how do i break out of weight loss plateau

i need help with breaking out of the weight plateau. in the past six months, with a diet (indian vegetarian) and exercise (walking one hour, half an hour yoga on most days) i dropped from 155 pounds to 140 pounds. i can't seem to go down to the targetted 130 pounds (although on one day, the scale showed 135 pounds). i'm a 50-year-old male and hate the gym. all i can do is walk or do yoga. should i incorporate dumbells and do some weight training? i walk 4 miles (6 km) every day in one hour or so and try to incorporate 30 min of yoga stretches and some pranayama, but this is irregular. meals are entirely vegetarian, heavily loaded with salads for lunch and dinner and carbs are usually only two cups a day. help!

Thu. Dec 22, 10:17am

Congrats on your accomplishments so far!

How about interval training? Would you be able to walk as fast as you can for a minute and then recover for a few minutes and do it again. When you increase your heart rate and then drop it and then increase, etc...it will help you to burn more calories. You can gradually build up to doing more intervals.

You could also add strength intervals or intense cardio to your walks. For example, walk 5 minutes and then stop to do jumping jacks, push ups, squats, lunges, etc... and then walk and repeat.

Are you eating enough protein? Are you getting enough calories? People in your groups may be able to help further because they could see what you are actually eating.

Best of luck to you.

Thursday, December 22, 2005, 10:30 AM

Water

Drink lots of water.

Thursday, December 22, 2005, 2:15 PM

I wish you luck, but it sounds like you may already be at a healthy weight. I don't know your height or frame, but wanted to make sure you are focused on the right things. Keep up the good work, with eating well, doing yoga, and walking!

Thursday, December 22, 2005, 3:02 PM

try different exercises

Vary the kind and intensity of the exercises you do. If you can incorporate swimming or riding a bike, that would help trick your body into believing it must burn more calories. You've hit a plateau because your body has got used to the amount of food you eat and the workout. You can also try increasing the food intake a wee bit and then increasing the exercise -- walk longer and do more intensive yoga. This will again help break the barrier.

Saturday, December 31, 2005, 6:23 AM

Try fartlek training.

Fartlek, developed in the 1930's, comes from the Swedish for 'Speed Play' and combines continuous and interval training. Fartlek allows the athlete to run whatever distance and speed they wish, varying the intensity, and occasionally running at high intensity levels. This type of training stresses both the aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways.

Saturday, December 31, 2005, 11:14 AM

Bump.

Monday, March 17, 2008, 7:56 PM

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