Weight Loss Plateaus -- 7 Easy Steps to Overcome It

Written by Tracy Lee


Have you ever experienced this scenario before?

"I have successfully lost 15 ofrepparttar 25 pounds that I want to lose, but now I am stuck atrepparttar 147167 same weight even though I am faithfully controlling my food intake and doing my exercises. What happened? Isrepparttar 147168 diet not working anymore?"

Yes, many women over 40 start off their weight loss programs full of excitement and determination, and indeed you do seerepparttar 147169 pounds dropping off overrepparttar 147170 first few weeks.

That's great, of course.

However,repparttar 147171 next thing you know is that your progress has come to a dead stop...

...and you have just hitrepparttar 147172 dreaded weight loss "plateau."

But don't despair -- you are _not_repparttar 147173 only one experiencing this.

Hitting a plateau is a common experience for most women over 40 on a weight loss program.

And it can be one ofrepparttar 147174 most de-motivating things to happen.

Thankfully, overcoming it is easy... IF you knowrepparttar 147175 simple steps you can take.

Today, I'm going to show you some very simple and specific steps you can take to overcome your plateaus:

1. Be careful ofrepparttar 147176 little things: It's easy to lapse into complacency over time, so I suggest that you keep a food diary. Writing down what you eat each day can help you to spot those times when you might be taking in more food than you realize. A little snack here and there can (and will) add up to a lot of extra calories.

2. It may not berepparttar 147177 food: Sometimes, it's notrepparttar 147178 food per se that isrepparttar 147179 cause ofrepparttar 147180 plateau. For example, work or family stress may berepparttar 147181 culprit instead. Stress can cause you to want to go dig into that tub of chocolate ice cream. If you are feeling stressed, it's important to acknowledge it right now, and go find some other forms of relief other than reaching out for more (typically unhealthy) food. Go take a walk, listen to music or play with your dog instead!

Is the new “high-protein low-saturated fat” diet the answer to weight loss?

Written by John Tiniakos


The heated debate, within diet circles, that began a few years ago and continues today is overrepparttar effectiveness ofrepparttar 147049 high-protein, low-carbohydrate, type diet versus its counterpart,repparttar 147050 high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.

Torepparttar 147051 delight ofrepparttar 147052 Atkins diet enthusiasts, recent studies have suggested that a diet high in protein and low in fat has a greater effect on diet induced thermogenesis (calorie burning) than a high carbohydrate low fat diet.

Before we go further we need to familiarize you with a few terms we will be discussing in this article. Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) isrepparttar 147053 total energy your body burns in a day. TDEE consists of 3 components: diet induced thermogenesis (DIT), basal metabolism, and physical activity.

DIT isrepparttar 147054 increase inrepparttar 147055 body’s temperature that is caused byrepparttar 147056 digestion and absorption of a meal. This rise in temperature results in calorie burning. Yes, we actually burn calories simply by eating and scientists have long believed that DIT may be a factor, in reducing obesity; and that obese people may have defective DITs - although this hasn’t been proven yet. Once scientists identifyrepparttar 147057 link between DIT and obesity on a molecular level, it could essentially paverepparttar 147058 way forrepparttar 147059 development of drugs inrepparttar 147060 treatment of obesity. That’s still however, inrepparttar 147061 future.

In a recent study atrepparttar 147062 University of Arizona, published byrepparttar 147063 American College of Nutrition, a group of young healthy women were given 2 sets of diets. (1) One diet was high in protein and low in fat andrepparttar 147064 other was high in carbohydrate and low in fat. Scientists were trying to comparerepparttar 147065 thermic effect (DIT) of protein versus carbohydrate duringrepparttar 147066 digestion and absorption of meals. Keep in mind, asrepparttar 147067 body’s temperature increases (by DIT), so doesrepparttar 147068 number of burned calories.

Evidence from this study showed that postprandial (following a meal) thermogenesis increased 100% more withrepparttar 147069 high-protein low-fat diet versusrepparttar 147070 high-carb low-fat diet. Although protein had a greater effect on DIT,repparttar 147071 study did not evaluate weight loss orrepparttar 147072 long term effects of this type of diet. The results did suggest that this type of diet may have a positive effect on weight loss.

Scientists concluded that a diet high in protein, moderate in carbohydrate and low in fat contents may promote a higher rate of weight loss compared torepparttar 147073 high carbohydrate, low fat diet. Onrepparttar 147074 other hand, they also warn that high protein diets may affect kidney function in those that have kidney conditions, but not in healthy individuals.

Furthermore, they recommend daily protein intake should not exceed 2 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight. The American daily average is 1 gram per 1 kilogram. Further studies are required to assessrepparttar 147075 long term effects of high protein, low fat dieting.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that DIT orrepparttar 147076 thermic effect of a meal only represents 3-10% of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). So we must keep things in perspective. Basal or resting metabolism accounts for up to 70% of TDEE and energy expenditure from exercise is responsible forrepparttar 147077 rest. Logic dictates, therefore that these two take precedence over DIT.

The other big influencing factor in weight loss isrepparttar 147078 reduction of daily food intake. Let’s look atrepparttar 147079 input/output equation: x (Input) – y (Output) = z. Daily output and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) arerepparttar 147080 same thing. If you ate fewer calories (x) than your body burned (y), z would have a negative value. If you consumed more calories than your body expended, z would be positive. A negative balance inrepparttar 147081 equation results in weight loss, a positive value causes weight gain. It’s that simple.

Inrepparttar 147082 above study,repparttar 147083 high protein low fat type diet involves 2 factors of Input: Food composition and food quantity. In this diet, food composition (food selection) consists of a certain combination of macronutrients (high protein, low fat). Food intake (Input) affectsrepparttar 147084 DIT which causes a certain increase (energy expenditure) onrepparttar 147085 Output part ofrepparttar 147086 equation. And, as food composition varies so doesrepparttar 147087 DIT. Food composition, though, can only have a limited effect on DIT. Remember DIT only represents 3-10% ofrepparttar 147088 TDEE (Output). And food composition (high-protein, low-fat), accounts for a percentage of DIT, which represents even a smaller value. Food quantity, onrepparttar 147089 other hand, can have a tremendous effect onrepparttar 147090 equation – as it increases,repparttar 147091 balance becomes more positive. If it surpasses TDEE then you gain weight - quite independently of DIT.

As a result, there can be a downside with respect to DIT involvingrepparttar 147092 high-protein low-fat diet or any diet for that matter. With this diet, as protein intake increases so doesrepparttar 147093 DIT. The problem is, however, thatrepparttar 147094 food quantity (Input) also increases. The point here is that there is a limit torepparttar 147095 amount of protein you can ingest before your body starts storing it as fat. Because DIT doesn’t account for expending a lot of calories (3-10% of TDEE), and food composition (high-protein, low-fat) accounts for a percentage of DIT, there’s only so much protein you can ingest before you start getting a surplus of calories. And excess dietary protein just as excess carbohydrate or fat is stored as fat inrepparttar 147096 body’s adipose tissue. The only other factor that can compensate forrepparttar 147097 excess of protein intake is an increase in exercise participation. Although, that would defeatrepparttar 147098 purpose for obvious reasons.

Physical activity, however, can have a large effect onrepparttar 147099 Output part on TDEE (Output). Not only does it account for a much larger energy expenditure than DIT, countless of studies have shown that regular physical activity actually increases basal metabolism, which accounts for up to 70% of TDEE. As a result, regular exercise participation essentially has a compounding effect onrepparttar 147100 calorie burning process.

As we can see then,repparttar 147101 bulk of weight loss and weight gain comes down torepparttar 147102 quantity of calories ingested (Input) and calories burned (output). Furthermore, exercise and metabolism are responsible for approximately 90%-97% of TDEE. Energy expenditure from DIT is almost insignificant in comparison. DIT is just not effective enough to produce a negative caloric balance independently of total caloric intake, energy expenditure from exercise and basal metabolism - especially for most overweight individuals. And it would be unrealistic for overweight or obese people to rely exclusively on DIT to lose weight. These people are either overeating, aren’t active enough or have low basal metabolic rates - or a combination of all three factors.

So, it still looks like there’s no easy way out – you actually have to work, if you you’re going to lose weight. The easiest way to achieve that is withrepparttar 147103 efficient use of all Input and Output components. That also means you must know your priorities. Most of your efforts should be spent in finding an adequate balance between a reduction of total daily caloric intake and a sufficient level of physical activity. And emphasis on DIT should take on a secondary role.

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