![]() ![]() I don’t care who you are it’s very resistant to anything that takes it out of its comfort zone (a.k.a. And when you understand why–or, more importantly, accept this reality–it changes everything. You must stall in order to move forward (again). To put it another way, your plateau is a necessary part of the process. On those weeks when the scale doesn’t change, it’s not necessarily a sign that your body has reached its weight-loss limit. That means you might lose four pounds one week and zero the next. The thing is - and what no one tells you - steps two and three (stalled progress/plateau) are often an important part of the weight-loss process.ĭropping one to two pounds per week is considered healthy, but it’s also the average. If you believe some studies, the average person diets for an average of 6 weeks - followed by 14 weeks “off” a diet. This process usually happens in less than 6 weeks. Step 5: You’re pissed off, frustrated, and quit. Step 3: You’re still not seeing any changes. Step 1: You lose weight (sometimes, a lot, and very fast) ![]() But most people quit before significant weight loss occurs. (This research reviewed 71 studies and didn’t find a significant drop in metabolism.) We also know that if you’re patient about (focus on losing one to two pounds per week at most), then you’re more likely to keep it off for good. We know that as you lose weight, your metabolism tends to slow down –although it’s not absolute. The good news: When it appears to stop working, it’s actually still working.Ĭonfused? Stay with me and it’ll make more sense. You don’t see changes, and you believe that either you or the plan are no longer functioning. Why do you really gain weight?įirst, some bad news: All nutritional approaches or diet plans stop “working” at some point. When that happens, everything changes and anyone can build a plan that ensures they’re not another sad statistic. Instead, it starts with changing your definition of “success,” setting aside instant gratification, and understanding how weight loss actually works. While many people do, in fact, gain weight they previously lost, it’s not because dropping fat is “mission impossible.” This is an especially important point because some research (and recent media coverage) suggests that long-term weight loss is hopeless. At least, that’s the case for those who successfully keep the weight off. And most of the time, these successes happen over the course of months (or even years), not five episodes on a television show. I’ve worked with clients who have lost 100 to 200 pounds. But it all starts with believing a simple truth that is starting to feel more like myth than reality: You can transform your body. It’s the same approach I’ve used to coach hundreds of overweight people to better health and fitness and more happiness. Then I could finally focus on the other part of the weight-loss battle: building a realistic plan for my body. I shifted away from gimmick diets and “four -week plans ” and focused on blocking out my negative thoughts and becoming happier with who I was. My ultimate success was a byproduct of many (many) failures and learning how to overcome times of despair and lost hope. It’s not like the shirt protected my skin from the water, but I digress… ) (I’ll never understand how I thought this explanation would work. I’d go as far as telling people I was allergic to chlorine to keep my T-shirt on in the pool. The part missing from the fast-forwarded version is that I struggled with weight loss (and the dreaded weight loss plateau) and body image for years. The chubby guy who needed his pants tailored for his Bar Mitzvah because they didn’t make suits for young men with a waist so big and height so… restricted. While unpacking boxes after a recent move, I found an entry from 1991 (I was 9) that read: “I don’t have to always fit into big pants.” I’ve been journaling–somewhat consistently–since second grade. Long-Term Weight Loss Is Real (But You’ve Been Fooled) If more people understood that plateau is a part of weight loss, then they wouldn’t quit prematurely. But if you’ve ever found that you gain weight when you diet, it’s likely the missing piece of the puzzle that can change everything. The answer is something known as “set point theory,” which probably means nothing to you. So what, then, causes the big divide between those that keep pounds off and those that gain them back? We know this because people lose weight and can keep it off. While there are many (many) bad diets that can easily be blamed for why you gain weight, most diets are designed to work. Why is it that most diets cause weight loss followed by a period where you gain weight? It’s a mystery that leads most people to believe that the entire diet industry is a hoax. ![]()
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