Strategic Weight Loss
Go to: Previous Article Next Article
One of the first things that you'll do when you decide to lose weight is to set a target weight. For most, that objective will be their 'ideal weight', but for many, that 'ideal weight' may be precisely the wrong weight for them to be striving for.
Years of dieting or being overweight have the physiological effect of shifting the body's concept of the 'ideal weight' from what is truly considered ideal. The 'set point' is the weight where your body naturally feels most comfy. If you have been overweight for a really long time, or if you have consistently 'yo-yoed', your body may react to your initial weight loss by lowering its metabolism because it feels that you are starving to death. This slowing leads to discouraging plateaus that frequently knock individuals off their diets entirely, and bring about regaining all or part of the dropped weight.
Instead of aiming for an 'ideal weight' that needs you to shed weight steadily for months or even years, numerous experts suggest seeking for shorter-term achievable goals. Since the bulk of diet research demonstrates that most dieters lose weight gradually for around 12 weeks, then hit a plateau, that's the number that they recommend you aim for. The strategy that many have discovered works best for them is one of alternating periods of weight loss and maintenance, each lasting 8-12 weeks.
Select a practical amount of weight that you can shed in 8-12 weeks. Figuring that the most reasonable and healthiest weight loss rate is 1-2 pounds each week, 30 pounds in three months is not unreasonable. Diet until you achieve that objective, or for twelve weeks, whichever comes first, and then switch to a maintenance diet.
Why change to a maintenance diet at that point? In part, you are giving yourself a 'breather', a break from more restrictive eating. The other part, though, is that you're re-educating your body and allowing it create a new 'set point'. Once you've preserved your new weight for 8-12 weeks, establish another weight reduction goal, and go back into weight loss mode. By giving your body a break from 'starvation', you'll get over its resistance to dropping more weight, and be back to dieting for 'the first 2 weeks' - the weeks that most individuals lose weight more quickly.
You'll also be providing yourself an opportunity to 'practice' sustaining your new, healthier weight. Researchers have discovered that more than half of the dieters who lose significant amounts of weight don't sustain that weight loss as soon as they go 'off' their diet plan. By practicing weight maintenance in stages, you will be proving to yourself that you can do it, and eliminating a powerful negative psychological block.
This will work with any long-term weight loss diet, no matter the focus. You'll discover it a lot simpler to perform if you choose a diet that has concrete 'phases', like the South Beach or the Atkins, because the weight reduction and maintenance phases are plainly laid out for you to follow. Irrespective of the diet plan you select, however, by switching between weight loss phases and maintenance phases, you'll teach yourself and your body how to maintain a healthy weight.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
- Get Fit the healthy way tons of honest tips and tricks to lead a healthier life, also in progress a guide on how to stop smoking -
Word Count: 542
Reduce Your Debts Without Bankruptcy. See How Much You Can Save. Free Debt Analysis
