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Sep 14, 2009
Keep doing what you are doing. The dreaded plateau is hitting many of us including me. I am going on 9 weeks of the same weight and measurments. BUT, am not giving up. I have read and researched the weight loss plateau all over the web and many sites. Most what I read is this... weight loss is not a natural body thing. Your body does not like to lose weight. We got ourselves over weight by bad eating habits and either no exercise or having babies. At first your body lets you lose X amount of weight then stops itself because it is fighting you, it wants all that bad food and excess weight back, it stops weight loss in order to catch up with itself. It will continue to fight you until it decides to finally give in and know it is not getting all that way of life back. You need to make sure you do not cave in before your body does. You still need to fight it with healthy eating and exercise. You can add weights, wrist and ankle or the bar bell kind to your exercise regime. Change up a few ways you exercise like when you jog, kick it into fast running for 2 to 3 minutes, slow it down for a minute then kick it up again. Do lots of squats, crunches, body swings. Spread out your calorie intake daily... do 1200 calories one day then 1300 the next, then 1400 then back to 1200. Break your exercise time by doing cardio first, then eat breakfast, then body exercises, go for that fast walk after supper. Changing up exercises is a good way to trick your body. Go to self.com videos, google it, there you will find a number of really short videos you can choose from to add into your exercises. Do not give up, your body will once it catches up with itself, it decides when. Some plateaus are a few weeks some longer, some went 3 months. Stay determined and change up a few things and you will start losing again, just be strong. :)
Also, eat as cleanly as possible - eatcleandiet.com If calorie counting still doesn't seem to cut it, put a laser focus onto what you are eating and when.
That eatcleandiet looks not bad but they want you to buy their books. I wish they had the foods listed instead of just saying how great this is without having to subscribe to the books to see what they say and how.
I have not bought any of the Eat Clean diet books, but I've learned a lot by reading them in a bookstore for few afternoons and Googling "eat clean diet samples"
The Eat Clean philosophy is just cutting out the processed foods and any enriched white flours or sugars, soda in our diet. No chemical sweeteners. Switch to honey or agave, more natural sugars. Nothing canned or boxed or fewer than 3 ingredients. (Although she does reccomend and eats canned bean products.) No fast foods (or make better choices @ fast food restraunts.) Eat whole unprocessed foods (vedgies & fruits), lean protiens, eating 6 meals a day combining a complex carb (vedgies, etc) with a protien @ each meal. It took me about a year to make over my pantry and remove processed foods from my cupboards and make better choices @ restraunts. I still do not do it 100%. I think this would be very restrictive and I want to enjoy my life just a little. :) I do use Splenda even though it's considered a chemical sweetener as well. But I am down 45lbs since I started this Clean Eating last fall 08. (I also had 20mins -60mins of fitness (cardio & strength) 5-6 days a week while I lost the 'baby' weight.
So pretty much common sense eating with no junk foods or processed foods. I do use splenda as well, with boxed whole wheat or whole grain pasta, canned tuna in water,or salmon or white chicken breast for my salads.I agree, it is pretty restrictive and I do want to enjoy my meals a bit more, or it wouldn't take me long and all that eating would be out the window. Same here, I want this diet to be tasty as well as work. I have trouble eating my 3 meals a day, don't know about eating 6 smaller meals a day, it would feel like my whole entire day consists of making 6 smaller meals and exercising. To much for me. I also want time to enjoy life. I do always tell ladies on here to use common sense and eat healthy with lots of fruit, veggies, protein and fiber. No processed foods but do have a healthy choice meal now and then and my canned tuna in water etc. We can't stop living just because we are on a diet is my philosophy. Thank you for the info on this eatclean. :)
Hey ladies...I was reading this particular post a few days ago and the idea of eating clean seemed awesome! I never really thought about it before so I went and checked it out. I also started looking at the raw food diet. It's basically you "eat clean"...but keep everything raw. I know...it's extremly boring and it's not very practical at all to do if you have to prepare meals for anyone other than yourself but it works! google or go on youtube and look up "green smoothies" because those are awesome. (it's sort of an aquired taste, but they're ood for you). I've lost 2 pounds already ( i know...big deal)...but I think it's basically because with all the fruits and vegetables it naturally cleanses you...if you know what i mean. But so far, it's been fun...i ate fresh mango for the frst time and loved it. If anyone wants to know more about raw food or eating clean, you can post a thread or send me a message :)
Oh duh! I completely forot to mention the most important part of my last post! I said i lost 2 pounds and all, (since 2 days ago or so) but I feel 110% better...like, more energized, my skin has a glow to it, my acne is non existent, my hair feels healthier, I mean everything! I know it's because of all the wonderful nutrients and natural stuff my body is running off of now. I was reading somewhee on a website about raw food that you continue to eat more of a food even though you are full just because t tastes so good (i'm sure we've all done that)...BUT what i found interesting was that we get the huger feeling because our body needs nutrients! (vitamins, minearls ect.) When we eat high processed food that has very little nutrients, our body craves more food! (to get the nutirient) If you eat enough NUTRIENTS, you naturally won't be hungry all the time because you already have what you need. Long tory short- if you eat a clean, natural diet, your hunger cravings dissapper and you really learn to know your body! (I hope that wasnt to confusing haha...but i don't get anymore food cravings and i'm sooo much less hungry)
When you are first starting working out, your body will make you retain water. This water retention is a form of self preservation, so to speak, as the water retained goes into the muscle groups you have been newly working (the same happens when you use a new muscle group when you start a new routine). So, if you change up your routine at all, you may see a difference on the scale (like you would have lost in the beginning, but gain a couple days later) you will lose this within a few days. DON'T GIVE UP, THIS IS NATURAL. As for plateaus, here's some information on how to conquer them from Jillian Micheals: Dealing With Weight-Loss Plateaus Q. How can I bust through a weight-loss plateau? I've been working really hard and have been having success; however, the scale hasn't budged for the past two and a half weeks. A. Let me just tell you this, a weight-loss plateau is an integral part of weight loss. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED! It is your body's way of protecting you for survival purposes. The weight-loss plateau occurs because your body thinks there is a famine and has slowed your metabolism in order to conserve calories. This will happen periodically throughout your weight-loss odyssey. That said, a plateau will usually break on its own after about three weeks, but here are several ways to help get your metabolism back on track quickly! Exercise Tips 1. Variety: Often we fall into an exercise routine — meaning that we do the same workout regimen for weeks at a time. Think of it like this: if you do 10 push-ups after not working out for months, you will be sore, but if you do 10 push-ups a day for 10 days in a row, you will no longer be sore. This is because your body adapts to your exercise program, and as it adapts, the workout becomes less challenging — and, unfortunately, less effective. The solution is variety. You have to mix up your exercise routine in order to consistently shock your system. Here are a few different ways to mix up your workout: 1. Alternate the weight — one week lift heavy, and the next week lift light. 2. Change the number of repetitions. This usually goes hand in hand with the amount of weight you are lifting: one week heavy weights, low reps; the next week light weights, high reps. 3. Change the exercise: One week do a chest press, the next week a chest fly, and the next week push-ups. 2. Intensity: The best way to speed up your metabolism is to boost the intensity of your training. By picking up the intensity, you'll burn more calories, challenge your body, and literally force your metabolism to burn a little brighter because of all the energy your body needs to complete your exercise regimen. Food Tips 1. Eat more: Ninety percent of the time plateaus are caused by your body's survival mechanism of protecting against famine, which is triggered by calorie reduction. The best way to fix this quickly is to give your body a little more food so it feels secure. Varying your calorie intake is my best advice for keeping your body from plateauing: For the next three days vary your calorie intake between 1,800 and 2,400 calories. I know this may sound crazy, but trust me...I know what I'm doing. Then, after three days, drop back down to the calorie allowance that I have set for you through this program. 2. Reduce your sodium and DRINK LOTS OF WATER: Keep your sodium under 1,500 mg a day at most for as long as you can manage. You can achieve this in part by cutting all processed food out of your diet for two weeks. I promise you that if you follow these tips to the letter, your plateau will be shattered by the end of week 2! GOOD LUCK LADIES!!