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any little tricks?

So I've been pretty good at the exercise thing, and really good at the diet thing... and I've lost weight...but I hit a plateau! I've been at the same weight for a month now, after a constant pattern of losing 1 pound a week. I've been trying to change things up and do interval training to boost my metabolism, and change up my foods so my body doesnt get too used to things... but nothing is helping! I'm just curious if anyone has any little tips or tricks that worked for them to boost their weight loss? I cant really add on more exercise time because i have a full time job and its hard enough for me to squeeze in the daily work out as it is.

Fri. Apr 7, 10:14pm

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look for lower calorie foods to replace your curent one.
skim milk instead of 2% milk
Baked chips instead of reg
water instead of soda
look for lower calorie bread, and dressing, etc

that should help without changing what you are eating now

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 12:32 AM

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Most of us are already doing those things.


Saturday, April 08, 2006, 4:58 AM

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For me, carbs make me gain weight. (I know people say it's all about calories in versus calories out, but honestly, if I eat 200 cals of pasta vs. 200 cals of protein, my body can tell the difference, and I gain vs. lose.) "Play" around with your food for a bit, and see if you can recognize any gain/lose patterns relative to the type of food you eat. For some people it's sugar, for others it's dairy, or carbs... Hopefully this helps.

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 8:18 AM

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Try a different KIND of exercise. If you normally walk/jog, do biking or swimming. Try pilates or yoga. Take an exercise class. Try working out with a friend. Do little exercises that you can add to your day - butt clenches while standing in line or sitting at your desk, lunges or squats when on the phone. If you are not doing weight lifting - DO IT! Add muscle, use more calories.

-Star

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 8:53 AM

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You might be at a point where your adding more muscle mass and your weight has stagnated but your fat may still be coming off. I don't weigh myself because when I workout and use weights my muscle mass won't let me get below 175 pounds. If I didn't lift weights I could get down to 170 pounds or less but I look a little scrawny if I don't have the muscle. Don't worry I think a lot of people have your problem because they only go by the scale. You have other factors that make up your weight also like water, so don't worry if you don't lose for a month. Hang in there

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 9:52 AM

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how many calories a day have you been eating during your weight loss? sometimes we plateau because our metabolism has slowed down due to not taking in enough food . . .our body literally thinks we are "starving" and tries to compensate for it. In addition to varying your workouts, if you have been restrictive with your calories, I say up your calories intake a couple hundred a day, for at least a week . . .this can jump start your metabolism again. I lost 30 lbs, then plateaued for a LONG time . . adding more calories breifly helped me get going again (it sounds nuts but it's true!).

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 10:23 AM

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Dont know how accurate this is, but in this month's Glamour it says some people eat less and exercise then hit a plateau because you have to continue to eat less (even lessER) as your body gets smaller. It makes sense, but I dont believe EVERYTHING i read :) Just passing it along....

Saturday, April 08, 2006, 1:52 PM

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I agree with both 10:23 and 1:52 as weird as that sounds since their advice seems opposite.

For 10:23 I've noticed that when dieting if I increase my calories (for me a weekend normally works) when I go back to restricting my calories the weight seems to come off easier again for awhile. From what I've heard your body thought you were starving but by increasing the calories for a short time you let it know your not starving so that when you reduce the calories again your body isn't trying to hard to store the fat.

For 1:52 as you lose weight your body requires less calories. I started dieting I was 5'8 and 180lbs, my BMR (number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day and did nothing) calculated was 1626 calories per day. Now I'm down to 145 and my BMR calculates as 1473 calories per day. When I started my dieted I restricted myself to 1400 calories per day which you can see caused a big deficit which helped me to lose weight. At my current weight though 1400 doesn't create much of a deficit at all and is actually more of a maintenance calorie requirement than a weight loss calorie requirement so I've found I need to cut my calories yet again in order to continue to lose weight.

Link

Monday, November 27, 2006, 9:34 AM

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Take off from working out for a week. Only a week. You'll be amazed at how much weight you can lose by taking a vacation from the routine.

Monday, November 27, 2006, 11:05 AM

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have you tracked your progress by measuring yourself with a tape measure? if you are only going by what the scale says, it may not be that your progress has slowed as much as you think...just a thought.

Monday, November 27, 2006, 12:08 PM

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All of this advice is something to think about!

If I hit a plateau I would try to:
do an exercise I'd never done before to challenge myself,
stop counting calories for 3-4 days and just listen to my body
add heavier weight/more reps to my strength routine

Don't give up! And remember that starving yourself can slow your metabolism by up to 30%!! Good luck!

Chapter1




Monday, November 27, 2006, 1:23 PM

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BMR

If you guys are calculating your BMR just for laying in bed all day, you need to factor in activity you do (not just exercise, but daily life), and then cut back from that to get your daily calorie intake.

For example:
My BMR is 1347. If I am sedentary, I multiply by 1.2 and get 1616. That means I could eat 1616 calories every day and maintain my weight. Or I could cut back to 1200 calories and lose weight, without any exercise at all. Or I could cut back to 1300 calories and add exercise to lose even more weight.

Another way to calculate is to figure in your exercise to start with, and then subtract calories. For example, if my BMR is 1347, and I exercise 3-5 days a week, I burn 2088 calories a day. I could eat that many and maintain my weight, or cut back to 1500 calories and lose weight.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006, 9:19 PM

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What the BMR calculators give you is an average for everyone with the same details as you. Beware - I had a personal measurement taken by a dietitian with a breathing machine thing and it gave me a number 150 calories *less* than the above calculator.

To the OP: I totally vote for taking a week off from everything. It has worked for me *twice* already.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006, 9:32 PM

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bump

Saturday, June 07, 2008, 2:02 PM

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