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Just when you're losing weight and feeling great on a weight-loss program, you suddenly stop seeing results or hit a so-called plateau. Unless you continually revise your program to reflect the changes your body has already experienced, you can almost be guaranteed to plateau at some point on your way to your goal weight. The first thing you should do upon hitting a plateau is try to determine the cause. Could you be eating more calories than you think? Research shows that most people don’t know how to make an accurate assessment of how much they’re eating and often underestimate their intake And even if you’re eating fewer calories than before you lost the weight, you could be eating just enough to maintain your current weight and therefore won't lose. Why? Well, people’s bodies adjust their metabolism to resist weight change. This means that you burn fewer calories when you start consuming fewer calories. So, while a diet of 1,800 calories per day helped you lose a certain amount of weight, if you’ve hit a plateau, it could be that 1,800 calories is the exact amount you need to stay at your current weight. Once you hit a plateau, you have two options 1)Lower your caloric intake further or 2) increase the amount of time you spend being physically active. Lowering your calories is less desirable because you may not be able to get sufficient nutrients from a diet that is very low in calories (less than 1,200 kcals in women and 1,500 kcal in men) and it is difficult to stick with it for very long. It is much better to moderately reduce calories to a maintainable level when you reach your goal weight. Also not recommended is trying to exercise for several hours per day to burn more calories because it is a good way to set yourself up for failure. Not only does this type of routine require a huge time commitment, it is hard on the body, making you more prone to injury and overtraining. Instead, aim for 30 minutes of moderate activity most of the days of the week and, as you become more fit, gradually increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions. Choose activities that you find enjoyable so you will do it consistently. Another way to get off the plateau is strength training, which has been shown to be very effective in helping people manage their weight because the added muscle helps to offset the metabolism-lowering effect of dieting. Muscle is much more metabolically active than fat; therefore, the more muscle you can add, the higher your metabolism will be. The key to getting off the plateau is to vary your program so the body does not adapt to your current routine.
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