our own success.
When you are able to lower your calorie intake on a
consistent basis and lose weight, you will most likely reach
a plateau. Plateau can be dangerous because it's easy to
become discourage and eat more. This results in weight gain.
We get a lot of email from people describing similar
problems. You are not a DIET FAILURE. Anyone who loses a
significant amount of weight will run into this problem.
Our body will plateau when calories are restricted
because the metabolism begins to slow down to match the
calorie intake. Restricting calories is the proper way
weight loss method but it does have a "double edge sword."
Your metabolism may slow down in the process.
When you hit a plateau and notice the weight is not coming
off, it's easy to become psychologically demoralized. Most
people are not aware that this is taking place. They begin
to question their diet, hard work and sacrifice.
Soon you begin to eat more than your normal diet. You may
not be aware of your discouragement but it's there! To make
matters worse, it does not take as much food to gain weight
because your metabolism has lowered from the dieting.
Weight gain comes easy when you combine the discouragement
from no additional weight loss and eating more food to
compensate for the hurt.
If you
need help creating a good diet plan, let us help. We specialize
in preparing personal diet plans that will help you lose 1 to 2
pounds each week. Click
diet plan to get started.
