Interesting Article about Plateaus
Jump-Start Your Diet
By Summer Ameen Kelly
Special for eDiets
ANYONE who has followed a low-carb diet for a while -- especially with a significant amount of weight to lose -- has experienced the frustration and utter exasperation of a stall.
You may be cruising along, losing as much as a couple of pounds per week, but if your goal is more than 30 pounds lost, you’re sure to hit the same wall most of us have -- and possibly more than once.
Yes, the stall comes in several varieties and each one plays an important role in your journey to success. The key is to harness the power that this hair-pulling experience has to offer you.
For newbies, the most alarming and reality-inducing element of this way of eating is what we affectionately refer to as the "post-induction stall." Whether you are following Atkins or another low-carb plan is irrelevant; the results are often the same. The initial jolt to your system -- your "induction" into a low-carb lifestyle -- is almost universally followed by the infamous third-week plateau. WHY?
The post-induction stall (whether it comes at week three, four or five) is a period of "regrouping" for your body. Your body has to find new sources for, and ways of creating, the energy you need. Its old standby, the easily accessible (not to mention, easily storable) carbohydrate, is suddenly in short supply. Your body’s initial response is to dump a bunch of fluid and even a few pounds of fat in its desperate attempt to right this "wrong."
But by week three, your body is beginning to understand that this is not some temporary, extreme situation or a passing fancy -- this looks like it’s going be the way things are for a while and this requires a little reorganization. Your body halts the fat burning for a much-needed rest and your metabolism is switched into "long-term-weight-loss" mode. This is a GOOD thing.
Many people will hit a wall several months into their weight loss journey and this often occurs in what we term, a "set-point battle." This is where weight loss suddenly and inexplicably stops at a number short of our goal. Often it is a number that has plagued us in the past -- a weight at which we were previously "stuck" for an extended period of time. Or it could be a weight you had maintained for a number of years before gaining more weight. Your body reaches this weight milestone on your current journey, "recognizes" it as a sustainable goal, and promptly STOPS. This can be absolutely infuriating, especially if this set point is well above your intended goal! It’s agonizing when you know that you are eating carefully and faithfully and exercising religiously and you still cannot make progress. But take heart; even this stall can serve a useful purpose.
Again, your body may be using this time to regroup -- your skin will certainly take this opportunity to shrink and firm up some, and your fat cells will also shrink to (hopefully) slow the possibility of future fat storage. But these later stalls serve a greater purpose -- mental more than physical. This is your trial by fire -- your proving ground, so to speak. Here is where you prove whether or not you can stick with this (or ANY) weight loss plan. (And I assure you, no matter which way of eating you choose -- low-carb, low-cal or low-fat -- you will still encounter these plateaus.)
Use this time to strengthen your resolve to new healthy eating habits. Explore your emotional connections to eating and heal the painful reminders of your diet history. Take this opportunity to venture into new avenues of exercise and push your body to new limits. Tweak your eating plan to make it more sustainable for the long term. You may just cause your stall to break and get you moving again, or you may just need to wait for your body to decide to move on, but either way you will find your post-stall self wiser, stronger, and more successful. So embrace your stall and make the best of it!
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