Your diet is chugging along well. You lost 2 pounds the first week. 1.5 the next. Then suddenly you gained a pound! And after that, nothing would come off. What's going on!?



It's common to hit a dieting plateau where progress grinds to a halt. It's understandable. After all, to lose just one pound, you need to sacrifice 3500 calories. No wonder losing weight takes so long! You're bound to experience stalls along the way.

In this article, we'll examine why these plateaus happen and how to avoid getting discouraged and giving up on your diet plan. It's the kind of weight loss information everyone embarking on a diet should be aware of.

Why You Stop Losing Weight

Have you set realistic goals? Studies show that it's almost impossible to lose more than one or two pounds a week. So don't be disappointed if it isn't melting off faster than that.

Are you being loyal to your diet? Cheating once in a while is expected but regularly deviating from the program or skipping your daily exercise can throw your progress off course. Here's a daily checklist you can run to police yourself:

1. Did I follow my weight loss plan faithfully today?

2. Did I drink 8 glasses of water or more?

3. Did I avoid eating too much salt or salty foods?

4. Did I balance my carb and protein intake, avoiding excess carbs?

5. Did I avoid eating processed foods?

6. Did I eat more calories early in the day and less later on?

7. Did I say no to after-dinner munching?

8. Did I exercise today?

9. Did I stay away from the scale?

Why is #9 such an important piece of weight loss information? Weighing yourself too frequently is discouraging so limit weigh-ins to once a week. Even so, your weight may fluctuate. But that's no reason to conclude the diet isn't working. There are many other reasons for up and down weight: constipation, large meals, drinking water before a weigh-in, water retention, wearing different clothing for weigh-ins, illness, hormones, and plain old cheating on the diet.

So stick with the eating plan regardless of these fluctuations... remember, you're in it for the long haul!

Why You Plateau

If you've been faithful to the diet plan but your weight hasn't changed for a few weeks, you've plateaued. Here's a little known piece of weight loss information: most people on a diet hit a plateau before they reach their ideal weight. It's because our bodies don't like change and try to keep body weight static.

Another startling nugget of weight loss information: fat cells never go away. You can only make them smaller or bigger. And they resist shrinkage! This is another reason you may have hit a plateau.

But just remember, plateaus don't last forever. They are temporary hurdles thrown in your path by a physiology that doesn't like change. But you can change it.

Plateau-Busting Tips

1. Increase the protein in your meals, eating cheese and nuts for snacks.

2. Keep carbs down by avoiding white flour, sugar and starchy veggies like corn and potatoes.

3. Eat frequent small meals that contain protein but very little fat.

4. Increase activity level and make it more rigorous.

5. Drink more water.

6. Don't eat within 3 hours of going to bed, especially high carb foods.

7. Reduce daily calorie intake but don't go below 1000 as this affects metabolism.

These plateau breakers are a short term plan and shouldn't be used continuously. Use them for a few days and then return to your regular program for weight loss.