Stalled? Jumpstart weight loss with these tips
Feel “stalled” and like your effort isn’t paying off! What do they need? They need to jumpstart weight loss again! It could simply be you need to refocus on some of the core principles that will help kickstart your weight loss! Make sure to instill these 7 tips into your daily life and jumpstart weight loss again!
Let’s Jumpstart Weight Loss
I’ve had so many clients tell me they are eating right, exercising, sticking to the plan, and still, they just can’t seem to get the number on the scale to move.
It is very frustrating and discouraging but often it’s just a small adjustment that can make all the difference and get them moving in the right direction again.
7 strategies to get the scale moving:
1. Don’t neglect your food and fitness log.
This sounds like it couldn’t possibly make that much difference and once people get into a routine that’s working, they just stop writing down their meals and exercise.
A study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, found that overweight and obese women in diet only or diet plus exercise weight loss groups all lost weight. However, those who kept food journals lost six extra pounds.
Often we begin slipping into old habits without even realizing it and we are eating more than we intended.
When you keep your log, if you begin seeing the needle on the scale stuck, you can easily go back and see what you may be doing differently and make the necessary adjustment.
Keep it simple – log everything you eat and drink, including amounts, don’t forget to log your water intake and note what your exercise routine was for the day.
Then once a week note your weight – this will keep you on track easily. I prefer a physical notebook, but if you prefer technology http://www.myfitnesspal.com works with any plan you are on.
2. Don’t skimp on protein, especially for breakfast!
Adequate protein throughout the day boosts fat burning. It’s especially important to include clean protein with breakfast. Studies prove that starting the day with a form of clean protein instead of just carbs can reduce the risk of fatigue by up to 75% for 6 hours and double your energy within 30 minutes!
Another study found women who included protein in their breakfast meal lost weight 65% faster. By the way, it works for men too.
When you overeat on a low protein diet, you store bad fat around your organs including the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. But if you eat a high protein diet, you add muscle and increase your resting metabolism and muscle mass. Since muscle burns seven times as many calories as fat that’s a very good thing!
3. You’re skimping on water.
The basic formula for proper hydration is to drink at least one-half of your body weight in ounces daily.
I suggest adding ¼ tsp. of natural, unprocessed sea salt for every 32 oz. you drink. Salt is the essential compound that allows your body to hold and move water throughout your body’s trillions of cells! Without salt and water dehydration occurs. But be sure it is not processed white table salt. It is all too easy to slack off on this and it makes a huge difference.
If you’ve let this habit slide – gradually get back into it. Begin by making sure you drink 16 oz. of water upon awakening as well as 20-30 minutes before each meal.
Studies show it boosts metabolism by up to 30%. It also blunts hunger and muscle cells grow faster when they’re well-hydrated – a win-win-win!
4. Don’t forget about probiotics.
Numerous studies show that having adequate good bacteria in your digestive system is critical. Studies reveal that gut bacteria alter how the body absorbs calories from food.
If you don’t typically include kefir, yogurt, or other fermented foods like kimchi and miso in your meals, be sure to periodically take a high-quality probiotic supplement. Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut” and it’s never been truer than it is today.
Don’t overlook your gut health – it can be the simple, missing piece to successful weight loss and maintenance as well as overall health.
5. You’re skimping on healthy fat and fiber.
You need fat to burn fat as long as it’s healthy fat like pasture butter, coconut, olive, hemp and flax oils, salmon, sardines, avocados, nuts, and seeds.
Often clients think if they cut back on fats it will boost their fat loss efforts and that’s just not the case. Having adequate fat in your meals helps keep you feeling satiated and you will find you eat fewer calories overall.
In fact, including nutrient-dense healthy fats keep blood sugar from spiking which keeps weight loss from stalling. Skimping on fiber is also a mistake.
Fiber not only makes you feel fuller, it also acts as an internal broom sweeping toxins out of your system, which can also halt weight loss.
If you are eating lots of fresh veggies, especially leafy greens, as well as beans and legumes, you should be getting plenty of fiber.
6. You are sitting too much.
Even if you work out five days a week, if you sit for long periods of time at your computer, desk, or in the car, you could be setting yourself up for weight gain.
Lipase, the enzyme that absorbs fats, stops circulating when you sit for prolonged periods. So instead of being absorbed by your muscles, those healthy fats you are eating continue to circulate in your bloodstream and will likely end up being stored as body fat.
Also, according to ScienceDaily.com enzymes in the blood vessels of your muscles that are responsible for fat burning shut off within hours of not standing or moving. In fact, after just one hour of sitting the production of those fat-burning enzymes declines by as much as 90%!
Set an alarm on your smart phone or set a timer and at least get up and stretch and move your body every 30 or 40 minutes throughout the day.
7. You never cut yourself some slack.
I always tell clients it is not what you do between Thanksgiving and New Year that counts, it’s what you do between New Year and Thanksgiving – in other words, it’s the day-to-day things that make a difference overall.
Going off your meal plan for a special dinner out, a party or a holiday will not ruin all your efforts. Just don’t let it go on for weeks at a time.
Wrap-Up: The 80/20 strategy
Eat healthy 80% of the time, then let yourself have some treats here and there as long as they’re worth it! If you eat clean 80% of the time the other 20% will not be an issue.
And if you constantly deprive yourself of a treat here and there you are much more likely to go off and binge and that can definitely sabotage your efforts.
Let’s jumpstart weight loss again!
- How To Lose Weight In A Healthy Manner - June 24, 2016
- 13 Simple And Easy Weight Loss Tips - May 12, 2016
- 7 Tips on How to Jumpstart Weight Loss - June 2, 2015
