Don’t give up when weight hits plateau
If you've ever been on a weight-loss and/or fitness program, you've no doubt experienced it: Everything's going along swimmingly and then pow: a dreaded plateau.
What causes it? And what can you do?
"Our body's gotten pretty used to the workout we're doing, pretty used to the number of calories we're consuming, so we have to give it a little push," said Mary Wilson, a registered dietitian and extension nutrition specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.
There's something to the set-point theory, she said. "The body, I believe, has comfortable places to rest. It takes a little bit more effort. Then, once you've bridged that plateau, you start to drop again."
Sean Mullaly, owner of Lifetime Fitness Personal Training, agreed that change is good when things start to level off.
"The body's pretty resilient, but once it gets into a mode where it stays and plateaus, you've got to switch up the routine," he said.
One way to know if it's working: "The body will get sore and build some muscle."
Mullaly suggested altering the type of exercise you're doing, and/or the type of exercise equipment you're using.
"You can also switch up the number of sets and the number of repetitions," he said. "Increase the weights; that's called progressive overload."
A pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, so to lose one, you'll need to either burn that many calories or consume that many fewer calories.
As an example, if a 140-pound woman who needs 1,740 calories a day to maintain her weight cuts 250 calories a day from her diet, and then increases cardio and weight workouts to burn 350 calories, five days a week, she'll have a deficit of 3,500 calories in a week -- enough to lose a pound, Mullaly said.
And one bright spot about plateaus: When you do break through, you're probably burning fat, not water weight, which can rise and fall.
"Then maybe you can drop another 10 pounds without struggling with every single pound," Wilson said.
Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0474.
Las Vegas Losers
LAS VEGAS LOSERS UPDATE Fourteen members of the Las Vegas Losers attended the November weigh-in at the Las Vegas Athletic Clubs. They weighed a total of 3,109 pounds and gained a collective 1 pound in the previous month. They've lost 241 pounds since the program began in January. And as always, it's the individual success stories that matter. The top three Losers this month -- by percentage of weight lost -- are Max Knisely, Robert Moore and Christine Zerkich. Knisely, who lost 6 pounds, or 3.19 percent of his body weight, is exercising daily and cutting down on sweets. He will receive a fitness-oriented prize. Leslie Yowell Van Ginkel has lost the most weight since the program started, with 51 pounds, or 19.92 percent of her body weight, followed by Zerkich and Moore. Others who recorded a weight loss in the previous month were Anne Gravett and Jerry Socea.
