There are times on the weight loss journey when progress can be stopped. Days or weeks can go by without you seeing movement on the scale, and it can be really frustrating. After working with thousands of clients, I noticed certain patterns that can cause this cessation weight loss. Here are 3 patterns.
1) Eating more than you think you are.
Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, a delivery service zones and other diet systems have one undeniable benefit to those set for the average person how much actual "serving" is. Most of us underestimate the volume of food we eat (and consequently, underestimate the number of calories we consume in a day).
By fixing in your head what the serving size or "portion" of food looks like, we can better estimate (and consequently, evaluate and calibrate) the amount of food we eat. Keep in mind, when it comes to weight loss, you need to take fewer calories you burn each day inversely.
Two good rules of thumb:
Most of the meat (3 oz.) Is the size of a deck of cards?
Carbohydrate servings (1 cup) is the size of a tennis ball.
Please remember to fill up on the free-starchy vegetables - they are full of nutrients, have very little impact on blood sugar, and contain little road calories.
2) Do not eat often enough.
It is a social custom to eat "three square meals" a day. While this may be done for social purposes, to lose weight, you'll want to aim for more frequent feedings. It is recommended that you consume at least 5-6 small meals every day. Thus, your body gets the signal that food is plentiful, and there is no need to save energy.
In addition, frequent feedings maximize your metabolism, as your body is always busy, burning calories by digesting your food. By not letting too much time pass between meals, you stabilize blood sugar levels because they never really get a chance to drop. By keeping your blood sugar stable, hunger levels are minimized, reducing the likelihood that you will be tempted to overeat at your next meal.
3) Choose to drink your calories instead of eating them.
This is a very common problem among those trying to lose weight, because of the abundance of "healthy" Smoothie, herb protein shakes and weight. There are two factors to keep in mind when relying on fluid replacement for these foods.
First, much of the liquid diet shakes on the market and all fruit smoothies have a lot of sugar in it. This causes immediate surge of energy followed by a major accident due to the release of insulin to control blood sugar rises. This dramatic shift in blood hormone levels (especially insulin levels) is something you want to avoid, both for reasons of health and weight.
Secondly, most weight loss shakes are without fiber. Fiber is one of your most valuable ally when you're on a diet. It helps you feel full and soldier’s insulin levels rise when all that sugar hits your bloodstream. While fruit smoothies contain some fiber from the pulp of the fruit, a better strategy would be to eat fruits that are actually contained in a smoothie.
Lastly, the amount of calories that can be concentrated into a shake or smoothie is far greater than the equivalent volume of actual food. 16 oz fruit smoothie may contain as many as 600 calories, and will not fill you up all that much! On the other hand, Eating 600 calories of fruit will prove to be far more than a typical person can manage in one sitting (at least, I personally do not know anyone who could eat more than 2 pounds of bananas in one sitting!).
Think about it - when making dietary changes, you want to get the most out of your calories. You do not quite fill, rather than drinking something and be hungry again soon after?
1) Eating more than you think you are.
Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, a delivery service zones and other diet systems have one undeniable benefit to those set for the average person how much actual "serving" is. Most of us underestimate the volume of food we eat (and consequently, underestimate the number of calories we consume in a day).
By fixing in your head what the serving size or "portion" of food looks like, we can better estimate (and consequently, evaluate and calibrate) the amount of food we eat. Keep in mind, when it comes to weight loss, you need to take fewer calories you burn each day inversely.
Two good rules of thumb:
Most of the meat (3 oz.) Is the size of a deck of cards?
Carbohydrate servings (1 cup) is the size of a tennis ball.
Please remember to fill up on the free-starchy vegetables - they are full of nutrients, have very little impact on blood sugar, and contain little road calories.
2) Do not eat often enough.
It is a social custom to eat "three square meals" a day. While this may be done for social purposes, to lose weight, you'll want to aim for more frequent feedings. It is recommended that you consume at least 5-6 small meals every day. Thus, your body gets the signal that food is plentiful, and there is no need to save energy.
In addition, frequent feedings maximize your metabolism, as your body is always busy, burning calories by digesting your food. By not letting too much time pass between meals, you stabilize blood sugar levels because they never really get a chance to drop. By keeping your blood sugar stable, hunger levels are minimized, reducing the likelihood that you will be tempted to overeat at your next meal.
3) Choose to drink your calories instead of eating them.
This is a very common problem among those trying to lose weight, because of the abundance of "healthy" Smoothie, herb protein shakes and weight. There are two factors to keep in mind when relying on fluid replacement for these foods.
First, much of the liquid diet shakes on the market and all fruit smoothies have a lot of sugar in it. This causes immediate surge of energy followed by a major accident due to the release of insulin to control blood sugar rises. This dramatic shift in blood hormone levels (especially insulin levels) is something you want to avoid, both for reasons of health and weight.
Secondly, most weight loss shakes are without fiber. Fiber is one of your most valuable ally when you're on a diet. It helps you feel full and soldier’s insulin levels rise when all that sugar hits your bloodstream. While fruit smoothies contain some fiber from the pulp of the fruit, a better strategy would be to eat fruits that are actually contained in a smoothie.
Lastly, the amount of calories that can be concentrated into a shake or smoothie is far greater than the equivalent volume of actual food. 16 oz fruit smoothie may contain as many as 600 calories, and will not fill you up all that much! On the other hand, Eating 600 calories of fruit will prove to be far more than a typical person can manage in one sitting (at least, I personally do not know anyone who could eat more than 2 pounds of bananas in one sitting!).
Think about it - when making dietary changes, you want to get the most out of your calories. You do not quite fill, rather than drinking something and be hungry again soon after?