Tips to Getting off the Weight-loss Plateau

You’ve diligently worked hard to improve your diet and exercise habits and have been rewarded by dropping some pounds, having more energy and feeling all around better about yourself. But then, for no apparent reason, the scale doesn't budge — even though you're still eating a healthy, low-calorie diet and exercising regularly. You've hit a weight-loss plateau.
Before you allow yourself to quit and get discouraged, you need to realize that it's normal for weight loss to slow and even stall. By understanding what causes a weight-loss plateau, you can chose how to respond and avoid backsliding on your healthy-eating and exercise habits.
A plateau occurs because your metabolism — the process of burning calories for energy — slows as you lose lean tissue (muscle). When you lose weight, you lose both fat and lean tissue. (The notion that overweight people have a slower metabolism is a myth. In general, the higher a person's weight, the higher the body's metabolic rate.) Your weight-loss efforts result in a new equilibrium with your now slower metabolism. (MayoClinic.com), this means that in order to lose more weight, you need to increase activity while eating a low glycemic diet. Using the same approach that worked before can maintain your weight loss, but you will not lose more weight.
If you’re not satisfied with your weight and are committed to lose more, here are some tips that may help:
• Reassess your habits. Look back at your food and activity records. Make sure you haven't slacked off with your eating and exercising. This is where journaling is important.
• Do a 7 day detox. This is a fruit and vegetable cleanse. Detox removes toxins and cleanses your palate so you don’t crave carbohydrates, sweets or fatty foods. It will help you get back on track.
• Vary your exercise routine. If you’re coming to the gym and you’re doing the same thing every time, change your workout. Also, increase the amount of time you exercise by an additional 15 to 30 minutes. You may also increase the intensity of your workout. Of course, additional exercise will cause you to burn more calories and increase muscle mass. Remember, muscle dictates metabolism.
• Drink more water. If you are not drinking enough water during the day, your body may be retaining water, adding to the numbers on the scale. It’s recommended to consume about half your body weight in ounces of water.
Plateaus can be discouraging, by making these adjustments, getting some support and education from an experienced coach can get you on the right track. Consider coming to my next Transitions Lifestyle overview May 31st, 7pm at Foxcliff South Clubhouse. You will learn how not to diet, but how to eat for life! Please RSVP.

The Dangers of Crash Dieting

Many turn to crash dieting when they need to lose weight and want to lose it quick! Many will fast for a day or two and think they solved the problem. Or, they chose whatever diet they find that they believe will do the trick. No matter what diet you try, you lose only a few pounds and then gain back more than what you started with. Only if you knew how disadvantageous crash diets can be in the long run, would you think otherwise!
Here are reasons why crash diets are dangerous:
• Weakened Immunity If the body is not provided with the right nourishment, its immunity gets weakened. A person is much more likely to contract infections and diseases, due to this. Therefore, going on a crash diet is like giving an invitation to all kinds of infections and diseases.
• Lack of Energy One of the dangers of crash dieting may cause lack of energy in a person. Extreme fatigue, dizziness, inability to concentrate or focus, all these are commonly experienced by people who are on a diet. These conditions can adversely affect the work performance and keep a person from exercising.
• Weight Gain Yes, crash dieting can actually lead to weight gain. Reason being that when the body receives lesser calories, it starts relying on the stores of fat and energy that are already there in it. This means that the metabolism of the body becomes slow and thus, a person is not able to eliminate fats quickly, leading to weight gain.
• Diseases and Adverse Health Conditions One of the dangers of crash dieting is that it can have unfavorable effects on your heart health. High blood pressure, risk of a heart attack, and blockage of arteries, are some of the conditions that can develop if a person goes on a diet every now and then. Due to lack of nutrition caused by crash dieting, other health conditions and diseases that can possibly occur. These are; diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney stones, liver failure, high cholesterol, fractures, gallstones and eating disorders.
Looking at these dangers of crash dieting, it can be concluded that this is the last means that you should use for losing weight. If you are really serious about your health and want to attain your ideal weight, educating yourself on nutrition, exercising and changing habits is the key.
Get started by coming to my Transitions Lifestyle overview, May 31, 7pm at Foxcliff South Clubhouse. Please RSVP.

Gluten May Cause Weight Gain

Is there a correlation to weight gain and gluten? As many as 75% of overweight and obese people in the U.S. may be addicted to either carbohydrates or the protein called gluten, which is found in all wheat, rye, barley and oat products.
Large consumption of desserts, breakfast cereals, and pastas can cause extreme amounts of weight gain. A carbohydrate addiction, in actuality is caused by excess insulin, which is released by the pancreas into the blood stream when carb-rich foods are eaten. Insulin signals the body to take in food and, once the food is consumed, orders the resulting energy to be stored in the form of fat. Too much insulin results in an irresistible and frequent desire to eat. (weight.insulitelabs.com/Addiction.php)
Much of the American diet is made up of gluten and many people are now being diagnosed as gluten sensitive or worse, Celiac Disease. You may have heard of Celiac Disease, an extreme reaction to any product containing gluten, a protein found in wheat. Symptoms are watery and bloody stools. The immune systems of those with Celiac Disease are reacting severely to this protein, yet there are thousands of people who suffer milder reactions to gluten and are oblivious to what the cause is.
If you are overweight or obese, there is a good chance you are carbohydrate or gluten-addicted. However, it's not necessarily true that you over-eat, just that you are trapped in the bad habit of always eating the wrong kinds of carbs or gluten- rich foods, while leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Being educated on eating a healthy low glycemic diet can help avoid carb addictions. That is why in my Transitions classes the first seven days is a fruit and vegetable cleanse. This helps break carb addictions, sweet addictions and caffeine addictions. We also recommend no grains for the first few weeks. Many people have found out they are gluten sensitive by removing gluten completely from their diets for a while and feel remarkably better.
Changing habits and re-training your mind is one of the key factors to improving your health as well as, education and support of an experienced Lifestyle Coach. The next step may be to come to the next Transitions Lifestyle overview May 31st at the Foxcliff South Clubhouse, Martinsville at 7pm. Please RSVP.

Parents Play a Vital Role in the Health of a Child

The number of overweight children in America has skyrocketed. Today approximately nine million children over 6 years of age are considered extremely overweight and 54% of American children say they are concerned about their weight. This has occurred over the past three decades and continues to be on the rise.
Obesity is a vicious cycle. Research has shown that overweight parents are the single most predictor of weight problems in children. Parents play an important role in teaching their children to lead a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that if both parents are a healthy weight, the child only has about a 7% chance of being overweight. If one parent is overweight, they have a 70% chance of being overweight. If both parents are overweight, that risk increases to 80%.
Parents play a vital role in the health of a child. If home cooked, healthy meals are prepared on a daily basis, this makes a huge difference on how a child eats throughout his life. Also, if healthy snacks such as: fruits, vegetables, whole wheat crackers, yogurt, etc. available, then that is what the child will eat. Instead, if candy, soda or chips are readily available; these are what the child will get in the habit of eating.
Also, if parents are active and regularly exercise or take their children to do family activities, this will also become a healthy habit. Children form habits at a very early age so taking your children to do active things early on is very important. When our children were babies we put them on our backs and enjoyed taking hikes often. This was fun, and since then they have always loved hiking.
As a parent, overcoming your own unhealthy habits will contribute to the habits of your children. Genetic makeup may predispose a child to being overweight but the child’s environment is the greatest contributor.
Many times I hear my clients in my weight-loss classes say after they’ve changed their diets and added more healthy foods; their children also ate healthier. At first they did not believe they could change their family’s food dynamics, but when they took the initiative and set the standard, they saw a change. It’s not always easy to talk your family into trying different foods, but if you can get creative and not give up it will be worth it!