Weight Loss Plateau – Steps to Break Through

An individual recently submitted the following question at the Vital Health Zone:

I am 47 years old, I weigh 75 kg. I take Breakfast-oatmeal Lunch- 3 chappathis, Dinner-2 chappathi or cornflakes. Small meal 1 apple, 1 piece papaya, and some biscuits. I go for 1 hr morning brisk walk, and do half an hour exercises. But i have not reduced. For my age and ht I should be 55kg. What should I do?

Here’s the answer I provided:

Here are a few points I recommend you think about to get yourself on track with losing the excess weight:

1. Too few calories

From the brief diet recall you shared it looks like your calorie intake could be on the low side. I do not recommend dropping your calories below 1200/day. A calorie intake that is too low interferes with your metabolism and will make your body weight loss resistant. If your calorie intake is less than 1200 I recommend gradually increasing.

2. Exercise Intensity

Evaluate the level of your exercise intensity. Burst/interval training and cross training are very effective. Keep mixing up your routine to keep your body guessing and constantly adjusting to the workout. This will maximize your calorie expenditure to promote weight loss.

3. Muscle Building

Be sure to include strength training in your fitness routine. You need to build muscle to keep your metabolic rate higher all day long, not just during a workout.

4. Sleep

Shoot for 7-9 hours of sleep every night. A lack of sleep interferes with hormone balance making weight loss difficult.

There are just a few of the factors that play a role in weight loss. A colleague of mine, JJ Virgin, just started another session of her program Fast Track to Fat Loss specifically geared towards helping individuals bust through weight loss plateaus. If you are interested in joining a program and receiving support to get over this hurdle I believe there is still time to enroll. Here’s a link to check it out – http://jjvirgin.com/cmd.php?af=1185788 (affiliate link).

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://www.hearthealthmadeeasy.com