What Is the Best Way to Overcome a Plateau?
Q: I think I am doing everything I should do on my Zone Diet, and still I am not losing weight. Any suggestions?
Kelly, 25, San Francisco, CA
A: The best way to overcome a plateau is to stop for moment and take a deep breath. The more you stress yourself out, the worse the outcome would be.
When you are losing weight at a very slow pace, you need to double-check every step of your dieting routine to find a hidden cause of the plateau.
To begin with, you must be very honest with yourself. Are you eating too much of a good thing? Are you drinking too much fruit juice, red wine, or eating too much salad with croutons and olive oil? Even bingeing on nuts can slow down your weight gain.
Pay close attention to your snacks. One of the mistakes dieters do is choosing low calorie snacks with no added sugar. However, fruit and nuts contain natural sugar and loads of plant oils.
When you eat may also have an effect on the speed at which you lose weight. If you usually eat dinner after 7:00 p.m., you may find it difficult to lose weight because there is not enough time to digest the food before bedtime.
You should be drinking at least sixty-four ounces of water daily. Low fluid intake can affect your weight loss. Coffee and alcohol drinks don’t count as water! In fact, they leach water from your body, so you need to follow up each coffee cup with two glasses of water. Soft drinks should be avoided as much as possible. Drink something hot in the morning to get the metabolism going at full speed – some hot water with a pinch of a lemon would be just great. Some people swear by water with a tablespoon apple cider vinegar.
Keep in mind that you cannot lose weight without exercise. Sometimes you hit a plateau when you decrease your level of activity. This will cause your metabolism to slow down and those slow your weight loss efforts. Find an activity that keeps you motivated.
If a plateau takes too much efforts to overcome, stop for a minute and think: maybe you have already reached your perfect weight? If that’s so, you won’t be able to shed pounds as quickly as in the beginning. Instead, start maintaining your healthy diet habits so they become your natural way of eating.
